Ecmweb 8264 Residential Code Requirements Pr
Ecmweb 8264 Residential Code Requirements Pr
Ecmweb 8264 Residential Code Requirements Pr
Ecmweb 8264 Residential Code Requirements Pr
Ecmweb 8264 Residential Code Requirements Pr

Critical Code Requirements for Residential Work

June 17, 2016
These commonly overlooked requirements are critical to making a home safe.

For many types of occupancies, the NEC has a dedicated Article in Chapter 5. For many types of installations, such as swimming pools or photovoltaic power systems, the NEC has a dedicated Article in Chapter 6. But nowhere does the NEC contain a dedicated Article for residential work. Given how “normal” it is to see Code violations in residential work, maybe a dedicated Article for these types of dwelling units isn’t such a bad idea. However, such an Article would merely pull together the relevant requirements from Chapters 1 through 4, and you are expected to apply those to any installation (except as modified by the relevant Articles in Chapters 5 through 8).

Let’s look at some of the Code requirements that are frequently violated and why not violating them should matter to you.

The undecipherable directory

This is a common and annoying Code violation. Often, the directory is useless.

Here’s an actual example from a recent repair job. A house in Florida needed a failed GFCI receptacle replaced in the kitchen. It’s a big kitchen with three receptacle circuits over the countertops alone. In the panel, the electrician found five breakers labeled “kitchen.” The homeowner didn’t want to reset clocks that were plugged into two of those circuits. The electrician was left to guess which breaker to turn off.

Photo 1. The vertical space for labeling a breaker in this panel is less than half the height of a 20A breaker.

Living room, bedroom, basement, and garage are labels that are often duplicated, regardless of how many circuits are in the living room, etc. Many miscellaneous circuits don’t get labeled at all, with the fire detector circuit being a common victim. Then there’s the totally useless label, “receptacle.” You get the idea.

The directories themselves are partly to blame; there’s not much room to write a description because each space is really tiny (Photo 1). And the typical electrician is beyond the age of reading something written there without reading glasses, if even then.

Another factor is that the residential electrician may “wing it” and pull a circuit to whatever breaker he chooses.

One solution to both problems is a standard plan for panel layout. This plan shows which circuits go to which breakers. It should be the same for each floor plan in a development. Instead of forcing electricians to write in by hand, print a big sticker that can be placed over the existing area where the panel directory goes (or more space, if it’s available). The breaker for a given circuit is determined by that sticker (rather than labeling after the circuit is terminated). No handwriting is needed, and you can easily fit a good description into the allotted space.

That the NEC should even have to require the directory to be useful [110.22] is a bit of a mind-bender. But it does. So make each label clear enough that anyone looking at it can tell exactly which circuit it disconnects.

A final note: Suppose you have three bedrooms — one for the parents and one for each of two children. If you labeled the breaker for Debbie’s bedroom “Debbie’s bedroom” it would be clear which circuit that is, right? Not if they sell the house, and five years later nobody has any idea who Debbie is or which room was hers. Don’t use transitory information to describe a circuit [408.4]. “Bedroom, northeast corner” is much better.

Related

Ground rod bingo

Which utility ground rod is really ground? How do you know? Each utility company provides its own hookups. But it also provides its own ground rods, and these typically aren’t tied together.

Photo 2. This gas meter is at a different potential from the water main and the electric service. This house already burned down once. That’s not enough?

The result is these systems are at different potentials from each other (Photo 2 and Photo 3). This result presents dangers of lethal shock and damage to equipment in the home. In cases where the home also has a natural gas supply, the flashover that can result from the difference in potential between the gas piping and another utility can spark an explosion.

Photo 3. This is a different house, one street over from the “charcoal version” one. Notice the grounding clamp; there is one on each utility’s separate ground rod and on the gas meter frame, permitting a 4 AWG copper bonding jumper to bring all to the same potential.

Who is responsible for bonding all these rods together, thus eliminating dangerous differences in potential? Anyone who installs a system that has a ground rod should bond that ground rod to the existing grounding system. Yet, this almost never happens. If you’re the electrician on the job, make sure these get bonded together [250.94].

Capacious connectors

Is there a contest to see how many 14 AWG conductors a yellow solderless connector can actually connect? While this problem is rampant among the DIY crowd, it also crops up when an installation has allegedly been completed by a qualified electrician.

