Cabin Fever
A great big “thank you” goes out to Joe Sanwick, owner of One2one Electric in Winnsboro, S.C., for sharing this great photo with us. In Joe’s own words, “The cabin had nice woodwork all throughout the house with faux log walls inside. I was troubleshooting a tripping breaker and noticed the wood around the receptacles and the box being back inside the wall over an inch. I notified the homeowner how this was extremely dangerous, especially when he already has a breaker tripping. One spark and the house could burn down.”
I concur, Joe! This is the reason Sec. 314.20 requires installations in wood or other combustible surfaces to be made so the box, plaster ring, extension ring, or listed box extender extends all the way to the finished surface or beyond. Boxes installed within or behind non-combustible surfaces (such as concrete, tile, plaster, or gypsum) are permitted to be set back from the finished surface a maximum of ¼ in.
In this situation, installing a listed box extender would probably be the simplest and least invasive way to achieve a Code-compliant installation. Of course, ripping the box out and starting completely over is an option too.
A Slew of Code Violations
I would like to thank another reader, who prefers to remain anonymous, for sharing this great photo of several Code violations. The first problem is the lack of proper support for the outlet boxes. There are several permitted methods for securing and supporting boxes as described in the provisions of Sec. 314.23(A) through (H), but none of those were used here. In fact, Sec. 358.12(2) specifically prohibits using EMT for the support of luminaires or other equipment, including boxes. EMT can be used to support conduit bodies, but not boxes.
The EMT separated at the compression coupling interrupts the effective ground-fault current path required by Sec. 250.4(A)(5), as well as other bonding and grounding requirements in Art. 250. This lack of continuity between the raceway segments also creates a violation of Sec. 300.10.
The cables or cords secured to the EMT with cable ties are a violation of Sec. 300.11(C). The flexible metal conduit (FMC) is not securely fastened within 12 in. of each box as required by Sec. 348.30(A). While Exception No. 2 for Sec. 348.30(A) permits alternative securing and supporting distances where flexibility is necessary after installation, this exception only applies to ½-in. and larger FMC and does not apply to ⅜ -in. FMC.
