2020 - 210.8(A) & (F)

[kwired]

Below is a CMP member comment on this subject...

The substantiation that resulted in the proposed revision was a result of an unqualified individual performing an electrical installation they never should have attempted to begin with and another individual that trespassed onto private property by jumping a fence and landing on top the enclosure for an air conditioner. Although this incident was certainly tragic, and I am on the side of safety, the NEC should not now mandate GFCI protection for all outdoor outlets based on set of very specific unfortunate circumstances. This requirement is extremely broad and therefore will result in many unintended consequences. For example, it is unknown if AC units will operate on a GFCI protected circuit as sufficient testing has not been conducted to answer this question. What if the AC unit is in an area where there is high humidity and hot conditions and the GFCI trips when the owners are not present for extended periods of time? This can result in interior property damage and unhealthy conditions from mold, etc. Because this requirement is not limited to receptacle outlets it will involve hard wired connections for effluent pumps and other types of lift station pumps with outdoor connections just to begin with

Does it seem to anyone else like they are on a mission to eventually make us GFCI protect nearly everything?

And who is pushing for it, you can bet many the same manufacturers that also make AFCI's that pushed those the way they did are are probably well behind this.

Don't get me wrong, GFCI's are good thing, but do have their limitations.

30 mA trip point would still be very effective but would eliminate some those nuisance trips.

I still feel GFCI is not nearly as important for something with a hard wired connection vs cord and plug as well, in particular the 5-15, 5-20 and maybe even 6-15 and 6-20 designs where the EGC pin sometimes can even fall off a cord cap without anyone intentionally trying to remove it.

Rules to protect us from unqualified make no sense, unqualified often will do what they are going to do regardless of what the rules may be.

One my favorite ones for many years now is the need to re-identify a white conductor as an ungrounded conductor where permitted to be used for that. Defenders of this rule often say what if someone not qualified is working on it and doesn't know it is a "hot" conductor? My reply is if it is landed on a breaker or fuseholder and you still don't know it is a "hot conductor" you maybe don't even have any business taking the cover off in the first place, but it is supposed to be a free country and you are still welcome to take that risk.