My inspector is telling me I have to have GFI receptacle located on every floor that there is a bathroom. I realize all bathroom receptacles have to be GFI protected. what is mean is he will not allow a GFI device in the basement to protect the bathrooms on the 1st and 2nd floor. I realize this is for practical reasons but is it code. it bothers me when inspectors use their opinions as code. they do not have any local amendments that address this.
Location of GFI protection of Bathroom receptacles
- Thread starter Vmadden
- Start date
- Status
- Location
- Massachusetts
Are you feeding just bathroom receptacles with this circuit of is it running other things like lighting?
luckylerado
Senior Member
- Location
- Lake of the Ozarks
How do you know when he sites opinion VS code??
220.11
(3) Bathroom Branch Circuits. In addition to the number
of branch circuits required by other parts of this section , at
least one 120-volt, 20-ampere branch circuit shall be provided
to supply a bathroom receptacle outlet(s). Such circuits shall
have no other outlets.
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lauraj
Senior Member
- Location
- Portland, Oregon
That shouldn't be his concern, it's not a code violation.
- Location
- Chapel Hill, NC
- Occupation
- Retired Electrical Contractor
Unless there is a local amendment the inspector is incorrect and cannot enforce what he wants.
jumper
Senior Member
- Location
- 3 Hr 2 Min from Winged Horses
Agreed.
- Location
- Lockport, IL
- Occupation
- Semi-Retired Electrical Engineer
If you think about the reason for the applicable "no other outlets" rule, it makes sense that the inspector is wrong.
- The rules allow everything in one bathroom, including the receptacles, to be on the same circuit, provided that nothing outside that bathroom is on the same circuit. So if you are using too large a hair dryer and the circuit trips, you will be in the dark. But you will also be only a few steps away from the door, so you can safely exit the bathroom.
- The rules also allow receptacles from more than one bathroom to share a circuit, provided that nothing other than bathroom receptacles is on that circuit. So if you are in one bathroom and someone in another bathroom overloads the receptacle circuit, you will lose power to whatever you had plugged in, but you will still have lights, and can safely exit the bathroom.
- Nothing in either rule speaks to the degree of inconvenience you would experience, while looking for the location of the GFCI device. The NEC is all about safety, not about convenience.
I agree. He says it is Baltimore City Code. I happen to know it is not and when i ask him for the code article he got very angry and told me to speak to his boss. Unfortanatly he is the Chief Inspector and his boss is not an electrical guy.
jumper
Senior Member
- Location
- 3 Hr 2 Min from Winged Horses
The MD inspection, code adoption, and licensing processes are so totally wrong IMO. This stuff is way too typical here.:rant:
Never had this BS in VA. Everything was statewide. No exceptions.
Unfortunately this is not a MD issue. Each County and each City in MD has there own adoption and enforcement of the code. There are some good counties, Baltimore City however is a mess.
I get a little tired of inspectors inspecting based on what there preference is. Enforce the code! I realize there are interpretations and gray areas on some parts of the code. But when it is clear its clear. And when each inspector in the jurisdiction enforces a different way there is a problem.
- Location
- New Jersey
- Occupation
- Journeyman Electrician
If you follow the NEC this is not a gray area it's simply not required.
jumper
Senior Member
- Location
- 3 Hr 2 Min from Winged Horses
That was my point. If this silly state would adopt a statewide code this would not be such an issue.:rant:
mgookin
Senior Member
- Location
- Fort Myers, FL
- Occupation
- Retired inspector, plans examiner & building official
If there is a building industry association you can contact them and ask them to lobby the legislature for it.
Politicians always give in to developers and their deep pockets.
Politicians always give in to developers and their deep pockets.
electricguy61
Senior Member
Wouldn't it be more cost effective just to install the GFCI's he wants? Sometimes winning the battle costs us the war.
You're right, he's wrong, but you will lose in the end.
You're right, he's wrong, but you will lose in the end.
mgookin
Senior Member
- Location
- Fort Myers, FL
- Occupation
- Retired inspector, plans examiner & building official
Sounds like it's already wired and closed in. I could be wrong.
electricguy61
Senior Member
He can still remove the duplex receptacles and install GFCI's wherever the inspector wants them.
mgookin
Senior Member
- Location
- Fort Myers, FL
- Occupation
- Retired inspector, plans examiner & building official
The inspector takes issue with load side feeding a GFCI on one floor from a GFCI on another floor.
electricguy61
Senior Member
:?
So the problem is not the circuit feeding all the GFCI's. As you replace each gfci, starting on the bottom floor, you don't wire any load side connections.
How many baths are we talking about? 2 per floor, six max? 1.5 hours of labor (fat), $100 for 5 new GFCI's? For me, not worth arguing about, nor worth the bad relations with the inspector.
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mgookin
Senior Member
- Location
- Fort Myers, FL
- Occupation
- Retired inspector, plans examiner & building official
Here's the OP:
I may have erred in doing so but I assumed this was new construction and that he roughed in his GFCI's as described and now the inspector comes for final and he doesn't want to have to walk to another floor to reset a tripped GFCI. Let's see if OP comes back and clarifies...
So you're saying just change the receptacles to all GFCI's (in the bathrooms)? Makes sense.
And he could change them to line side connected if he does that.
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