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 2026 NEC.

Hint: Ask yourself if these breakers are “readily accessible.”

Tell Them What They've Won…

Using the 2026 NEC, correctly identify the Code violation(s) in this month's photo — in 200 words or less — and you could win a 40-oz. insulated tumbler valued at $39.99, courtesy of ABB. E-mail your response, including your name and mailing address, to [email protected], and Russ will select two winners (excluding manufacturers and prior winners) at random from the correct submissions. Note that submissions without an address will not be eligible to win.

September Winners

Our two winners this month are Jim McDaniels with the city of Corvallis, Ore., and Joanie Campbell, an Air Force electrical controls systems engineer from Panama City, Fla. They both correctly cited some Code violations in this photo, including the missing cover for the box.

For completed installations, Sec. 314.25 requires each box to have a cover, faceplate, lampholder, or luminaire canopy. Another concern is the number of conductors the installer attempted to stuff into this box. Section 314.16 requires boxes and conduit bodies to be of an approved size that provides enough space for all the enclosed conductors. I counted at least twenty-two 12 AWG conductors. Table 314.16(B)(4) requires at least 2.25 cu in. for each 12 AWG conductor, which means this box would need a minimum volume of 49.5 cu in. to provide enough space for all the wires.