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 2023 NEC.
Hint: A not-so-weatherproof cover
Tell Them What They've Won…
Using the 2023 NEC, correctly identify the Code violation(s) in this month's photo — in 200 words or less — and you could win an Arlington Industries 18-in. Slider Bar and plastic box for mounting between studs with non-standard spacing. 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.
November Winners
Unfortunately, we had no winners this month. Perhaps our readers were too busy with the holiday season to respond. In any case, here’s what is wrong with this installation.
Bonding the grounding electrode conductor (GEC) to the metal raceway protecting the GEC is a great idea and is required by Sec. 250.64(E)(1). However, Sec. 250.64(E)(3) requires the size of the bonding jumper used to make this bonding connection to be the same size as (or larger than) the GEC inside the raceway. The installers of these GECs inside the vertical raceways in the photo only got it half right. They did establish a bonding connection from the enclosed GEC to the end of each raceway enclosing each GEC, but the bonding jumper for each raceway is significantly smaller than the GEC inside each raceway. The top horizontal raceway does not appear to be bonded to the GEC inside the raceway.
