Code Change Summary: Revised definition of an appliance and new informational note.

SME commentary: The 2026 NEC^® includes a significant revision to the definition of "appliance", prompted by an accepted public input addressing a gray area in the 2023 NEC^®.

In Article 100 of the 2023 NEC^®, an appliance was defined as: “Utilization equipment, generally other than industrial, that is fastened in place, stationary, or portable; is normally built in a standardized size or type; and is installed or connected as a unit to perform one or more functions such as clothes washing, air-conditioning, food mixing, deep frying, and so forth. However, this definition failed to include the term "fixed", despite its use in other NEC^® sections.

For example, Section 210.8(B)(7) was expanded in the 2023 NEC^® to require GFCI protection for cord-and-plug-connected fixed or stationary appliances located within 6 feet of a sink.

UL 197 is the Standard for Commercial Electric Cooking Appliances and has several definitions pertaining to appliances in Section 2 including:

• 2.3 Appliance
• 2.4 Automatically Controlled Appliance
• 2.12 Equipment-Fixed
• 2.12 Equipment-Portable

According to UL 197, a Fixed appliance is “An appliance that is intended to be fastened in place or located in a dedicated space and is permanently wired to the branch circuit”.

In the 2023 NEC^®, the terms “fixed appliance” and “portable appliance” from Article 550 were merged with the Article 100 definition of “appliance” with the intent to make one definition of an appliance that incorporates all appliance types. Unfortunately, this one definition doesn’t include the word “fixed” and doesn’t quite align with the appliance definitions provided in product safety standards or mention how the appliance types are connected to power.

In the 2026 NEC^®, an appliance is now defined as Utilization equipment, generally other than industrial, that is normally built in a standard size or type and is installed or connected as a unit to perform one or more functions. The methods of how an appliance is secured or its mobility have been removed to avoid confusion.

Additionally, the previous examples of appliances were moved from the enforceable code definition into a new informational note to prevent exclusions that could unintentionally omit certain appliance types.

The Code Panel Statement made at first draft clarifies this change:

"The existing list items were removed to improve clarity as they could be viewed as all-inclusive and unintentionally omit other types of appliances."

This revision ensures that the NEC^® definition does not conflict with product safety standards, allowing for consistent interpretation across installations, inspections, and enforcement.

Below is a preview of the NEC^®. See the actual NEC^® text at NFPA.ORG for the complete code section. Once there, click on their link to free access to the 2026 NEC^® edition of NFPA 70.

2023 Code Language:

Article 100 Definitions:

Appliance. Utilization equipment, generally other than industrial, that is fastened in place, stationary, or portable; is normally built in a standard size or type; and is installed or connected as a unit to perform one or more functions such as clothes washing, air-conditioning, food mixing, deep frying, and so on.

2026 Code Language:

Article 100 Definitions:

Appliance. Utilization equipment, generally other than industrial, that is normally built in a standard size or type and is installed or connected as a unit to perform one or more functions.

Informational Note: Examples of appliances include clothes washers, air conditioners, food mixers, and deep fryers.