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. Can you identify the specific Code violation(s) in this photo? Note: Submitted comments must include specific references from the 2023 NEC.
Hint: A wobbly weatherhead
Tell Them What They've Won…
Using the 2023 NEC, correctly identify the Code violation(s) in this month's photo — in 200 words or less — and you could win a $25 Amazon gift card. E-mail your response, including your name and mailing address, to [email protected], and Russ will select one winner (excluding manufacturers and prior winners) at random from the correct submissions. Note that submissions without an address will not be eligible to win.
June Winner
Unfortunately, I received no winning submissions citing the violations in this photo. When splicing conductors of NM cables and other cables, Sec. 300.15 provides requirements for when a box, conduit body, or other enclosure is required. Where the wiring method is conduit, tubing, AC cable, MC cable, MI cable, NM cable, or other cables, “a box or conduit body shall be installed at each outlet point, switch point, conductor splice point, conductor junction point, conductor termination point, wiring method transition point, or conductor pull point, unless otherwise permitted in 300.15(A) through (L).” None of the provisions in (A) through (L) apply to this installation. This means those splices must be installed in either a box or a conduit body.
For temporary wiring, Sec. 590.4(G) Exception 1 allows splices on construction sites to be made without being installed in a box or conduit body. The wiring shown in this photo, however, was not temporary — it was permanent wiring installed in the basement of a home. Therefore, Art. 590 does not apply to this installation.
About the Author
Russ LeBlanc
Owner
Russ started in the electrical trade as an apprentice in 1985. He worked his way up to become a Journeyman Electrician and then eventually became a Master Electrician and Licensed Construction Supervisor. In 1999 Russ become an Electrical Instructor for The Peterson School of Engineering in Massachusetts where he developed his passion for teaching, and quickly became Department Head of Electrical Instruction. Russ has taught thousands of apprentices, electricians, engineers, inspectors, and other electrical professionals during his career as an instructor. He continues to provide electrical professionals with Electrical Code seminars, Arc-Flash Awareness training seminars and educational material through his LeBlanc Consulting Services in North Reading, MA whose specialty is educating electricians. He has been an active member of the NFPA Electrical Section and has authored hundreds of National Electrical Code proposals and comments which have become Code rules to improve the safety for the electrical industry. Russ is also an IAEI certified Electrical Inspector.
Please visit www.russleblanc.net for more information.