We received a question from an electrical contractor installing motorized shades in a new office building. The shades have a SJTW cord that is ran from a 120V jbox to the shade motor which is inside the shade roller and has a 1' cord with connector on it. The EC is claiming that this against code to run the cable above a ceiling (we have both a soffit with exposed ceilings and a soffit next to an acoustic panel ceiling). We are allowing access to the jbox and the soffits are open to above so they are accessible if they need to get to them, but I believe the EC has a point. I believe the cord is allowed per 400.10(8), but I don't see that 400.12 would allow it to be ran above the ceiling. The manufacturer does offer a cable with a metal covering, which I believe would meet code. Our AHJ is allowing the installation and I believe a lot of motorized shades utilize these cord connectors to the motors. Has anyone ran across this with motorized shade installs? Is the EC correct in that the cord should not be ran above the ceiling?
NEC 400.12 (2017)
- Thread starter engineerm
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- New Jersey
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- Journeyman Electrician
IMO the cord cannot be above the ceiling. We install some type of outlet for the shade cord to plug into below the ceiling.
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