GFCI Receptacle in Cabinets

[Sparksgiving]

I have a communications cabinet located outdoors that has a UPS inside. The Engineer and owner want a standard receptacle for this UPS to plug in to and not a GFCI receptacle. Looking at NEC 210.8(B)(4) it states this would have to be GFCI protected. Even tho this is located in a NEMA 3R cabinet, Is it permissible to install a standard receptacle, or does this have to be a GFCI?

 

[charlie b]

I am a little confused. Are the communication electronics, and the UPS, and the receptacle outlet into which the UPS will be plugged all contained within the same NEMA 3R cabinet? If so, were they all provided by the same manufacturer as a listed assembly? If so, then I think the NEC does not have jurisdiction over the items internal to the enclosure.

However, I do not understand how power will be brought to this enclosure. It is located outside the building, so you will need to bring a circuit from inside the building, and somehow penetrate the wall. From there, I suppose you will run conduit to the enclosure. How do you make the connection? Is there a pre-drilled hole onto which you will attach some conduit connector? And how will you route wires inside the enclosure to the location of the receptacle outlet?

Can you explain the situation with a bit more detail?

Welcome to the forum.

 

[Ponchik]

If the communication box has a cord from and it plugs into an external receaptacle, then that receptacle has to be GFCI protected because it is outdoors. If the communication box gets hardwired and has a builtin receptacle and then IMO it is listed unit and does not need a GFCI protection, unless required by the instructions.

 

[Sparksgiving]

Charlie,
The new cabinets are made in a UL listed shop as one unit with internal breakers, general receptacle and a GFCI Receptacle. We are running from an outdoor service pole to the cabinet where there is an opening for us to terminate the conduit.

However, there are existing communications cabinets on the job that only have GFCI receptacles in them. They want us to add regular receptacles inside these cabinets to plug their UPS's in them because they say that if the GFCI were to trip, their UPS will go down.

I can't find anywhere in the code for receptacle requirements inside an outdoor cabinet. I do see where it states if any branch is located outdoors it must be GFCI in 210.8. So is the receptacle inside the cabinet considered outdoors, since the cabinet itself is outdoors?

 

[tom baker]

there is no requirement for the receptacle to be GFCI protected in Art 210. However 590.6(A)(2) has the following requirement
(2) Receptacle Outlets Existing or Installed as Permanent Wiring.
Ground-fault circuit-interrupter protection for
personnel shall be provided for all 125-volt, single-phase,
15-, 20-, and 30-ampere receptacle outlets installed or existing
as part of the permanent wiring of the building or
structure and used for temporary electric power. Listed cord
sets or devices incorporating listed ground-fault circuitinterrupter
protection for personnel identified for portable
use shall be permitted.

I would use a single receptacle for the UPS and a install a duplex GFCI. Its a small cost for a lot of protection.
Traffic signal cabinets are similar, and they have a GFCI receptacle even though not required, and that has been standard practice since the mid 1980s.