Code Change Summary: Article 725 was significantly reduced as many former requirements were relocated into Article 722 as part of the Chapter 7 restructuring.

SME commentary: The 2026 NEC^® revisions to Article 725 reflect the final stage of a broader restructuring that redistributed limited-energy requirements across newly created Chapter 7 articles. While earlier course sections addressed how limited-energy rules were extracted from Chapter 8 and reorganized into Articles 720 through 723, along with Articles 742 and 750, Article 725 illustrates the downstream effect of that reorganization on existing Article 725 content.

Historically, Article 725 served as a central location for a wide range of Class 2 and Class 3 power-limited circuit requirements, including wiring methods, cable installation rules, and system-level provisions that overlapped with communications and other limited-energy systems. As the NEC^® transitioned away from Chapter 8’s stand-alone structure, and added more limited energy articles in Chapter 7, many of those overlapping requirements were intentionally pulled out of Article 725 and reassigned to Article 722 covering Limited-Energy Cables for Power-Limited Circuits, Fault-Managed-Power Circuits, Optical Fiber Circuits, and Communications Circuits.

As a result, Article 725 in the 2026 NEC^® has been stripped down to only those provisions that remain uniquely applicable to Class 2 and Class 3 power-limited circuits. What once occupied several pages in prior editions has been reduced to the following three remaining code sections occupying less than a half of a page:

• Section 725.1 retains the Scope of the article.
• Section 725.2 addresses Listing and Marking of Equipment for Power and Data Transmission.
• Section 725.127 now focuses narrowly on Wiring Methods on the Supply Side of the Class 2 or Class 3 Power Source.

This reduction is not indicative of diminished importance of Class 2 and Class 3 circuits. Instead, it reflects a deliberate effort to eliminate duplication and place requirements in the most appropriate articles based on function and NEC^® structure. Cable construction, wiring methods, overvoltage protection, grounding and bonding, and general installation rules are no longer repeated within Article 725 since they are now addressed in Article 722 that applies broadly across all limited-energy systems.

This restructuring improves usability by clarifying where requirements belong and reduces the risk of misapplication caused by overlapping or redundant code language.