NEC 2008 334.15 (C) Crawl Space???
How do other jurisdictions view the change that requires NM cable to be protected by running boards or drilled in the joists in "crawl space(s)"?
The commentary on the proposal referred to people hanging things on the cables running in a basement or 'crawl space' (as if it was used as a laundry room).
In our area a crawl space is often only ±24" and the only access is actual CRAWLING. It seems difficult to require drilling the joists to add a cable across under the floor when the access is so limited....

Inspector32513

I suppose the fear might also be in using the cables to pull yourself through a space that tight but I am not sure how drilled holes make that or the "hanging things" problem any less dangerous.

To me crawl spaces have always been subjective.
For instance you may not have joists but trusses.
I would hate to suggest to drill 20 holes in a 2X4 truss to run NM cable for protection.
But I have always used rat boards(running boards) to run parallel to. Especially when in close proximity to a attic access.
I guess this is one of those judgment calls when needed.

If these are floor trusses, wouldn't stapling the RX to the top of the bottom truss chord meet the intent of the code? I agree, drilling a truss is questionable without engineering guidance.

I think the correct response is that we need to follow the code section. Soooo....all jurisdictions should require protection for the NM cable by running boards, drill holes in floor joist, or staple NM cable on the top of the bottom cord of a floor truss.