Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!husc6!m2c!ulowell!apollo!rees
From: rees@apollo.uucp (Jim Rees)
Newsgroups: sci.electronics
Subject: Re: electrical codes
Message-ID: <3a3304f5.b8ab@apollo.uucp>
Date: 10 Feb 88 12:54:00 GMT
References: <17905@topaz.rutgers.edu>
Organization: Apollo Computer, Chelmsford, Mass.
Lines: 20

I completely rewired my house in Seattle myself, with a new 200 amp
service.  The old wiring was dog spit, and I assume it was done by
an amateur.

The big surprise to me was the inspection by the city for the wiring
permit.  I thought they would be looking for the same things you looked
for, open grounds, etc.  But they seemed much more concerned with what
I think of as the "convenience" part of the code (outlets every 12 feet,
two circuits in the kitchen, etc).  In fact, the only thing they made
me change, was that they said I had too many circuits in the kitchen.
I had the refrigerator on its own 20 amp circuit, and they made me put
another outlet on that same circuit, because they said that every kitchen
circuit has to be accessible.  After a careful reading of the code, I'm
convinced they were wrong.  By the way, I did have the required two
20 amp circuits in addition to the one for the fridge.

The worst botch by a pro I've ever seen was a guy who wired an entire
building (a small utility shed containing some ham and commercial
radio repeaters) with 240 across the 120 line.  He managed to blow
several thousand dollars worth of Motorola radio gear.