GFCIs in cabinets

[Marc]

Yesterday's newly constructed home had every kitchen countertop GFCI in a wall cabinet and so were the master bathroom CT GFCI's.

I spent so much time trying to find them and finally gave up leaving them all dead. Builder happened by and one of the electricians was with him so he pointed them out.

I can't find anything in the NEC against it. Seem mostly a common sense issue.

I'm not happy with any words I can come up with. Anyone have a suggestion, or better, some ammo?

Marc

P.S. This electrician put 15 ceiling light fixtures on a single 15 amp circuit, 34 light bulbs. Took about 20 minutes for the breaker to overheat and trip, leaving foyer, living, kitchen and dining in the black. This isn't no cheapo house, sort of a cajun 'upscale' home.

[Jim Baird]

So the wall cabinets have no doors? Or do you have to open the door to plug in an appliance. That sounds really dumb somehow. If this is a custom home the owners maybe don't cook or do kitchen work.

[Jerry Lozier]

I find kitchen 'track' and counter receptacles all go to gfci (resets) receptacles in pantrys often, local thing for high end homes.

As far as kitchen lighting circuit thats a problem. Amazing you found that.

[Marc]

Jim B, these are regular wall cabinets, with doors. I did check cabs for those gfci, several times, but these GFCIs were in cabinets away from the countertop where I hadn't even considered they would be. They are not among the required receptacles. Just dumb to hide them that way. How many times in the life of that house is the cook going to have to scramble to find the GFCI or worse, call an elect....wait...that's it! That's what I'll put in the report. Thanks!

Jerry, I found it by accident. I'm in the habit of turning on all lights when I first enter the house, so when half the lights go out all of a sudden, I immediately knew what it was. I was alone in the house at that time.

Electrical contractor showed up during the verbal and listened in. I could tell he was grumpy and pissed but he never opened his mouth to me. We're both lucky for that.

Marc

[John Kogel]

"Readily accessible"? Receptacles are allowed in appliance garages, so the rule may not be there to prevent stupid.

The Canadian E Code restricts the number of receptacles or light fixtures on a 15 amp circuit to no more than 12.

Your NEC I am told doesn't have a clear rule on the number of outlets. I would document what happened and let the client decide if they want a circuit added.

[Jim Baird]

So the countertops were not per code as in no point in 4 ft is more than two ft from an outlet? Where I ran into so much trouble was in peninsula settings where supposedly only one is required per projection...btw, saw last year a microwave outlet that was in a drawer???...design people get pretty wacky sometimes...just look at spike heels...no rationale, all appearance.

[Marc]

So the countertops were not per code as in no point in 4 ft is more than two ft from an outlet? ...

No. Code requirements were met by what was present on the CT. The GFCI's in the cabinets were lagniappe - extra.

I wrote it up as

The GFCI devices which protect the kitchen and master bathroom countertop receptacles are installed within wall cabinets. Perhaps they make for a more appealing countertop but it makes me wonder how many times during the life of this house is the cook going to panic in the middle of preparations for dinner while searching for these devices or worse, call an electrician to come out and find them while dinner becomes cold.

Marc

[Tom Raymond]

The answer is only once. The trauma of a spoiled dinner party will cement the location of the device to memory.

How is it any different than having GFCI protection located at the breaker?