During last week’s RV Industry Association (RVIA) Board of Directors meeting, members voted unanimously to approve the Standards Steering Committee’s recommendation to temporarily delay enforcement of the requirement for all new RVs to have a grounding monitor interrupter (GMI) installed, according to an RVIA News & Insights report.
The requirement is part of the 2023 and 2026 editions of the National Electric Code (NEC) Article 551 and was scheduled to initially go into effect on Jan. 1, 2026. It requires all new RVs with 30-amp or 50-amp electrical service to install a grounding monitor interrupter (GMI), which is a loss-of-ground device. Before electrical current can pass into the RV, a GMI will check that the receptacle has a proper ground connection. During use, the GMI will monitor the ground connection to the RV and, if lost, will disconnect power to the RV.
The reason for the delay is that there is currently a lack of fully developed, listed GMIs available for RV use in manufacturing, making compliance with the original NEC date unrealistic. The Standards Steering Committee is continuing to monitor the availability of GMIs and will meet to make a recommendation for a new enforcement date ahead of the March RV Industry Association Board of Directors Meeting.
At this time, it is expected that enforcement will coincide with the start of model year 2028, or approximately June 1, 2027. But a final determination will be subject to the availability of sufficient GMIs for use in RV manufacturing.
For a full explanation of GMI, the history of the requirement, and the impact on RV parks and campgrounds, check out this article.
During the Board meeting, two other motions were approved related to RV Standards. The second motion was the adoption of the effective date of June 1, 2026, and the enforcement date of Sept. 1, 2026, for the 2026 edition of the NFPA 1192 Standard on Recreational Vehicles and the 2025 edition of ANSI/RV Industry Association Standard for DC Voltage Systems in Recreational Vehicles.
The third and last motion was the adoption of the effective date of June 1, 2026, and the enforcement date of Sept. 1, 2026, for the 2026 NEC, with the exception of Article 551.40(D). Article 551.40(D) was excluded from adoption and enforcement at this time due to the lack of listed Grounding Monitor Interrupters available for RV industry use and the need to allow for product validation and field testing.
The RV Industry Association and its technical subcommittees have been working on implementing a GMI requirement for the past six years. In the past year, the RV Industry Association has provided regular updates to the wider OEM, supplier, dealer, and park and campground segments through newsletter articles and presentations at industry events and meetings.
RVIA will continue to provide updates and details relating to this issue, such as details on enforcement actions and details regarding commercially available GMI devices, as the information becomes available.
