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Diy Electrical Work In New Jersey

I am going to try and shed some much needed light on doing your own electrical work in The Great Police State of New Jersey. I will continue to add to this thread as time permits. Please do not PM me as I would rather respond to your questions and comments in this thread so that others may benefit as well.

Currently New Jersey is using the 2008 NEC for all new construction.

For any work falling under the Rehab Subcode - 2005 NEC.

The 2011 NEC has not been adopted yet.

The NEC as written is not the the electrical code for NJ. The Electrical Subcode can be found in the Uniform Construction Code of New Jersey (UCC). Currently the UCC has adopted the 2008 NEC with modifications which can be found here on page 67. While none of the modifications are severe changes from what is in the book, it still needs to be stated.

One of the modifications reads as follows;

3. Chapter 2 of the electrical subcode, entitled "Wiring and Protection," is amended as follows:

i. Section 210.8 (A)(2) and (5) of Article 210, entitled Branch Circuits, is deleted; it is replaced by Section 210.8(A)(2) and (5) and the exceptions in the National Electrical Code 2005 as follows:

"210.8(A)(2) - Garages, and also accessory buildings that have a floor located at or below grade level not intended as habitable rooms and limited to storage areas, work areas, and areas of similar use.

Exception No. 1 to (2) - Receptacles that are not readily accessible.

Exception No. 2 to (2) - A single receptacle or a duplex receptacle for two appliances located within dedicated space for each appliance that, in normal use, is not easily moved from one place to another and that is cord-and-plug connected in accordance with 400.7(A)(6), (A)7, or (A)(8).

Receptacles installed under the exceptions to 210.8(A)(2) shall not be considered as meeting the requirements of 210.52(G).

210.8(A)(5) - Unfinished basements: For purposes of this section, unfinished basements are defined as portions or areas of the basement not intended as habitable rooms and limited to storage areas, work areas, and the like.

Exception No. 1 to (5) - Receptacles that are not readily accessible.

Exception No. 2 to (5) - A single receptacle or a duplex receptacle for two appliances located within dedicated space for each appliance that, in normal use, is not easily moved from one place to another and that is cord-and-plug connected in accordance with 400.7(A)(6), (A)7, or (A)(8).

Exception No. 3 to (5) - A receptacle supplying only a permanently installed fire alarm or burglar alarm system shall not be required to have ground-fault circuit-interrupter protection."

What this means is that we are reverting back to the 2005 NEC for these sections when wiring a new building.

When wiring an existing building the Rehab Subcode needs to be reviewed. Currently all work being performed under the Rehab Subcode must comply with the 2005 NEC. This includes the installation of AFCI devices, which in most cases are not required.

Permits and inspections are regulated under the UCC. Everything anyone needs to know about the Construction Department can be found in the UCC. The Rehab Subcode can also be found in the UCC.

THe Rehab Subcode comes into play if you are performing work on an existing structure.

To check if someone has an EC license go here.

For electrical contractor licensing requirements go here. New Jersey does not reciprocate with any other state.

Electrical contractors laws and regulations here.

List of inspectors by municipality here.

Online permit forms and application here. Note: All municipalties are required to accept these forms. If a town refuses them, call the DCA @ Phone: (609) 292-7898, (609) 292-7899, Fax: (609)-633-6729 and complain.

Assorted DCA forms here.

Home Improvement Contractors information here. List of licensed HI contractors here.

Fire Alarm, Burglar Alarm and Locksmith info here.

Home Inspectors here.

After reading this perhaps you will have a new found respect for what contractors go through everyday in order to work in this great state.

To be continued...,

I would like to know if this information has helped anyone. Please post a thanks if it does. Thanks

Nec- National Electric Code 2008

That means it applies to the entire country

Permits & Inspections are usually required for ALL electric work

It may not be legal for you to do your own work, Check with your local Building Dept

This thread will be added onto as a form of "Cliff Notes" for the NEC

If there is something that needs to be corrected, or if you wish to add to this thread; please let us know

The NEC is available online, you may have to sign up for an account to view it:

http://nfpaweb3.gvpi.net/rrserver/br...NFPASTD/7008SB

(may not be working)

Draft Version:

http://www.nfpa.org/assets/files/PDF...08ROPDraft.pdf

Also a link to State specific NEC/Building codes:

http://bulk.resource.org/codes.gov/

New Code book comes out every 3 years, it is not always fully accepted by States & sometimes not until 1-2 years later

Local codes can vary from the NEC

210.23 An individual branch circuit shall be permitted to supply any load for which it is rated (some think you can only load to 80%)

