The 2023 to 2026 NEC crosswalk, mapped both ways

Fifty entries covering every article that moved, was rewritten, was split, or had its old number handed to something else. 13 moved, 10 rewritten, 8 unchanged, 6 reused, 5 unresolved, 4 gone, 2 split, 2 retitled.

Why the numbers stopped matching

The 2026 National Electrical Code reorganized a large part of the book. Rules that sat at one number in the 2023 edition carry a different number now, and several old numbers were handed to entirely new material, which is the case that actually costs you an answer. Looking up 220 in a 2026 book puts you somewhere you did not intend to be.

That becomes your problem the moment your exam and your book disagree, and they disagree more often than you would hope, because states adopt on their own schedule.

What each entry tells you

The number you look up, the subject, where that material now sits, what occupies the old number, and whether the mapping comes from the book itself or from a code-making panel draft. Every entry carries the source it was read in and the date it was read. Five entries are marked unresolved, which means two published accounts disagree and both are printed here instead of one being chosen.

A sample, free

90.3 rewritten

How the chapters relate to each other

In the 2026 book: 90.3
Basis: draft, read 2026-08-24

Through the 2023 edition Chapter 8 stood outside the arrangement, and a requirement in Chapters 1 through 7 reached a communications system only when Chapter 8 pointed at it. The 2026 sentence reads that Chapters 5 through 8 may supplement or modify the requirements in Chapters 1 through 7. Count the two ranges, because they differ: Chapter 8 is inside the group that may supplement or modify and outside the group that may be supplemented. This is the first rule that changes at adoption, because it governs how every other rule is read.

NFPA code-making panel 1 second draft report, 70_A2025_NEC_P01_SD_PrelimSR.pdf, second revision 7520. Read twice on the date shown.

Also: IAEI Magazine, Dean Austin, 1 July 2025, on the removal of the stand-alone status of Chapter 8.

Article 220 moved

Branch-circuit, feeder and service load calculations

In the 2026 book: Article 120
What holds the old number now: Nothing. Article 220 is vacant in the 2026 book.
Basis: book, read 2026-08-23

The whole article was lifted into Chapter 1, which held only Articles 100 and 110 before this cycle. No chapter was renumbered: Article 120 sits after Article 110 in a Chapter 1 that went from two articles to four. Every calculation citation anybody wrote before this cycle points at a number that does not exist in the adopted code.

Read on NFPA free access, page 70-78. The page header reads ARTICLE 120, and Article 110 concludes at 110.79 Fixed Ladders on the same page. Held in this repository at data/nec2026-art120.js.

Also: Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry 2026 NEC adoption review, an independent numbered change list.

Article 318 gone

Cable trays

In the 2026 book: Article 392
What holds the old number now: Nothing, and it has not since 1999.
Basis: book, read 2026-08-24

Here only because study material still cites it. If a source you are reading uses 318, it has not been re-checked in twenty-seven years and nothing else in it should be trusted either.

Checked against the article list. The change is a 1999 one.

The full map

All 50 entries, $29 once, and it stays open.

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The code text stays in your own book

The crosswalk maps numbers and records what moved. NFPA licenses the code itself, so you bring your own copy of whichever edition you are studying and read the rule there. That is also how the boards expect you to sit an open book exam.

Questions

Which editions does the crosswalk cover?

The 2023 and 2026 editions of the National Electrical Code. Each entry names the number you look up, where that material sits in the 2026 book, and what now occupies the old number.

Does it include the code text itself?

It maps numbers and records what changed. NFPA licenses the code text, so you read the rule in your own book once the crosswalk tells you where it lives.

How do you know the mapping is right?

Every entry carries its basis, the date it was read, and the source it was read in. Entries whose provenance is still contested are marked unresolved and both accounts are printed instead of one being picked.

Does access expire?

One payment and it stays open. Later additions are included.

Can I take it into the test centre?

Check your own centre first. Several hand you a clean code book at the door and prohibit anything marked, tabbed or added, and the candidate bulletin for your exam settles it.

Which edition is the Georgia exam written on?

That has a page of its own, kept current with the state notice, and it is worth reading before you buy anything here.

The 50 entries cover the code, so they apply wherever you sit. Which edition Georgia writes its exam on is on its own page. The question bank is separate and lives on the practice exam.