Kitchen refrigerator on GFCI circuit

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68Malibu383

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Raleigh, NC
I'm a home inspector and inspected a new house a few days ago and I found the refrigerator to be on same circuit as GFCI protected kitchen receptacles. Refrigerator was against the wall and kitchen sink was on an island. I told home owner this arrangement was not ideal due to the fact that GFCI could trip when someone is out of town, or may trip without owner noticing for some time, and food may spoil/freezer may thaw, dumping water on the floor (ruining floor covers, etc).

Builder states receptacle is within 6' of sink rim. I did not measure from receptacle to rim of kitchen sink to determine if sink rim was within 6' of receptacle, but if it is, it must be barely within 6'. However, in NC, inspectors are not code enforcement and we are to use codes as guides but not black and white since they are minimum standards. Builder also stated that since refrigerator has a water hook up behind it, that would also be a requirement for GFCI protection (incorrect).

I understand that there could be a time when someone might use receptacle when refrigerator is not installed, or pulled away from the wall, which would be the only time the receptacle could be accessed, and someone could dunk a tool in water at the sink. And I understand NEC has rules that do provide protection in very unusual situations.

Is there any leeway in a case like this or is the 6' rule black and white?
 
While there is a risk of the GFCI tripping, if this is new construction and a new appliance, that risk is quite small. Basically if a GFCI trips on a new fridge then the fridge is broken.

If the receptacle is barely 6' from the sink, then the exposed front of the fridge is certainly much closer to the sink. An energized appliance chassis in easy reach of a sink is exactly the sort of hazard that this bit of code is intended to prevent.

As a design decision rather than a code requirement, if GFCI protection is required for a fridge receptacle, I would use an individual GFCI receptacle rather than shared GFCI protection for multiple receptacles. This minimized the chance that a fault on some other device will shut off the fridge.

The fridge in my home has been on a GFCI receptacle since 2016 with no problems...though I should probably test the GFCI :)

-Jon
 
If the GFCI trips its doing its job. Prevent a shock or spoiled food, what is the priority?
NEC requires test reset function to be accessible not behind a fridge.
Also leviton makes GFCI with alarm when it trips.
 
68Malibu383 said:
I'm a home inspector and inspected a new house a few days ago and I found the refrigerator to be on same circuit as GFCI protected kitchen receptacles. Refrigerator was against the wall and kitchen sink was on an island. I told home owner this arrangement was not ideal due to the fact that GFCI could trip when someone is out of town, or may trip without owner noticing for some time, and food may spoil/freezer may thaw, dumping water on the floor (ruining floor covers, etc).

Builder states receptacle is within 6' of sink rim. I did not measure from receptacle to rim of kitchen sink to determine if sink rim was within 6' of receptacle, but if it is, it must be barely within 6'. However, in NC, inspectors are not code enforcement and we are to use codes as guides but not black and white since they are minimum standards. Builder also stated that since refrigerator has a water hook up behind it, that would also be a requirement for GFCI protection (incorrect).

I understand that there could be a time when someone might use receptacle when refrigerator is not installed, or pulled away from the wall, which would be the only time the receptacle could be accessed, and someone could dunk a tool in water at the sink. And I understand NEC has rules that do provide protection in very unusual situations.

Is there any leeway in a case like this or is the 6' rule black and white?
Click to expand...
If the shortest path a cord would take from the receptacle to the top inside edge of the sink is less than 6' then you need GFCI protection per 210.8(A)(7). The GFCI receptacle could not be located behind the sink as it would not meet the definition of readily accessible. The refrigerator receptacle is allowed to be supplied by the small appliance branch circuit or it could have it's own circuit per 210.52(B).
The fact that the fridge has ice and/or water dispensing is not relevant.
 
I agree with the above. If there is water to the fridge that is not the same as a sink so no gfci would be required for that situation.
 
Most of this has been debated here before...

Refrigerator Recep GFI Protected Manufacturer's "not recommended"

Hello All. I'm working on a new home (2014 NEC), where the refrigerator Recep is within 6ft of the sink so it requires GFI protection. The Refrigerator Manufacturer's Specs say "Use of an electrical outlet with ground fault interrupter (GFI) is not recommended." Does the code recognize the...
forums.mikeholt.com
 
NC inspector fighting against a GFCI???
I’ve seen inspection reports either passing or “requiring” a GFCI on the refrigerator outlet. BEHIND the refrigerator, which is a no-no..

BTW, Terry Tart still work at the Home Inspections board?
 
winnie said:
....