210.50 Required Branch circuits

14g wire is rated for 15a, 12g wire is rated for 20a

15a outlets ONLY on a 15a circuit

15a/20a are allowed on a 20a circuit

A single 15a receptacle is not allowed on a 20a circuit

AFCI protection is required almost every where under NEC 2008

Exceptions are GFCI required: bathrooms, kitchens, laundry (GFCI if sink within 6' of receptacle), garage & outside circuits

Bathroom requires a dedicated 20a GFCI protected circuit that can serve outlets in multiple bathrooms

OR

Outlets & Lights in One bathroom

Kitchen requires 2 dedicated 20a GFCI protected circuits for counter (no lights)

Laundry area requires a dedicated 20a GFCI protected circuit

.

.

Replacing Kitchen Gfci With Gfci Breakers-something's Not Right

Hi all, this is my first post, so...my kitchen was just renovated and the electrical outlets are on the walls and I wanted them in plugmold under the cabinet. Why didn't it happen? Long story, but I'm doing it myself now. The electrical receptacles are on 2 separate circuits with a gfci receptacle on each and neither circuit has a receptacle outside the kitchen where I can put the gfci's, so I'm putting gfci breakers in the panel instead. I've run into a different problem on each circuit that'd like some advice on.

Circuit 1: this is a 20 amp circuit. I have to plug this circuit's neutral wire into the gfci breaker, but I couldn't see which neutral wire matched the hot wire (buried in mess of wires) and I don't have a continuity tester so I just pulled one neutral at a time (tedious) until the circuit failed, but it never failed. So I did this again for every neutral...same result. This circuit shares a few boxes with other circuits so I'm wondering if the neutrals on different circuits are tied together somewhere, and if so I'm pretty sure, but not completely, that that's not going to work with the gfci breaker. So I didn't install that gfci breaker since I'm not confident it would actually gfci (yep i verbified gfci). What do you think?

Circuit 2: this is a 20 amp circuit. This circuit currently has the refrigerator, gas stove and range hood, and then a gfci in front of 3 electrical receptacles, which already sounds bad since I thought the kitchen receptacles required 2 dedicated circuits. I replaced that breaker with no problem, but it tripped after a few minutes and continued to trip every few minutes. I haven't changed anything else on that circuit yet and it's never tripped before, but now it is, so I put the old breaker back for now. The current gfci receptacle is only protecting the 3 outlets since the appliances are ahead of it. I know you wouldn't normally want the appliances gfci protected, so do you think the refrigerator motor may be a problem? Do I need the appliances on a separate circuit? What would you suggest I do?

Thanks, and if you're wondering "why all the effort?", it's partly because I'm meddlesome, partly because I'm bored, and partly because the backsplash tile is to be on showcase, not the electrical receptacles.

Kitchen Receptacles

New appliances coming in. No change in service, so I believe that existing wiring can be considered grandfathered. Please correct me if wrong. BTW: we're under 2005 code in my locality, but I go with 2008.

Currently, the kitchen is wired all 15-amp except for non-counter-top receptacles. (I know, opposite, and wrong, but that's the way it is)

Can dishwasher and disposal be on same 15 amp circuit? (This will be a new circuit, so perhaps I need to run 20-amp?)

Current range wiring is 3-wire on a 40 amp breaker (3-pole). Can I still utilize a 3-prong receptacle here?

Does the kitchen wiring have to be upgraded to provide for 2 SABC (currently, only 1), and 20 amp?

Electrical Requirements For Large Whole Home System

I'm building a whole house everything system. It is a sixteen zone system with full AV distribution, 9 security cameras, about 70 speakers, ten 9.1 surround sound amplifiers, 6 PCs, KVMs, loads of networking gear, two dss, bluray, roku, squeezebox, NVR server, NVR viewer, etc. There are air conditioners in the Liebert MCR racks. The headend contains three 42U racks. Two of the racks are for AV equipment and the third rack is for the PC equipment.

Here is a detailed list of all the equipment and their electrical needs:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/70589/MillerPlan.xls

You will see two tabs on the spreadsheet: Equipment and Cabinets. These contain very detailed information on all the devices going into the three racks. You will see that I specified 14 electrical circuits.

I have already purchased all the equipment except for the "APC UPS 280 watts" and "Furman power conditioners". If anybody experienced with residential systems with requirements like this could give me feedback on the electrical requirements and my proposed design it would be great, all feedback is welcome!

Inground Pool Grounding.

