Code of Massachusetts Regulations › 220 CMR - DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC UTILITIES › Title 220 CMR 126.00 - Underground Electric Supply And Communication Lines 50,000 Volts And Below › Section 126.01 - Definitions

Current through Register 1525, July 5, 2024
The following definitions are for use with the Massachusetts
		  Department of Public Utilities Code for Underground Electric Supply and
		  Communication Lines. For other use and for definitions not contained in 220 CMR
		  126.01; see Definitions of Electrical Terms (ANSIC-42. 100-1972).
Appliance
. Current-conducting;
		  energy-consuming equipment, fixed or portable; for example, heating, cooking,
		  and small motor-operated equipment.
Automatic
. Self-acting, operating by
		  its own mechanism when actuated by some impersonal influence -- as, for
		  example; a change in current strength; not manual, without personal
		  intervention. Remote control that requires personal intervention is not
		  automatic, but manual.
Backfill (When Used as a Noun)
.
		  Materials such as sand, crushed stone, soil, etc., that are placed to fill an
		  excavation.
Ballast Section (Railroads)
. The
		  section of material, generally trap rock, which provides support under railroad
		  tracks.
Bonding
. The electrical
		  interconnection of conductive parts, e.g., cable sheaths, armors or enclosures,
		  designed to maintain a common electrical potential.
Cable. A conductor with insulation, a stranded conductor with
		  or without insulation and other coverings (single-conductor cable) or a
		  combination of conductors insulated from one another (multiple-conductor
		  cable).
Cable Sheath
. A conductive protective
		  covering applied to cables.
Note
: A cable sheath may consist of
		  multiple layers of which one or more is conductive.
Cable Terminal (Termination)
. A device
		  which provides insulated egress for the conductors.
Circuit
. A conductor or system of
		  conductors through which an electric current is intended to flow.
Communication Lines
. The conductors
		  and their supporting or containing structures which are used for public or
		  private signal or communication service, and which Operate at potentials not
		  exceeding 400 volts to ground or 750 volts between any two points of the
		  circuit, and the transmitted power of which does not exceed 150 watts. When
		  operating at less than 150 volts no limit is placed on the capacity of the
		  system. Under specified conditions, communication cables include communications
		  circuits not complying with the preceding limitations where such circuits are
		  also used to supply power incidentally to communications equipment.
Note
: Telephone, telegraph,
		  railroad-signal, data, clock, fire, police-alarm, community television antenna
		  and other systems conforming with the above are included. Lines used for
		  signaling purposes, but not included under the above definition, are considered
		  as supply lines of the same voltage and are to be so run.
Conductor
. A material, usually in the
		  form of a wire, cable, or bus bar, suitable for carrying an electric
		  current.
Conductor Shielding
. An envelope which
		  encloses the conductor of a cable and provides an equipotential surface in
		  contact with the cable insulation.
Conduit
. A structure containing one or
		  more ducts.
Note
: Conduit may be designated as
		  iron pipe conduit, tile conduit, etc. If it contains one duct only, it is
		  called "single-duct conduit"; if it contains more than one duct it is called
		  "multiple-duct conduit", usually with the number of ducts as a prefix, viz.,
		  two-duct multiple conduit.
Conduit System
. Any combination of
		  duct, conduit, conduits, manholes, hand holes and vaults joined to form an
		  integrated whole.
Current-carrying Part
. A conducting
		  part intended to be connected in an electric circuit to a source of voltage.
		  Non-current-carrying parts are those not intended to be so connected.
De-energized (Dead)
. Free from any
		  electrical connection to a source of potential difference and from electrical
		  charges: not having a potential different from that of the earth.
Note
: The term is used only with
		  reference to current-carrying parts which are sometimes energized (alive or
		  live).
Department
. The Department of Public
		  Utilities.
Duct
. A single enclosed raceway for
		  conductors or cable.
Enclosed
. Surrounded by a case, cage
		  or fence, which will protect the contained equipment and prevent accidental
		  contact of a person with live parts.
Energized (Alive or Live)
.
		  Electrically connected to a source of potential difference, or electrically
		  charged so as to have a potential significantly different from that of the
		  earth in the vicinity. The term "live" is sometimes used in place of the term
		  "current-carrying", where the intent is clear, to avoid repetition of the
		  longer term.
Equipment
. A general term which
		  includes fittings, devices, appliances, fixtures, apparatus, and the like used
		  as part of, or in connection with, a supply or communications
		  installation.
Electric Supply Equipment (Supply
		  Equipment)
. Equipment which produces, modifies, regulates,
		  controls, or safeguards a supply of electric energy.
Electric Supply Lines (Supply Lines)
.
		  Those conductors used to transmit electric energy and their necessary
		  supporting or containing structures. Signal lines of more than 400 volts wire
		  to wire are always supply lines within the meaning of the rules, and those of
		  less than 400 volts wire to wire may be considered as supply lines, if so run
		  and operated throughout.
Exposed
. Not isolated or
		  guarded.
