What is your opinion

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ivsenroute

Senior Member
Location
Florida
Client wants to add 1 receptacle to an existing bedroom of a 50 year old house.

Does the new duplex have to be AFCI protected?
Does the whole bedroom have to be AFCI protected now?
Can you simply add the receptacle and call it a day not AFCI protected?

Give a reason for your answer that is intelligent and factual.

I know what I would do as an electrician and as an inspector. What would you do??
 
In my neck of the woods the new receptacle would need to be AFCI protected.

If you added the rec to the existing bedroom circuit then that circuit would have to be AFCI protected.

Or if you ran a new circuit the just the new rec would have to be AFCI protected.

This answer may or may not be intelligent but it is SOP around here. :wink:
 
ivsenroute said:
Client wants to add 1 receptacle to an existing bedroom of a 50 year old house.

Does the new duplex have to be AFCI protected?
Does the whole bedroom have to be AFCI protected now?
Can you simply add the receptacle and call it a day not AFCI protected?

Give a reason for your answer that is intelligent and factual.

I know what I would do as an electrician and as an inspector. What would you do??
I would say Yes it would have to be afci protected because of the code that i was under, NEC 2005. and also cause its a 'new' INSTALLLATION. It would be JUST for this receptacle, and not the existing receptacles because i would assume they were code compliant when they were put in and you would not be altering their installation in any way.
 
This is an actual situation that I have just encountered with a client who wants this done. I simply bid it based on the fact that it needs to be AFCI protected and therefore the price is higher due to the Sq D AFCI breaker cost.
 
The outlet must be to code
If you alter another circuit then it must be to code also;
otherwise it's not your work and it's not your problem.
Unless you alter more than 20% of the house wiring
in which case the house must be brought to code.
-- edit -- we are still on 2005 code so ... ---
 
ivsenroute said:
This is an actual situation that I have just encountered with a client who wants this done. I simply bid it based on the fact that it needs to be AFCI protected and therefore the price is higher due to the Sq D AFCI breaker cost.

I would have done this the same way that you did.
 
I'm on board with Brother & C3PO.

The 20% rule pfacon quotes, I believe, might be a local rule and you, of course, may have something similar in your area.
 
pfalcon said:
The outlet must be to code
If you alter another circuit then it must be to code also;
otherwise it's not your work and it's not your problem.
Unless you alter more than 20% of the house wiring
in which case the house must be brought to code.
-- edit -- we are still on 2005 code so ... ---

Let's be clear, this is not from the NEC

New receptacle installatrion must be installed to current code.
 
I dint know if I should start another post for this. What if in the same house you are replacing the recepts and switches with Lets say Decora? do you have to change the BRK's
 
jmsbrush said:
I dint know if I should start another post for this. What if in the same house you are replacing the recepts and switches with Lets say Decora? do you have to change the BRK's

No, you are just changing devices, not altering the wiring, a homeowner can do that without permits.

~Matt
 
TOOL_5150 said:
No, you are just changing devices, not altering the wiring, a homeowner can do that without permits.

~Matt
You'd better hope that the wiring is up to par with todays or Iwire will tell you to pull new wires and all because you are tampering with any part of the circuit you better bring the whole thing up to date.
 
steelersman said:
You'd better hope that the wiring is up to par with todays or Iwire will tell you to pull new wires and all because you are tampering with any part of the circuit you better bring the whole thing up to date.

No I would not say that, you can replace a receptacle with a receptacle. The code covers that. :cool:
 
Actually, issues like this is where permits will most likely be thrown to the wind and a non-AFCI protected receptacle (GFCI is not a problem) will be installed.

Roger
 
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