Parks Need to Prepare for Ground Monitoring Interrupters – RVBusiness – Breaking RV Industry News
When the new ground monitoring interrupters (GMI) become standard on all newly built RVs in 2026, it will not just impact RV manufacturers. Campground owners should also know what to expect and how to prepare, said RV Industry Association (RVIA) Vice President of Standards Bryan Ritchie.
Speaking during a Zoom meeting hosted by the Canadian Campground and RV Association (CCRVA), Ritchie said that now is the time to prepare. Ritchie says the advice comes from RVIA’s discussion with electricians on the matter.
Together, they have three main pointers for campground owners.
To start, park owners should evaluate their maintenance plans and their electrical grid to get an understanding of what they have at their park for power distribution.
Secondly, they should perform electrical inspections. Ritchie suggested that it might be a good idea for campgrounds to bring in a licensed electrician to help during this evaluation.
“(Look at your) transformers, distribution panels, circuit breakers and pedestals,” Ritchie said. “A lot of its connections – wear and tear on those 30- and 50-amp receptacles – could affect readings that this device will be looking at. During maintenance and inspection by electrical contractors or your staff, they can test your connections and ensure stability and integrity of your system.”
Finally, Ritchie said it’s important for campground owners to keep risk mitigation in mind during this process. It may seem overwhelming, but safety for the campers, and campground staff, is paramount.
“All these things will help prepare parks to have a seamless experience at your park while these devices are protecting their users,” he said. “You would expect to see these devices (GMIs) mid next year.”
But Ritchie says some suppliers are already making the devices available to RV manufacturers. He says this means there could be some that make it onto some 2025 or 2026 model year units.
“There is a potential that we could start seeing these even on new coaches, probably mid-summer to late fall of this year,” he said.
That makes early preparation for campgrounds even more important. To help park owners, manufacturers are expected to produce portable test devices. However, the current products on the market might not be enough to tell campground owners everything they need to know about their grid.
“It’s like a GFCI tester… and it’s more checking the proper connections,” he said. “It’s just making sure the ground is there.”
Some are hoping for a more robust tester that will tell more about how prepared a pedestal, and campground, are for the new GMI-equipped RVs. Ritchie says those devices will be a topic of discussion in June during RVIA’s “RVs Move America Week” in Washington, D.C., and he expects more information on them to come out at that time.
GMIs are designed to improve safety by preventing electrical shock or “hot skin” situations, in which the exterior of an RV becomes electrified. GMIs are designed to kill power to the vehicle if it discovers a problem with the receptacle it’s plugged in to.
“Any wiring issues – it’s going to pick up on that,” Ritchie said. “So if they have hot-neutrals or ground in the wrong position, it’s going to pick up on that and it’s not going to let power through to the vehicle.”
The requirements for the ground monitoring interrupters are included in the 2026 Edition of the National Electric Code, or NEC. It is expected to be published later this year, with RVIA adopting it in May of 2026. Enforcement begins September 2026.
