Code violation or not?

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James S.

James S.

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Location
Mesa, Arizona
Today I was working in a house that the homeowner had removed 2 (of 5) recessed lights from the master closet because whoever installed them "cut into a metal duct like a sardine can" to get one of them in. I was called in to repair the wires where the lights had been. So basically in a row of 5 cans, #2 and 4 were removed. Easy right, just replace the wires. What I found when I removed the middle can was a buried j-box. I get annoyed when I find these but I realized that technically it is accessible. Not really much difference between this and the box on the can. So now I am wondering, is this a code violation or not? Other than it not being secured to anything...but I am not really sure about that either since it was obviously done after drywall
 

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mjf said:
Agree. Find a way to secure the box and your good to go.
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To me this is a marginal case that could be argued either way. So I will. :)
If you secure the box inside the space (and assuming that it is not an accessible attic in the first place) you can no longer work on the wiring inside the box without un-securing it first and pulling it down through the hole. The access through the hole is IMHO not good enough to call a box secured above the ceiling accessible.
I think that inspectors would be divided on this too.
My other concern is that without first pulling the light, there is no indication to someone coming along later that the box even exists. A blank plate on a wall or an access cover plate imply a box behind it. A can light in the ceiling does not.

One major determining factor, from my point of view is whether any of the wires from that box are going directly to the light which was pulled. If one is, then you have a much stronger argument, in that someone troubleshooting problems with the lights will be forced to pull the can at some point and will find the box. from what I can see in the photo, the box could very well be unrelated to the can light circuit.
 
GoldDigger said:
To me this is a marginal case that could be argued either way. So I will. :)
If you secure the box inside the space (and assuming that it is not an accessible attic in the first place) you can no longer work on the wiring inside the box without un-securing it first and pulling it down through the hole. The access through the hole is IMHO not good enough to call a box secured above the ceiling accessible.
I think that inspectors would be divided on this too.
My other concern is that without first pulling the light, there is no indication to someone coming along later that the box even exists. A blank plate on a wall or an access cover plate imply a box behind it. A can light in the ceiling does not.

One major determining factor, from my point of view is whether any of the wires from that box are going directly to the light which was pulled. If one is, then you have a much stronger argument, in that someone troubleshooting problems with the lights will be forced to pull the can at some point and will find the box. from what I can see in the photo, the box could very well be unrelated to the can light circuit.
Click to expand...

That is nice but I don't see a single code section cited to back those opinions. :)
 
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