I am having my inground pool renovated. The pool is made from aluminum panels. They will be replacing about 5 panels with steel and the contractor said they need to be grounded. Now I have checked the rest of the panels and there is no evidence of any grounding that I can see. The only thing I have found is at the end of the pool they will be repairing there was some wire connected to the top railing and buried into the dirt.

I have worked with electrical contractors when I was younger and do electrical work at the power plant I work at.

How would I ground these walls and what materials do I need.

Please Review My Wiring Plan

I'm renovating my 1960's ranch house and the kitchen circuits alone are causing me to put in a new breaker panel. The house is 1200 square feet with a 1200 square foot daylight basement -- 3 BR, 3 BA all together. And everything is electric, including the heat.

Please check out my proposed circuit plan for the kitchen and laundry areas. I am trying to figure out which circuits I can combine so that I will still have room in my new 40/40 200A Siemens panel to wire the rest of the house.

FYI, the house is located in Washington state and I have pulled a permit. Thanks in advance for your guidance!

New Wiring Tripping Breaker On Another Circuit?

I have a 1960s house with EMT throughout.

I recently replaced 2 florecent fixtures in my basement with 4 LED lights in their own J-Boxes in the drop ceiling. I did the following:

1. Rerouted the the conduit from the light switch to the main j-box for the lights. (previously it was going directly into the fixture)

2. Ran 4 foot whips to each jbox holding the LED (metalic 14# wires)

3. Cut the old spliced wire (that was just twisted and taped) and used a wire nut

4. Replaced the switch with a dimmer

The lights work great. Noticebale improvement and the dimmer is excellent.

The issue is that the circuit for the kitchen is now tripping. I told my wife its just a coincidence, but she is sure I caused it. Its only happened 2x (1 day apart. Nothing unusual running on the circuit, only the fridge and the gas stove which as not in use)

Can my "new" work possibly impact another circuit? What should I check? Any way to avoid re-doing my work?

Things I noticed / may or may not be relevant:

1. Some of the EMT is directly in contact with a copper water pipe

2. The switch / dimmer isn't grounded

3. The wires in the jbox were nasty and old. There was corrosion on the jackets and the jbox. Looks like some water leaked down fromt the laundy above at some point in the last 40 years.

4. At some point (months ago) when I was in the basement I touched some of the EMT and something that was plugged in I swear I feld a shock. (just listing everything I can think of). I didn't think much of it at the time, but now my whole electrical system is suspect.

5. The tripped circuit (fridge, MW, stove) didn't appear to be tripped. The fridge wasn't on. When I turned off and back on the circuit the aplliances came back to life. Appliances less than 1 year old.

6. The clock on the range was reset at one point but I didn't think I turned on or off the circuit. The lights for the basement were switced off but still worked with the fridge circuit tripped.

7. We had a huge electrical storm right before I did the work

8. We have a "stablock" panel that the home inspector got all bent out of shape about. Other than truning on and off breakers I have never touched it.

9. Kitchen breaker and basement light breaker are adjacent in the box

10. I believe kitchen and basement share the same EMT in places.

11. I think I now have too many connectors in my j-box. Will likely add an extension.

12. I didn't use the red "bushing" on all my whips as I ran out of them, but I was careful with the metal sheath and really don't think any wires were cut. (besides if there was a short wouldn't my LED lights fail and that circut break?)

HELP. I am happy to call a contractor to come in, but I don't have an electrician I trust yet and I'm scared bringing someone in before I isolate the problem a little.

Questions About 100-200a Service Upgrade

I'm having quite the time finding an electrician who will quote this. Just about all of them say that what I need is to upgrade my main panel but I want to install a new main panel that is a part of the meter base outside and make my current 100A panel a sub. Maybe you people can tell me why nobody seems to want to do this. Here are a few shots of the existing meter (note what is apparently a 60A base here)

and a shot of the conduit headed underground. Like most homes built during this era, the conduit makes a right turn underground to enter through the cinderblock, ending up coming into the back of the main panel. This conduit encloses a 4 wire feed. edit: no, actually it is only a 3 wire feed which is a problem if I want to convert the original main panel a sub.

Here's the existing panel. It's a 60's era Square-D split panel with a 30 amp sub panel for the finished basement. Those are low voltage wires to circuit taps for my home energy monitoring system btw.

The reason I don't want to upgrade this panel are as follows:

We won't be expanding the electrical west of this panel any more. All planned expansion (240v car charger in Garage, planned 3 season room with grid tie Solar on the roof) will be to the east.

Upgrading the panel will require major surgery to the walls. Due to the way the original basement is engineered there, the walls have an intricate stud pattern behind the existing panel. I'd pretty much have to rip out a 4' section and redo it to make the access large enough to handle a 200A panel.

