The children and our electrical code

[ThrottleJockey]

It's been awhile, but according a quick perusal of 210 of the 2008 NEC, the only place where I see a height requirement for a general purpose receptacle is in a kitchen (<20" from top of counter), and outdoors (<6.5' from grade or deck). Also in regards to spacing, generally speaking, no section of wall over 2' can be more than 6' away from a receptacle. There used to be a little formula for determing how many receptacles are permitted on a general purpose 15 or 20A circuit, but it's been too long for me to remember and I'm not able to spot it in my code book right now.

...and handicap applications?

 

[GodFearinGunTotin]

...and handicap applications?

Not sure about what the code says. I don't do much commercial/office/stuff. But I just googled receptacle location in handicap areas and saw this on ADA requirements. Hope that helps.

 

[Leo]

Public buildings are the ones affected by the Handicap codes made laws by the Americans with Disablity Act. I remember spending a whole summer lowering pay phones (remember those). There were a lot of buildings in the City of Chicago that had slab marble walls in the lobbies and the elevator buttons had to be lowered. That was very costly to comply with the new law.

 

[ThrottleJockey]

Not sure about here, but in MN my father is a recently retired union electrician. SOOO many times I've listened to him whine about the code there requiring receptacles to be raised and switches lowered in new residential construction... It wasn't always like that, fairly recent (last 10 years or so?) thing.

 

[trillobite]

This thread reminded me of a problem that I caused in my house wiring. My house dates from the late 1800's, and had every possible type of wiring hooked up in it. Knob-n-tube aluminum and copper, Romex both indoor and outdoor types, that funky cloth-wrapped wiring.....and it supposedly was fully re-wired before I bought the place. I re-wired the whole house, with grounds, but that's another, later tale.

After installing a cabinet in the bathroom, I went into the kitchen to get some grub. Leaving the kitchen, I turned off the light....but it didn't turn off. Flick the switch a few times, and the light stayed on.

Grabbed my Fluke, killed the breaker, and pulled out the switch. It tested fine. Turned the power on, and checked the wires. 120v on both of the switch wires (it was a drop wire from the light's box). Killed the breaker, pulled down the light fixture, and checked continuity from the switch, to light, and then turned the circuit back on to check voltages. Okay, so I'm thinking there's a junction box hidden behind the drop ceiling, with some tape-wrapped connections gone bad (yeah, that was in this house, too), and I remembered I used 3 inch drywall screws to mount the bathroom cabinet.....guess where one of the screws decided to bury itself?
Took the cabinet off the wall, and the circuit was working again....except I had to replace some wiring with a compromised sheath.

 

[Hogwylde]

Can you imagine what your house would look like if all your electrical outlets were at a higher height? You would have 3 feet of cord hanging down all your walls and THAT is probably more dangerous for everyone. Little kids like to pull and tug things and that much cord hanging loose would make things VERY dangerous.

 

[Classic]

I've been watching this thread for a couple of days and I am willing to bet you could pick any height imaginable and you will find someone to argue with you about it. It's like the perfect caliber argument.

 

[trillobite]

If I recall correctly, any rental for Section 8 housing has to have the outlets around 3-4 feet above the floor, as a child safety rule.

And yeah, I trip over enough cords already. A cord drooping from 3 feet up, would be sure to trip me.

 

[Mr Evilwrench]

What in hell are you hanging your pictures with, 10d nails? No tack you put in the wall to hang a picture is going to pierce romex. It probably won't even exit the sheetrock. Seriously. Good gawd, conduit inside a wall? Farkin unionist nanny statists won't stop. I'd hate to have you as a plumber. This is part of why I consider Illinois to be a foreign country.

My son, the very first time he went crawling, went from me to my sister-in-law, then from her to, no, not me, he hung a left and went straight for the nearest outlet. We had covers on them. The very next week, I caught him picking the cover out of an outlet. This is a preverbal infant. Those covers are of value only inasmuch as your children are stupid or uninterested.

I don't want to live on this planet anymore. No, wait, I don't want any of you jackwagons to live on this planet anymore. Fortunately, I've learned how to survive, the rest of you are going to find some way or other to do yourselves in.

 

[GodFearinGunTotin]

...the rest of you are going to find some way or other to do yourselves in.

Na ahhh...the government will keep us safe. All we need is just a few more laws and regulations.

 

[backfire]

I give kids paperclips and forks, encouraging them to explore the world of electrical outlets. They tend to do it once, and then stop.

Believe it or not (and I'm kind of embarrased to admit it), but that's how I learned about Mr. Elecricity back in the early 70's. Except I used two nails....

 

[MAJB Retired]

And if we put them at counter height that would help..........

Guess you have never seen rugrats climb.

I for one am tired of a world where we have to try and make things safer so the idiots of the world, can live to be old and multiply.................

Well said! I'm sure I got a jolt along the way, and I have a fork that has asmall weld mark from my oldest kids adventures. I've rewired much of my house,and was surprised at the original installation. I also updated the electricpanel in both my house and my vacation trailer. As for Romex, it is efficient,effective and save when properly used. I'm not an electrician, but I know howto work with electricity and I can do the same job as a certified electricianat a fraction of the cost.

I have great respect for electricity, and have received multiple remindersover the years, mostly from not paying attention to what I was doing. But, we cannotlegislate or regulate everything. People need to take some responsibility!