If the receptacle is barely 6' from the sink, then the exposed front of the fridge is certainly much closer to the sink. An energized appliance chassis in easy reach of a sink is exactly the sort of hazard that this bit of code is intended to prevent.

As a design decision rather than a code requirement, if GFCI protection is required for a fridge receptacle, I would use an individual GFCI receptacle rather than shared GFCI protection for multiple receptacles. This minimized the chance that a fault on some other device will shut off the fridge.

....

-Jon
Click to expand...

The energized chassis makes sense.

A dedicated GFCI would be ideal but would need to be a GFCI breaker so it was accessible. Very good suggestion.

Thanks for all of the replies.
 
winnie said:
If the receptacle is barely 6' from the sink, then the exposed front of the fridge is certainly much closer to the sink. An energized appliance chassis in easy reach of a sink is exactly the sort of hazard that this bit of code is intended to prevent.
-Jon
Click to expand...
Well, if that is the case then the CMP should have worded the requirement differently. In many cases under the code the receptacle will be beyond the 6' minimum rule and be compliant but the fridge handle will be far less than 6'.
 
texie said:
Well, if that is the case then the CMP should have worded the requirement differently. In many cases under the code the receptacle will be beyond the 6' minimum rule and be compliant but the fridge handle will be far less than 6'.
Click to expand...
Exactly, also how do you know how close the customer is going to keep the fridge to the wall? What if they buy a different brand? You can't control everything. They are worried about you plugging in the device while touching water or the device dropping in the water. Most appliances have short cords that would not allow it to fall in a sink if the outlet is farther away than 6'. The GFCI 6' rule and the wall spacing of receptacles 6' and 12' is based off the cord lengths of normal appliances and devices. They want you to be able to plug something in without an extension cord and also plug something in without touching water and a non-gfci receptacle at the same time.
 
Dear NEC,
Could you please require the entire house/dorm/hotel/motel to be arc and gfi protected. We are tired of the labyrinth you have set up in the code book concerning these requirements. The manufactures will somehow ‘reward’ you.

Thanks,
Every Electrician
 
jusme123 said:
Dear NEC,
Could you please require the entire house/dorm/hotel/motel to be arc and gfi protected. We are tired of the labyrinth you have set up in the code book concerning these requirements. The manufactures will somehow ‘reward’ you.

Thanks,
Every Electrician
Click to expand...
It seems that is where we are headed. I think over the next few code cycles there will be very few things left that will not be required to be GFCI/AFCI.
The jury is still out on the the new requirements for this in the 2020 edition and the fighting over tripped breakers on things such as A/C condensing units that have too much leakage current. I realize that all these types of equipment are required by the NRTLs to have low enough leakage to work on GFCI but we'll see a lot of finger pointing and blame for a few years over this. The aggregating part is that the unbillable cost to sort these things out seem to be always carried by the EC rather than the guilty manufacturers. I can only imagine the wasted man hours contractors have had to eat over the last number of years just on AFCIs alone that were not the fault of the contractor.
 
I've had enough issues with used commercial refrigeration and GFCIs over the years, thank you very much. Don't need more.
 
I got one of these when I had to put a GFCI in for my beer fridge in teh garage.

Amazon.com: Power Failure Detector with Text Message and Email Alerts: Home Improvement

Amazon.com: Power Failure Detector with Text Message and Email Alerts: Home Improvement
www.amazon.com

Doesn't work when there is a general power outage, because the WiFi router shuts down, but it works when the GFCI that the fridge is plugged into trips. I haven't had it trip yet, but I tested it. I get a text message telling me that the power was cut to the receptacle.
 
texie said:
It seems that is where we are headed. I think over the next few code cycles there will be very few things left that will not be required to be GFCI/AFCI.
Click to expand...
yup....
so just go w/ DF's for resi

consider commercial kitchens as well

everything is gfci


~RJ~
 
Jraef said:
I got one of these when I had to put a GFCI in for my beer fridge in teh garage.

Amazon.com: Power Failure Detector with Text Message and Email Alerts: Home Improvement

Amazon.com: Power Failure Detector with Text Message and Email Alerts: Home Improvement
www.amazon.com

Doesn't work when there is a general power outage, because the WiFi router shuts down, but it works when the GFCI that the fridge is plugged into trips. I haven't had it trip yet, but I tested it. I get a text message telling me that the power was cut to the receptacle.
Click to expand...
Can’t think of a better use for a WiFi enabled tripped GFCI alarm than a beer kegorator...
(y):)
 
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