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
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.
