Anyone know what year receptacle and light were required on rear porch?

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There is a section that requires controlled (switched) light at residence outside doors.
There is another section that requires a receptacle within a specified distance of the door, on the outside.

Tapatalk!
 
Outside receptacle front and back of a single family.

Lights for stairs. Maybe OP is thinking since there's a stoop and light at the door that it's the door that's the requirement, but it's the stairs.
 
See 210.52(E)(3) for receptacle requirements pertaining to attaches decks, balconies and porches. 210.70(A)(2)(b) requires a switched lighting outlet on the exterior side of grade level entrances / exits.
 
I think it was either the 1996 or 1999 code cycle that added the requirement to have a receptacle at both the front and back of a dwelling at grade level, but before this only one was required and could be anywhere outside as long as it was at grade level, I remember the change just not which code cycle it was put in, I know the 1993 didn't require it, but not sure if the 1996 did?

In 2008 Balconies, decks, and porches was required to have a receptacle if the Balconies, decks, and porches are assessable from inside the unit, and the exception removes this requirement if the porch is less then 20 square ft. (210.52(E)(3)

Lighting outlets at exterior doors that have grade level access goes back much father as it's been a requirement as far back as I can remember, but at some time it must have not been required as I have seen many older homes without a outside light, some built in the "70s" didn't have any, so not sure when it first started being required?
 
hurk27 said:
I think it was either the 1996 or 1999 code cycle that added the requirement to have a receptacle at both the front and back of a dwelling at grade level, but before this only one was required and could be anywhere outside as long as it was at grade level, I remember the change just not which code cycle it was put in, I know the 1993 didn't require it, but not sure if the 1996 did?
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1996 NEC article 210-52 (e) outddoor outlets. For a one-family dwelling and each unit of a two-family dwelling that is at grade level, at least one receptacle outlet accessable at grade level and not more than 6 ft, 6 in above grade shall be installed at the front and back of the dwelling.


Working togather, that's what it's all about. I don't have a 1993 code book anymore but I do have the 1996 and newer.


Now I wish I had saved more of my old code books.
 
1987 is as far back as I go. 210-52 is much shorter then it is in recent editions, and probably would still be fairly sufficient today, JMO.

210-52(d) only required one outdoor receptacle at a dwelling that is accessible at grade level. Multifamily units did not require an outside receptacle at each unit if the unit was not at grade level.

210-70 required a wall switch controlled lighting outlet at certain listed locations with one item in the list being "at outdoor entrances or exits". Note it did not specify if this lighting outlet needed to be inside or outside or how close to the "entrance or exit" it needed to be.

Life was simpler then both these sections are able to be read without turning any pages in the 1987 NEC and art 210 was a lot smaller, though at some point there was major overhaul of different sections and some information that used to be elsewhere has filled some of this space and some of it is just newer information.
 
Kwired, you do bring up some important limitations to what the NEC actually requires.

One requirement has you put an outdoor receptacle, accessible from GRADE, on the front and rear of a house. It's quite possible, in a duplex, that neither of these would be on the same side of the house as the door. It's quite possible that a receptacle placed on the porch would not qualify, as it would not be accessible from grade.

Likewise, the light need not be specific to the door, or switched anywhere near the door. It's common for a single light to serve, say, a patio door and a door not associated with the patio.

The 'switch' requirement can be met with timers, photocells, or motion sensors. It need not be a toggle switch on the wall.

I don't know what led the OP to ask his question, so I'll repeat what the first part of the NEC tells us: the Code is NOT a design manual. That's not it's job. "Code minimum" is almost always crappy design.
 
renosteinke said:
Kwired, you do bring up some important limitations to what the NEC actually requires.

One requirement has you put an outdoor receptacle, accessible from GRADE, on the front and rear of a house. It's quite possible, in a duplex, that neither of these would be on the same side of the house as the door. It's quite possible that a receptacle placed on the porch would not qualify, as it would not be accessible from grade.

Likewise, the light need not be specific to the door, or switched anywhere near the door. It's common for a single light to serve, say, a patio door and a door not associated with the patio.

The 'switch' requirement can be met with timers, photocells, or motion sensors. It need not be a toggle switch on the wall.

I don't know what led the OP to ask his question, so I'll repeat what the first part of the NEC tells us: the Code is NOT a design manual. That's not it's job. "Code minimum" is almost always crappy design.
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I not sure just what the OP is after either. Until more recently a "porch" or "deck" did not necessarily have to have a receptacle outlet that was accessible from the porch or deck, just one on front and rear of the home was the general rule, and as I mentioned in 1987 just one outside accessible from grade level was all that was necessary. Lighting outlets have had the intentions clarified some since 1987 but never have really been required to specifically be located on a porch or deck. Illumination at an entry door is usually required, but no real requirements of just how it must be accomplished. I would think a big flood light located 100 feet away from the entry could meet the requirements as long as it illuminates the general vicinity of the exterior side of the entry door, but it would need a wall switch control somewhere in or on the dwelling- at least according to 2011 NEC.
 
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