Required Receptacle Locations

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Semuskie

Member
I have 2 columns in a finished basement, they are 7" X 7" square and 10' from the wall. According to the NEC are receptacles required on the columns?
 

raider1

Senior Member
Staff member
Location
Logan, Utah
Welcome to the forum.:)

Where are these columns located?

If they are located in an area listed in 210.52(A) I would say that they would need to have a receptacle installed on them. 210.52(A)(2)(1) says any wall space that is 2' or more in length measure around corners is required to comply with 210.52(A)(1).

Chris
 

SEO

Senior Member
Location
Michigan
Per 210.52 (A)(2) (1) a wall space of 2' or more in width (including space measured around corners) and unbroken along the floor line by doorways, fireplaces, and similar opens would require a receptacle outlet. (4X7=28" )

Sorry Chris didn't look at your post until I typed mine.
 

ivsenroute

Senior Member
Location
Florida
As an inspector I say no, not required. Not the intent of the code. What is a good idea may not be a code requirement. You are really stretching the code to require a receptacle there.
 

charlie b

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Lockport, IL
Occupation
Retired Electrical Engineer
I disagree with your inpector. You don't have "wall space," unless you first have a wall. You don't measure kitchen cabinets along the floor line, because a kitchen cabinet is not a wall. If there were a staircase leading up from the center of a room to an attic space above it, and if the bottom of the staircase were 2 feet wide, you would not have to put a receptacle at the bottom of the stairs, because a staircase is not a wall. Don't start getting out your measuring tape, until you can point to something and say, "That thing is a wall."

The NEC does have some clarifications regarding wall space. It does treat "fixed room dividers" as though they were walls, in that they are counted in the wall space. But there is no way you would consider a "column" to be a "fixed room divider." It is a structural support member that does not perform the function of dividing a room into separate spaces.
 

Rick Christopherson

Senior Member
No, I don't believe a receptacle would be required here, but sometimes doing the minimum is not always in the best interest of the end-user (or future user).

If the column is 10' away from a wall, it means it is a pretty big room (at least 20x30). The room may even be re-tasked for another purpose in the future, and columns act as a good divider for placing furniture next to.

If it was my basement, I would want that outlet on the column if it was at all feasible. Even if you have to present it to the customer as a add-on, it shows that you care about their needs, and not just skimping by at the minimum.

The inspector is wrong, but his intent is good.
 

Jim W in Tampa

Senior Member
Location
Tampa Florida
Like it or not you have a wall. And chances are high it will get used. And making it round changes nothing. If 24 inches of space you must have receptacle. So what that it is support, all your outside walls are support too.
 

rwreuter

Senior Member
As an inspector I say no, not required. Not the intent of the code. What is a good idea may not be a code requirement. You are really stretching the code to require a receptacle there.


commone sense isn't common at all.

the nec and its application should be viewed from a safety perspective, it is not unsafe then let's not make a mountain out of a mole hill. grey areas are grey for a reason.

because of things like this the NEC is the size that it is and is as legal sounding as it is.
 

joebell

Senior Member
Location
New Hampshire
Like it or not you have a wall. And chances are high it will get used. And making it round changes nothing. If 24 inches of space you must have receptacle. So what that it is support, all your outside walls are support too.

Make the box around the column less than 24", then 210.52(A)(2)(1) will not apply.
 

rwreuter

Senior Member
24" is 24"

but common sense must prevail.....he has a boss. if i ever had a electrical inspector insist on placing an outlet on a round supporting member (that is more than likely why it is there) i'd tell him to get bent and would call his boss.

the building code will state that you can't alter those supporting members.

now if it is framed to cover it then he can be a, well you know. i have seen people place those fluted round columns over those support beams (they have a weight rating) and have never seen anyone say place a receptacle there.

if it was rounded out and you place a plug there and then put a cover on it, i bet when he did the final he'd have a problem with the plate not laying flat.

you can't win with people like this.
 

infinity

Moderator
Staff member
Location
New Jersey
Occupation
Journeyman Electrician
Like it or not you have a wall. And chances are high it will get used. And making it round changes nothing. If 24 inches of space you must have receptacle. So what that it is support, all your outside walls are support too.


Jim,

Where in the code does it tell you to measure around a round column? The best you're going to do is 210.52(A)(2) which defines wall space and says "including space measuried around corners". Round columns have no corners.
 
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