Adding additional circuits to an upgraded panel will require an act of God due to the finished basement construction. There are no raceways for additional circuits.

Based on this, my thoughts were to create a new 200A main panel outside based on something like the GE model TSM420CSCUP loadcenter. Here's a shot of this panel:

This particular panel has room for three 2-pole breakers in addition to the 200A mains. I'd add a 100A 2-pole breaker for the existing panel, with the other two reserved for the garage/solar expansions.

The issue with the contractors who have quoted the job appears to be the conduit going to the existing panel. I'm not sure what's wrong with it but it is apparently not compliant with current code. Obviously the bonding needs to change, new grounding electrodes need to be driven, and a water pipe ground needs to be established to the new main panel, but what else is required?

I'd like to throughly research all the code considerations here so I can approach a contractor from a more knowledgable perspective then determine the best way to perform this upgrade. Due to POCO coordination and the need to cut household power for the duration of the job, I have no desire to DIY this one...

So what exactly is wrong with the conduit running from the existing meter base to the existing load center? Why is everybody telling me that I can't do essentially what I've described above? What are the relevant code sections that will apply to this job? Should I be chatting with my AHJ about local considerations now or should I wait until I have the code requirements down pat (assuming the latter here)?

Running An Extension Cord Through Pvc

I spend alot of time outdoors and use my power tools or air compressor alot and use a 12 gauge contractors cord. One problem I always have is that with my outdoor receptacle being above my deck sometimes the cord slips between the boards and hangs up and really causes a problem if the storm door is opened as it also catches the cord sometimes, and already damaged my other cord.

I am wondering if there are any issues with running the cord through pvc along the edge of the house and to the receptacle to protect it.

I am also wondering, since my old cord is damaged at one end, if rather than trying to repair it, if there is any code violation of running it into a weatherproof box and wiring it to a GFCI receptacle, reason I wonder this is that I have one on hand and have had no other use for it as I rent the house and cannot do any wiring to it, but it has no GFCI outlet which concerns me at times.

Dryer Help Or Bigger Problem?

I'm new to this site. But would appreciate some troubleshooting. I just renovated my kitchen, gutted and all, finished in the Fall. I did not replace wiring to the dryer, nor tamper with it, to my knowledge. We did have an electrician add a small fuse panel. We did not add more appliances then before, added some lights, but mostly used the room to separate things out. Had a mentor do the wiring, many years of experience, very tidy and careful work, though not electrician by trade. We have a standard 200 amp box as far as i know. The house is 100 years old, but the wiring isn't.

In October my mother in law heard a very loud bang. The electric dryer had been running. She smelled smoke. At the dryer receptacle was molten plastic sprayed onto the wall, caused by overheating at that point, due to I don't know what. I thought maybe I had knocked something loose in the receptacle when i was drywalling around it. I can't remember now if the breaker had tripped. The receptacle and plug were toast.

I replaced the receptacle, I replaced the dryer cord, not the breaker. The dryer worked fine until february, when it stopped heating. I found a bad thermal fuse and replaced it, the very common two pronged white one.

The dryer worked fine until early April when it stopped heating again. I checked all the fuses/thermostats on the back and the heating element, as I had done the first time. Nothing was bad. I checked the voltage coming out of the wall, as I had done the first time, only this time I did it correctly and got a reading that told me to check the breaker in the panel, which had not thrown. When I checked the voltage between the Nuetral Bus and the two terminals on the Dryer's 30 amp breaker I only got a good reading on one of them, telling me that the breaker was bad. While at the box, i noticed that to the main breaker, from where the conduit comes into the box from outside, the nuetral wires are bare all the way up, no insulation, and at the terminal of the main breaker they appear to have all melted together, even a couple small pieces have melted off of the "bundle."

Switched the range 50 amp breaker with the dryer, dryer worked fine, nothing was back fed either. Bought a new 30 amp breaker for the dryer and installed it on Saturday. Also on Saturday we were given a dryer, about 4 years old, same as ours, so i hooked it up and saved ours for a spare, which I deemed still good since it seemed the breaker was the issue. New Dryer worked fine from saturday until today. Now it won't turn on, though it didn't cut out mid load yesterday either. The breaker did not trip. I repeat, no tripped breaker. I just checked the voltage at the wall and it seems to have that same problem where one side of the receptacle gets a reading of 120, and the other a reading of about 5. The problem must be bigger than the breaker. I am not an electrician, I am a welder. I have gone as far as I could on my own. Thank you.