HELP !!!! outlet placement?

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LMaloney

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HELP !!!! outlet placement?

In a single family dwelling, is an outlet required by the NEC within 6 feet of any doorway. I was asked this question today and couldn't find any thing on the code saying that is was required. One more, I have a 20 foot long hallway how many receptacles are required. Please site code articles and sections
 
Re: HELP !!!! outlet placement?

Re: HELP !!!! outlet placement?

210.52(A)(1) Spacing. Receptacles shall be installed so that no point measured horizontally along the floor line in any wall space is more than 6 feet from a receptacle.

A door will define a wall space, so the edge of the door is the beginning of a wall space.

210.52(H) talks about hallways 10 feet or more are required to have at least one receptacle outlet.

Chris
 
Re: HELP !!!! outlet placement?

Re: HELP !!!! outlet placement?

The code does not specifically say that a receptacle must be installed within 6' of a doorway. The code reference that Raider1 gave is correct. Think of it this way, if you set a table with a lamp on it adjacent to the door opening, you would need a receptacle within 6' in order to plug the lamp in it. So the code does in fact require the receptacle without specifically saying "a receptacle shall be installed within 6' of the doorway....
 
Re: HELP !!!! outlet placement?

Re: HELP !!!! outlet placement?

IT IS HARD TO BELIEVE THAT SOMEONE WHO IS REGISTERED AS AN ELECTRICAL INSPECTOR IS ASKING HOW TO SPACE RECEPTACLES AND WHERE TO FIND IT IN THE CODE.
Their are a lot of things about the code that I don't know so don't get me wrong.But this sounds like a DIY
 
Re: HELP !!!! outlet placement?

Re: HELP !!!! outlet placement?

Hey, I know where to look. The other inspectors in my office are questioning my enforcement of 6' from any door. I simply wanted to back my self up. The hallway to me is a matter of defining a hallway. They believe that if you had a 40' hallway code only forces you to place one receptacle because the NEC has a separate section for hallway. I say that a opening i.e. a 12 x 15 entrance to a great room technically splits two sections of hallway. Hard to explain.
 
Re: HELP !!!! outlet placement?

Re: HELP !!!! outlet placement?

Originally posted by bassphisher:But this sounds like a DIY
That was unnecessarily harsh. I went back and read his previous posts. I did not see a DIY. Rather, I saw an inspector looking for assistance within the scope of his profession. That is why we are here.
 
Re: HELP !!!! outlet placement?

Re: HELP !!!! outlet placement?

I didn't word my question correctly. An exit door to the garage at the end of a hallway that proceeds to the other end of the house but is broken up by large walkways into the kitchen, foyer, greatroom stairs. The exit to the garage has an outlet about 10 or 12' away. Does the outlet need to be within 6' of the door or is it considered in the hallway. Please go easy on me, I know this sounds like a dumb question, but if you would have seen it you would understand my question.
 
Re: HELP !!!! outlet placement?

Re: HELP !!!! outlet placement?

Whats a DIY? I would like to respond to that one.
 
Re: HELP !!!! outlet placement?

Re: HELP !!!! outlet placement?

Question, a 60' long hallway not passing through any doorways. How many outlets required by the NEC?
 
Re: HELP !!!! outlet placement?

Re: HELP !!!! outlet placement?

Originally posted by LMaloney: The other inspectors in my office are questioning my enforcement of 6' from any door.
I question it too. If you are talking about the living room side of the door, and if the walls next to the door are at least 2 feet wide, then both those walls must have at least one receptacle. Also, if there is no receptacle within 6 feet of the door (again, we are talking about the living room side of the door), then you have a violation of 210.52(A)(1), as Chris pointed out.

But if you are talking about the hallway side of that same door, the rules are different.
Originally posted by LMaloney: They believe that if you had a 40' hallway code only forces you to place one receptacle because the NEC has a separate section for hallway.
They are right. A hall over 10 feet long needs at least one receptacle, and it does not have to be within 6 feet of the door.
Originally posted by LMaloney: I say that a opening i.e. a 12 x 15 entrance to a great room technically splits two sections of hallway. Hard to explain.
Hard to understand what you are trying to describe. If there is an opening to a great room, then one side of that opening might be a hallway, but the other side is not a hallway (i.e., it is a room).

