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. Joe Tedesco, who has a knack for finding shoddy electrical work, did the dirty work and found this mess. Now it's your turn to identify the violation.
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Answer:
I found this receptacle in the equipment room of a hotel. I wondered if corrosion in the block wall had disintegrated the original device box or if the original installer never put one in. This installation wouldn’t qualify for a so-called "boxless" installation, so I have to believe a box was never included in the original installation.
As per 300.15 of the 2005 NEC, “A box shall be installed at each outlet and switch point for concealed knob-and-tube wiring.
“Fittings and connectors shall be used only with the specific wiring methods for which they are designed and listed.
“Where the wiring method is conduit, tubing, Type AC cable, Type MC cable, Type MI cable, nonmetallic-sheathed cable, or other cables, a box or conduit body shall be installed at each conductor splice point, outlet point, switch point, junction point, termination point, or pull point, unless otherwise permitted in 300.15(A) through (M).”