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 specific Code violation(s) in this photo? Note: Submitted comments must include specific references from the 2014 NEC.
Hint: A three-ring circus
Tell Them What They Have Won...
Using the 2014 NEC, correctly identify the Code violation(s) in this month’s photo — in 200 words or less — and you could win an Arlington Industries TVL508 Low Profile TV BOX. E-mail your response, including your name and mailing address, to [email protected], and Russ will select three winners (excluding manufacturers and prior winners) at random from the correct submissions. Note that submissions without an address will not be eligible to win.
March Winners
Our three winners this month were: Paul J. Diaz III, a project engineer for Gould Electric, Inc., in San Diego; Lee Grafton, an electrical engineer for Scheeser Buckley Mayfield LLC in Uniontown, Ohio; and Jason Hochstein, a senior electrical engineer at Rice University in Houston. Each one of our winners knew that flamingos have no problem standing on one leg, but supporting an outlet box on one PVC pipe is a big problem.
PVC simply cannot be used to support a box. Section 352.12(B) makes a clear statement that PVC cannot be used “for the support of luminaires or other equipment not described in 352.10(H).” That section of the Code permits PVC to support conduit bodies that are not larger than the trade size of PVC conduit itself. However, this installation shows a box — not a conduit body — installed on the PVC.
Section 314.23(F) permits 100 cu. in. or smaller enclosures containing devices to be supported by two raceways threaded wrench tight into the enclosure or hubs identified for the purpose, where the conduits are secured within 18 in. of the enclosure. Also, Sec. 406.9(B)(1) requires Listed, “Extra-Duty” type of outlet box hoods for 15A and 20A receptacles installed in a wet location.