Don’t exceed the capacity for which these connectors are listed. And don‘t ignore a violation in the dwelling in which you’re working (you can be blamed for someone else’s violation, especially if you were the last one to do electrical work there).

When used properly, these connectors make a connection that holds, even if you yank hard on it. But quite often, a connector is a mere cap over a twisted together bundle of wires; this arrangement can come apart all on its own. Usually, the poor connection is covered in tape. That leads us to our next item.

Tape

Solderless connectors are designed to be used without wrapping them in tape. Adding tape insulates them thermally perhaps more than it does electrically. The tape also can cover up bad work.

If you do good work, why would you want to cover it up with tape? Time is money, why take the time to tape something that does not require taping?

Sometimes the excuse for taping is, “I nicked the wire.” Prevent nicking by using the right tools to cut and strip your conductors. Those tools do wear out, so replace them when you start noticing they don’t work so well anymore.

Lug loading

Connectors aren’t the only place you find too many conductors in something not meant for the quantity. Take a look in the typical residential panel, and you’re likely to see a grounding lug with two or more bare copper wires in it — or a neutral lug done that way. Use these lugs for terminating, not splicing.

While it is possible a given lug is listed for two conductors and thus putting two of them in there is not a Code violation, putting two conductors in one lug can lead to problems when something’s changed in the panel later. It’s just not a good practice. The typical panel has more lugs than you need so use one conductor per lug as standard practice. Don’t use two per lug unless you verify the lug is listed for that use.

Mixing green and white

Mixing green and white is fine if you’re a Michigan State or New York Jets fan. But don’t do this in electrical panels. If you have to cut the neutral conductor longer than the ground conductor or vice-versa to get each one to its terminal strip, so be it. Allow enough length so you can neatly route each conductor to where it terminates.

Throughout the entire wiring job, make sure you don’t cross the wires. If you look at devices such as receptacles, you see they have specific terminals for the neutral and the hot. They also have a specific lug for the ground. They are listed to be wired this way, not any other way. With GFCIs, you must connect the neutral correctly because the GFCI depends upon that to sense the trip current.

On the edge

The ability to run nonmetallic cable through wooden structural members is a good thing for a variety of reasons. But the holes made for this purpose must be in the center of the wood. One reason is so drywall fasteners driven into the wood don’t make contact with the conductors. Structural strength is another reason; otherwise, you’d just drill the hole in the very back if you could fit your drill in there to do that.

If your drill is too large to fit into that wall cavity for a center hole, plenty of drills will fit just fine. Make a trip to the hardware store and get one.

Home sweet home

Not that NEC requirements should be ignored in other types of structures, but ignoring them in residential occupancies seems like a special kind of evil. These are places where children sleep and where people think they are safe behind a locked door. People typically keep their prized possessions, such as irreplaceable family photos, in their homes, further compounding the loss felt after it all burns down.

The violations mentioned here are, unfortunately, common. Make sure they don’t exist in any residence in which you do electrical work. It’s not a bad idea to do your own Code inspection before and after performing residential work. Both you and the family can sleep better that way.            

Lamendola is an electrical consultant located in Merriam, Kan. He can be reached at [email protected].

About the Author

Mark Lamendola

Mark is an expert in maintenance management, having racked up an impressive track record during his time working in the field. He also has extensive knowledge of, and practical expertise with, the National Electrical Code (NEC). Through his consulting business, he provides articles and training materials on electrical topics, specializing in making difficult subjects easy to understand and focusing on the practical aspects of electrical work.

Prior to starting his own business, Mark served as the Technical Editor on EC&M for six years, worked three years in nuclear maintenance, six years as a contract project engineer/project manager, three years as a systems engineer, and three years in plant maintenance management.

Mark earned an AAS degree from Rock Valley College, a BSEET from Columbia Pacific University, and an MBA from Lake Erie College. He’s also completed several related certifications over the years and even was formerly licensed as a Master Electrician. He is a Senior Member of the IEEE and past Chairman of the Kansas City Chapters of both the IEEE and the IEEE Computer Society. Mark also served as the program director for, a board member of, and webmaster of, the Midwest Chapter of the 7x24 Exchange. He has also held memberships with the following organizations: NETA, NFPA, International Association of Webmasters, and Institute of Certified Professional Managers.

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