210.21(B)(3) 20amp duplex receptacle on 15amp circuit

[Scurry]

I asked this question on one of Mike Holt's recent facebook posts and he instructed me to ask here.

Table 210.21(B)(3) used to say "not over 15" for receptacle ratings on 15 amp circuit ratings. Which meant that 20 amp receptacles could not be used on 15 amp circuits with multiple receptacles/outlets.

NOW, Table 210.21(B)(3) simply says "15" for receptacle ratings on 15 amp circuit ratings. And Code 210.21(B)(3) says "receptacle ratings shall not be less than the values listed in Table 210.21(B)(3)". Does that mean that 20 amp receptacles are now permitted on 15 circuits? I no longer see anything prohibiting it. I know the intention was to keep people from plugging a 20 amp load into a 15 amp circuit, so maybe there's another code which now prevents it?

 

[wwhitney]

This was a change in the 2023 NEC. 210.21(B)(3) used to say that receptacle ratings "shall conform to" the table values. Now it says that they "shall not be less than" the table values.

Since "conform to" was generally interpreted to mean "match", this represents a change to what is allowed. Whether the CMP in charge of this code section meant "match" originally or not is unclear, but it is clear that under the 2023 NEC you can put a 20A receptacle on a 15A circuit supplying two or more receptacles.

Edit: Hmm, 210.24 was not updated, so there is a conflict within the 2023 NEC. Still 210.24 is meant to summarize the earlier sections, so I would think the actual text of 210.21(B)(3) would take precedence. Oddly, no one picked up on this discrepancy, so it does not appear that the 2026 NEC will fix it. Good topic for a PI for the 2029 NEC.

Cheers, Wayne