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Top electrical code articles to remember for residential work
Percy's top 10 list is in the video. Below is a quick cheat sheet of sections that come up on almost every house, whether you're wiring it, inspecting it or testing on it.
The breakdown, in plain English
- 110.26: working space in front of panels.
- 210.8: where GFCI protection is required.
- 210.12: where AFCI protection is required.
- 210.52: where receptacles are required and how far apart.
- Article 250: grounding and bonding.
- 300.5: how deep to bury underground wiring.
- 314.16: box fill.
- Article 334: NM (Romex) cable rules.
Codes to look up
NEC 210.52(A)
In living areas, no point along the wall line is more than 6 feet from a receptacle.
NEC 210.8(A)
Dwelling locations like bathrooms, kitchens, garages and outdoors need GFCI protection for receptacles.
These are plain-English summaries, not the code's exact wording. Always check the full section in the NEC edition your area has adopted, plus local amendments.
Find it faster on test day
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On an open-book exam, speed wins. Every book is tabbed and highlighted by hand so you can flip straight to sections like these.
