Can you identify the Code violation(s) in this photo?
Hint: Making intimate contact
How well do you know the Code? Think you can spot violations the original installer either ignored or couldn’t identify? Here’s your chance to moonlight as an electrical inspector and second-guess someone else’s work from the safety of your living room or office. Can you identify the Code violation(s) in this photo?
Using the 2008 NEC, correctly identify the Code violation(s) in this month’s photo — in 200 words or less — and you could win something to put in your toolbox. E-mail your response to nec.consultant@hotmail.com, and we’ll select three winners (excluding manufacturers and prior winners) at random from the correct submissions. Winners will receive a set of insulated hand tools from Ideal Industries, Inc., valued at more than $125.* The set includes 9.25-in. insulated side-cutting pliers, 10-in. insulated tongue-and-groove pliers, and a 0.25-in. 3 6-in. insulated screwdriver. (* Please allow six to eight weeks for delivery of tools.)
Our two winners this month include: John Hemmings, an electrician from Diamond, W. Va., and Nikita Yakimov, an electrical mechanic with Firequench, Inc., Brooklyn, N.Y. Both readers properly identified this means of attachment as a violation of the NEC.
As noted in 800.133(B), “Raceways shall be used for their intended purpose. Communications cables or wires shall not be strapped, taped, or attached by any means to the exterior of any conduit or raceway as a means of support.” Although you might think this data cable installer was creative in using this pull string as a means of support, he did so at several locations along this run of cables. Because it was the only means of support, it violates NEC rules.
Another section of the Code that could be cited by the AHJ is 800.24, Mechanical Execution of Work. One sentence in this section states, “Such cables shall be secured by hardware, including straps, staples, cable ties, hangers, or similar fittings designed and installed so as not to damage the cable.” This pull string is obviously not designed as a support device.