Let me see if this clarifies the situation. Consider a hallway that is 30 feet long. On either side (i.e., left and right), there are doors leading to various rooms. There is a doorway that you walkthrough, halfway down the hallway. When you look at putting receptacles in the hallway, you completely ignore the doors leading left and right out of the hallway. All you consider is the one doorway that you pass through as you walk through the hallway itself. It divides the space into two hallways. You need at least one receptacle in each hallway, and it doesn't have to be within six feet of any door.
 
Re: HELP !!!! outlet placement?

Re: HELP !!!! outlet placement?

Originally posted by LMaloney: Whats a DIY?
It stands for "Do It Yourself," meaning a homeowner who wants our assistance so he can do his own electrical installation work. The Forum rules prohibit us from giving that assistance.
Originally posted by LMaloney:I would like to respond to that one.
I hope you will accept my earlier post as sufficient response.
 
Re: HELP !!!! outlet placement?

Re: HELP !!!! outlet placement?

Originally posted by LMaloney: Question, a 60' long hallway not passing through any doorways. How many outlets required by the NEC?
One, and as I have said earlier, it does not have to be within any specific distance of any door.
 
Re: HELP !!!! outlet placement?

Re: HELP !!!! outlet placement?

Originally posted by LMaloney: The exit to the garage has an outlet about 10 or 12' away. Does the outlet need to be within 6' of the door or is it considered in the hallway.
Not having seen the house, I am not sure I am correctly visualizing what you are attempting to describe. Let me try to describe the situation, and you tell me if I have it right.

You park the car in the garage, and then open a door. You see before you a long hallway. If you walk through that hallway, you can turn left or right into various rooms. But as you start walking from the garage door down the hall, you must walk 10 feet before you see a receptacle.

If that is an accurate description of the house, then it is legal to have the receptacle where it is located.
 
Re: HELP !!!! outlet placement?

Re: HELP !!!! outlet placement?

Sorry if I was harsh.I must have misread your original question.When I read it earlier I thought that it said that YOU were tagged BY an inspector.Did not mean to offend you.
 
Re: HELP !!!! outlet placement?

Re: HELP !!!! outlet placement?

No harm done. I did not post a very well worded question. Thanks
 
Re: HELP !!!! outlet placement?

Re: HELP !!!! outlet placement?

I too thought it strange that an ispector would ask this question until I re-read the post.

is an outlet required by the NEC within 6 feet of any doorway.
This can be taken two ways:

1. If there's a doorway then is a receptacle required within 6'?

2. Does the mere existance of a doorway have any bearing on the code at all?

Of course the answer, if I understand this part of the code, is yes if the adjacent wall space is greater than or equal to 2' in length.

This sounds like a test question.

Bob
 
Re: HELP !!!! outlet placement?

Re: HELP !!!! outlet placement?

Originally posted by bthielen: Of course the answer, if I understand this part of the code, is yes if the adjacent wall space is greater than or equal to 2' in length.
That is only true for the "kitchen, family room, dining room, living room, parlor, library, den, sunroom, bedroom, recreation room, or similar room or area." It is not true for hallways. 210.52(H).
 
Re: HELP !!!! outlet placement?

Re: HELP !!!! outlet placement?

Now Charlie i know inspectors that have no problem with the 10 ft hall way room but go right to simular area and enforce the 2/6/12 rule.
I guess it would depend on the entire lay out of an area a 3 ft X 60 ft hall only requires 1 recep but take that same 3 ft area and extend it to 20 ft .That constitutes a room and 2/6/12 apply.
This is a very grey area.What`s a hall what`s a room,most floor plans describe bedrooms family rooms etc. but have you seen plans that say hallway ?That is a disrestionary measure.,is it usable space .Who decides.The arcitect the builder the electrician.NOPE the inspectors does.
 
Re: HELP !!!! outlet placement?

Re: HELP !!!! outlet placement?

can you call an area a hallway just becaue the flooring is different? Or does there have to be a wall defining the hall?
 
Re: HELP !!!! outlet placement?

Re: HELP !!!! outlet placement?

Originally posted by LMaloney:
In a single family dwelling, is an outlet required by the NEC within 6 feet of any doorway.
Yes.
 
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