Fire-proofing (of Cables)
. The
		  application of a fire-resistant covering.
Grounded
. Connected to or in contact
		  with earth or connected to some extended conducting body which serves instead
		  of the earth.
Grounded Effectively (Effectively
		  Grounded)
. Intentionally connected to earth through a ground
		  connection or connections of sufficiently low impedance and having sufficient
		  current-carrying capacity to prevent the building up of voltages which may
		  result in undue hazard to connected equipment or to persons.
Grounded System
. A system of
		  conductors in which at least one conductor or point is intentionally grounded,
		  either solidly or through a current-limiting device (not a current-interrupting
		  device).
Grounding Conductor
. A conductor which
		  is used to connect the equipment or the wiring system with a grounding
		  electrode or electrodes.
Guarded
. Covered, fenced, enclosed, or
		  otherwise protected by means of suitable covers or casings, barrier rails or
		  screens, mats or platforms, designed 'to prevent dangerous approach or contact
		  by persons or objects.
Note: Wires which are insulated but not otherwise protected are
		  not considered as guarded.
Handhole
. An opening in an underground
		  system containing cable and/or equipment into which workmen reach but do not
		  enter.
Insulated
. Separated from other
		  conducting surfaces by a dielectric substance (including air space) offering a
		  high resistance to the passage of current.
Note
: When any object is said to be
		  insulated, it is understood to be insulated in a suitable manner for the
		  conditions to which it is subjected. Otherwise, it is, within the purpose of
		  220 CMR 126.00, uninsulated.
		  Insulating covering of conductors is one means of making, the conductor
		  insulated.
Insulation (as Applied to Cable)
. That
		  which is relied upon to insulate the conductor from other conductors or
		  conducting parts or from ground.
Insulation Shielding
. An envelope
		  which encloses insulation of a cable and provides an equipotential surface in
		  contact with the cable insulation.
Isolated (as Applied to Objects). Not readily accessible to
		  persons unless special means of access are used.
Jacket
. A protective covering over the
		  insulation, core, or sheath of a cable.
Joint Use
. Simultaneous use by two or
		  more kinds of utilities.
Manhole
. A subsurface enclosure which
		  personnel may enter and which is used for the purpose of installing, operating,
		  and maintaining submersible equipment and/or cable.
Manhole Cover
. A removable lid which
		  closes the opening to a manhole or similar subsurface enclosure.
Manhole Grating
. A grid which provides
		  ventilation and a protective cover for a manhole opening.
Manual
. Capable of being operated by
		  personal intervention.
Padmounted
. A method of supporting
		  equipment, generally at ground level.
Pulling Iron
. An anchor secured in the
		  wall, ceiling or floor of a manhole or vault to attach rigging used to pull
		  cable.
Pulling Tension
. The longitudinal
		  force exerted on a cable during installation.
Qualified
. Being familiar with the
		  installation, construction or operation of the apparatus and the hazards
		  involved.
Random Separation
. Installed with no
		  deliberate separation.
Remotely Operable (as Applied to
		  Equipment)
. Capable of being operated from a position external to
		  the structure in which it is installed or from a protected position within the
		  structure.
Roadway
. The portion of a highway
		  including shoulders for vehicular use. A divided highway has two or more
		  roadways.
Shoulder
. The portion of the roadway
		  contiguous with the travelled way for accommodation of stopped vehicles for
		  emergency use, and for lateral support of base and surface courses.
Side-wall Pressure
. The crushing force
		  exerted on a cable during installation.
Switch
. A device for opening and
		  closing or for changing the connection of a circuit. In
		  220 CMR 126.00, a switch is
		  understood to be manually operable, unless otherwise stated.
Susceptiveness
. The characteristics of
		  a communications circuit, including its connected apparatus, which determine
		  the extent to which it is adversely affected by inductive fields.
Vault. An enclosure above or below ground which personnel may
		  enter and is used for the purpose of installing, operating, and/or maintaining
		  equipment and/or cable which need not be of a submersible design.
Voltage
. The effective (rms) potential
		  difference between any two conductors or between a conductor and ground.
		  Voltages are expressed in nominal values.
The nominal voltage of a system or circuit is the value
		  assigned to a system or circuit of a given voltage class for the purpose of
		  convenient designation. The operating voltage of the system may vary above or
		  below this value.
Voltage of a Circuit Not Effectively
		  Grounded
. The highest nominal voltage between any two conductors.
		  If one circuit is directly connected to and supplied from another circuit of
		  higher voltage (as in the case of an autotransformer), both are considered as
		  of the higher voltage, unless the circuit of lower voltage is effectively
		  grounded, in which case its voltage is not determined by the circuit of higher
		  voltage. Direct connection implies electric connection as distinguished from
		  connection merely through electromagnetic or electrostatic induction.
Voltage of a Constant Current Circuit
. The highest normal full load voltage of the circuit.
Voltage of an Effectively Grounded
		  Circuit
. The highest nominal voltage between any conductor and
		  ground unless otherwise indicated.