Kitchen Outlet Distance Code

There can be no part of the countertop farther than 24 inches from an outlet which means that the maximum spacing between countertop receptacles is 48 inches.

Kitchen outlet distance code. Electricians contractors and other industry professionals. This means you won t have any trouble finding an outlet to use from any work surface in your kitchen and as long as that 48 inches is adhered to how close it is to the sink is a non issue unless your particular. Most of it however originates from people who work in the field. Always verify that your local building code follows the national electrical code or nec.

Electrical code basics and recommended practices for kitchen renovation often seem like pointless rules cooked up in an office boardroom as electrical code eventually does get hammered out across conference tables. For 5 kitchen gfci receptacles serving countertops there should be a minimum of 2 circuit breakers or two fuses in your electrical panel one protecting 3 of those outlets and second responsible for other 2 or 4 1 it doesn t matter. In fact electrical codes set no minimum distance. Residential kitchen receptacle requirements 2010 california electrical code fig.

Outlet not needed here x x. It s the distance between each outlet that matters thus outlets are allowed and even required to be 48 inches apart in a kitchen. The nec doesn t specify the number of receptacle outlets you must have in the kitchen but it does have a specific requirement for outlets serving counter spaces more than 12 inches long. Kitchen gfci receptacles installed on those 20 amp circuits must be also 20 amp rated.

Far from being arbitrary electrical code as it relates to outlets tends to yield to practicality. Electrical code specifies how electrical outlets should be spaced and which types of outlets to use in general areas bathrooms and kitchens. In the kitchen countertop outlets should be no. This keeps a single circuit covering all of.

Sink or cook top is not to be treated as wall space unless the distance exceeds 12 inches to the wall or 18 inches to a corner see figures 3 and 4. Whereas some electrical codes require 6 to 12 foot spacing between wall outlets a much closer 4 foot gap is required for outlets mounted above kitchen countertops. One prime example of this is with outlet spacing. Most of the code rules for kitchens deal with electrical circuits and devices and most local codes follow the nec the only model electrical code in the u s.

Further these same codes may specify that all of the outlets above the countertop must be divided into at least two different circuits.