Floor scrubbers & GFI

[Davebones]

Was working a Sunday a few weeks ago and saw the janitorial service was using a floor scrubber to clean the bathroom floors . The outlets inside the bathroom are GFI protected but their cord was long enough that there were plugging into a standard outlet out in the hallway . Figure we need to go ahead and just install GFI's in all the walkways just to eliminate this from happening . Do floor scrubbers have to be GFI protected even if not being used in a bathroom ?

 

[jumper]

No.

 

[JFletcher]

I doubt they care if the receptacle they plug into is GFCI type (or protected) or not so long as it works. They probably were using the hallway receptacle to get most of that long cord out of the way while scrubbing the bathroom floors.

 

[LarryFine]

The GFCI is there for guests, not custodians.

 

[jumper]

I doubt they care if the receptacle they plug into is GFCI type (or protected) or not so long as it works. They probably were using the hallway receptacle to get most of that long cord out of the way while scrubbing the bathroom floors.

The GFCI is there for guests, not custodians.

True, but besides all the article 680 stuff , since appliances that the NEC requires to have protection now like vending machines, water coolers and dishwashers it does get confusing.

 

[LarryFine]

What prevents people from using cords into the bathroom at home?

 

[jumper]

What prevents people from using cords into the bathroom at home?

Not sure of how this applies.

I was referring to the fact that some equipment requires GFCI and not just a receptacle serving it. Even if hardwired GFCI is required in some cases.

 

[Jraef]

I’d hazard a guess that he was using the long extension cord to the hallway BECAUSE the bathroom had a GFCI and it would trip when he tried to use his scrubber...

 

[JFletcher]

perhaps davebones was thinking that since the floor scrubber was being operated (presumably) within 6' of a sink it needed to be GFCI protected?

that's not the case or code tho I could see where a floor scrubber/buffer may eventually come with integral GFCI/LCDI protection as the combination of rough use, damaged cords, (including frays, pulled out connectors/wires, and broken ground pins) wet floors and mostly metal floor buffer, including handle, seems to have the potential to zap someone. No empirical evidence of such zaps (faults), just saying it seems more likely to happen than with something like a double insulated vacuum on a dry floor...

I’d hazard a guess that he was using the long extension cord to the hallway BECAUSE the bathroom had a GFCI and it would trip when he tried to use his scrubber...

some of them come with quite long cords, iirc the floor buffer for my mother's beauty salon had a cord that would reach front to back w/o switching receptacles.