How well do you know the Code? Think you can spot violations the original installer either ignored or couldn't identify? Here's your chance to moonlight as an electrical inspector and second-guess someone else's work from the safety of your living room or office. It's your turn to identify the violation.
Hint: Dangling detector
Find the Answer
The splices for this smoke detector were made with twist-on connectors and tape. However, where’s the box? This is a violation of 300.15 of the 2011 NEC.
A box or conduit body is generally required for each outlet point, switch point, termination point, and pull point or where splices are made in conduit, tubing, AC cable, MC cable, MI cable, NM cables or other cable type wiring methods. But the splices for this NM cable installation were simply stuffed into the ceiling cavity. This could have been a disaster if one of the splices came loose and started to arc and spark. The surrounding combustible wood could have easily ignited and started a fire in the attic.
Section 110.13(A) requires equipment to be firmly secured to the mounting surface. The installation instructions for the smoke detector include references for mounting the plate to a box. Since a box was not installed here, this too is a violation of the Code. Equipment must always be installed according to its instructions.
Article 760 is not applicable to this branch circuit since it is neither a Power-Limited Fire Alarm Circuit, nor a Non-Power-Limited Fire Alarm circuit as defined in 760.1. Article 210 is applicable since this is a branch circuit.
