- Q.At several jobs, I have
noticed that the electrician wires the bathroom light
downstream from the bathroom GFCI receptacle. When the
GFCI trips, the light goes out. Does this meet the
NEC?
A.Master electrician Rex
Cauldwell responds: Even though it
doesn’t make sense, I’m afraid
that this installation does meet the code. The
NEC doesn’t require installations
to follow common sense or be convenient. Certain
dangers are permitted, as long as the danger is
non-electrical.
The code doesn’t care that if the light
goes off, you may be nude, walking in darkness on a
wet, slippery floor, trying to find the door
handle, or that you may have to walk (presumably,
with a towel wrapped around you) through the party
in the living room out to the garage to throw the
GFCI breaker back on.