Electrical Code question

[longsoughtfor]

Fredric - with you mentioning that you were a licensed electrician, this may be for you but any and all are welcome to help...

I just had the town building inspector in to check the framing and insulation of my studio. It is in my basement and so, none of the walls are load bearing. The inspector was done in about 3 minutes... the conversation went like this: Everything here looks OK, just get the electrical sign off before too long.

I have installed several outlets and ceiling light boxes as well as a couple of switches. I just read that the NEC requires outlets within 12 feet of each other and that any wall greater then 2ft wide must have an outlet in it.

Since I am building several walls with just a cloth face, I am hesitant to put outlets in those walls. See the attached diagram for outlet locations (they are the orange circles with two lines through them).

I also noticed that the NEC stated that basements required only one outlet.

My question is: From your experience, how do inspectors treat finished basements with regard to outlet spacing/count?

Thanks
Kevin.

 

[DigitalDon]

I think the NEC says every 6 feet for outlets. This is to discourage the use of extension cords. I'll look in the book tonight. I know basements are a totally different category so it might only "require" one light and one outlet.

DD

 

[frederic]

Fredric - with you mentioning that you were a licensed electrician, this may be for you but any and all are welcome to help...

Yep, though my experience is more commercial than residential. Unless I have to pull the meter off the house, I tell them nothing But thats me.

Anyway, to the distance between outlets don't forget doesn't mean along the perimeter of the room. For example.

Lets say from a particular corner of the room, you have the outlet on one wall thats 8' away from the corner. On the mating wall, you have another outlet, 8' from the wall. You'd guess this is 16 feet, but actually its not. The diagonal measurement between the two outlets is the actual distance, and if you're good at geometry, you'd calculate that this distance is:

distance = Squareroot (8 squared + 8 squared)
distance = squareroot (64 + 64)
distance = squareroot (128)
distance = 11.something

Less than 12 '

This is to avoid extension cords as Digital Don said above.

Since I am building several walls with just a cloth face, I am hesitant to put outlets in those walls. See the attached diagram for outlet locations (they are the orange circles with two lines through them).

Walls are solid. Spongy, soft cloth face surfaces are not walls. If you put cloth over drywall, thats a wall.

I also noticed that the NEC stated that basements required only one outlet.

That varies from locality to locality. In Colonia, NJ where I live I'm not required to have any. I have 22, but they weren't required. I put them in so I can plug in worklights if necessary to fix plumbing, and I have eight dual ganged outlets near my at-home server rack because I hate cheap power strips.

My question is: From your experience, how do inspectors treat finished basements with regard to outlet spacing/count?

Its my experience that most (in the NJ/NY area at least) worry more about mounting, following color codes, correct wire size for the breaker size, etc more than placement, as long as they are 18" above the basement floor in case of flooding.

 

[longsoughtfor]

Thanks guys I appreciate it. I guess the only voice that matters is the guy signing the permit I'll let you know what he says.

Kevin.

 

[frederic]

Thanks guys I appreciate it. I guess the only voice that matters is the guy signing the permit I'll let you know what he says.

Kevin.

Technically, yes

Its been our experience that different localities are anal about different things. Or everything. Or nothing.

One of my guys installed a 600A or 800A panel upside down once. The inspector didn't notice, or didn't care. I would have flipped it over except it was live and tenants of the building were already moving in when I noticed it.

I've had other inspectors get pissy because someone stripped off .0001" too much insulation off a wire they were wrapping around the terminal on an outlet or switch.

Its just one of those things.

For DIY home stuff, in general if you display overall competency in your end result, usually its just minor stuff they ding you with just to prove they have larger balls than you, if they do at all. It depends on the inspector.

 

[longsoughtfor]

And the answer is.....

No problem. The inspector was just here, he walked around looked at what I had done, asked if this was a single purpose space; I explained it was for recording and it would never be bedrooms or a living room... He said that the minumum space between outlets was not an issue if it was a dedicated space and I had outlets where I needed them. I think he was more intersted in hearing about the rockwool then the wiring!


WWWWHHHHHHHOOOOOOHHHHHOOO!!!! There's no stopping us now!!!

Later
Kevin.