Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter Protection (GFCI)

This is another long one, and I sincerely apologize, read it all and you will not regret it!

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission reports that: "…if installed in household branch circuits, (GFCI's) could prevent approximately 300 electrocutions still occurring each year in and around the home. Installation of the device could also prevent thousands of burn and electric shock injuries each year… it can also prevent some electrical fires and reduce the severity of others by interrupting the flow of electric current."

This really does appear to be a confusing issue and is a good example of why home inspectors do not perform code inspections. A home is required to meet current code based on the date the permit for construction or modification was issued. Electrical code is retroactive when items requiring GFCI for personnel are replaced that had not previously required GFCI protection.

Is GFCI protection required on the home you are listing or selling? Tell me the date the permit was issued for the original construction and/or every modification and the details of the modification, and the date the owner changed out or added every outlet and I can give you the answer. Are you or the owner able to provide such detail? It's very doubtful.

James D. Kennedy, Jr., Senior Electrical Inspector for Winston-Salem/Forsyth County provide the following information:

"Volume IV Electrical of the North Carolina State Building Code until 1999 was implemented on or about April 15 of the code year. The 1999 code has an effective date of January 1, 1999. Future codes will be effective January 1 on a three year cycle next being January 1, 2002. The Electrical Code is retroactive only when items requiring GFCI for personnel are replaced that had not required GFCI protection."

James also provided the following dates for GFCI code changes:

Areas Year Code Section

Construction sites 1971 210-7
Bath & Outside 1975 210-8a
Garages 1978 210-8a
Within 6' of kitchen sink 1987 210-8a5
Unfinished basements 1987 210-8a4
Crawl spaces 1990 210-8a4
All kitchen counter top-receptacles 1993 210-8a5
Wet bar sink 1993 210-8a5
Garages and unfinished areas 1996
Accessory Buildings 1999

If this appears complex, it is only the tip of the iceberg! The concept is simple, the requirements for its use ever changing.

What is a Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter and how does it work?

Have you ever experienced an electric shock? If you did, the shock probably happened because your hand or some other part of your body contacted a source of electrical current and your body provided a path for the electrical current to go to the ground, so that you received a shock.

My first experience with such was in the 60's when my baby brother determined that the outlet at the bar in the kitchen was the ignition for Moms car keys. Luck for me and my brother, my Dad being in construction, had instructed me on electrical shock and instead of grabbing him, I hit him as hard as I could knocking him across the room saving his life. My brother's reaction, "Mommy, Chris hit me!" I was saved from a beating by the charred key projecting from the outlet and the burns on his hands. Had there been today's required GFCI, I would have been dead meat, not from electrocution, but from my Mother.

You've seen the moves, unwanted wife/husband/girlfriend dead in the bathtub from the hair dryer falling into the water. Not with a properly functioning GFCI. In Harrison Fords most recent movie, he is injured in the bathtub in such a way. Only the home inspector watching would have observed that the bathroom outlet was GFCI protected. CUT, change out the outlet and start over!!!

Under normal circumstances, the current flowing through a circuit is the same at any point. AC current flows in a circle. For lack of a better example, it is borrowed and returned, not used up. For example, if there are 5 amps flowing through the black wire going out, there should be 5 amps flowing through the white wire coming back.

If there is a flaw in the system, some electricity may be flowing to a dangerous spot, but there may not be enough flowing to blow a fuse or trip a breaker. For example, if the electrical insulation in an appliance (toaster, hair dryer, drill, etc.) is defective, there may be a small current leaking to the case of the appliance or an exposed metal screw, etc.

Under normal circumstances, this would not be detected. However, this can become very dangerous if a person (particularly one who is not well insulated with rubber gloves or shoes, or who is perhaps wet) touches the case. A potentially fatal electrical current can flow through the person to ground. This creates an electrical shock hazard.

A ground fault circuit interrupter is an inexpensive device, which prevents this from happening by comparing the electrical going out through the black wire against that coming back through the white wire. If the difference is more than .005 amp, the system will be shut off.

These devices may be incorporated into a circuit breaker at the panel, or into an electrical outlet. Some times it is difficult to know how many electrical components in a house are protected by a ground fault circuit interrupter. It is possible to have several electrical outlets protected by one ground fault circuit interrupter. For example many small homes have one operational GFCI outlet in one bathroom or in the garage, or on a breaker in the panel with all of the required protected outlets tied to it. The problem which trips the circuit may be in the master bathroom, but you may have to go to the garage or first floor powder room to reset the circuit.

Where and when were they required?

Now for the confusion, generally speaking, North Carolina adopts the National Electrical Code and its subsequent revisions. The does not happen congruously. The North Carolina requirement may drag a little behind the NEC revisions. The dates given by James Kennedy are the NC dates. The dates referenced from this point forward are the NEC dates, so they may not be identical.

The NEC required GFCI's only for lights and receptacles within 10' of the edge of interior swimming pools and in the early 70's set deadlines for some outdoor locations. The 1975 NEC added bathrooms (any room with a basin and one or more of the following; toilet, shower, or tub). Later, for garage walls (1978), by 1987, the list included:

At least one basement receptacle (in addition to any basement bathroom GFCI's and not the laundry circuit)

All garage receptacles that are readily accessible (not ceiling receptacles for garage door openers or those for dedicated appliances).

Hydromassage tubs ("whirlpools", the protection may be provided by internal circuitry)

All receptacles in boat houses

Countertop within 6' of kitchen sink except dedicated appliances (disposal, refrigerator, etc.).

Within 20' of the edge of a pool

In addition, the 1990 NEC required GFCI protection for all 125-volt receptacles at or below grade in crawl spaces or unfinished basements, except for those receptacles that provide power to spaces "dedicated for appliances (sump pumps, washers, freezers, etc.).

The 1993 NEC added roof receptacles and receptacles within 6' of a bar sink.

As of adoption or the 1996 NEC, GFCI protection is required for: counter top receptacles within 6' of a wet bar sink, all kitchen counter receptacles regardless of distance from the sinks, all garage and grade-level receptacles of all accessory buildings (used for work or storage) unless not readily visible or dedicated circuits for permanent appliances; and all outdoor receptacles, including those more than 6'6" above grade unless dedicated for snow melting equipment. The 1996 NEC also specifies that GFCI protected receptacles with open grounding must be provided with a label stating that no equipment ground is present.

Do you now better understand why we do not perform code inspections?

North Carolina licensed home inspectors are required to trip (fault) all GFCI protected outlets in a home using an outlet tester (not the test button!). If your inspector fails to do so, advise your client to fail to write their check! Be aware, that the inspector is only required to test one non-GFCI outlet in each room. This is a minimum and I personally think inadequate. I test all outlets and advise that your clients request their inspector to do the same or to borrow the outlet tester and test them theirself.

My personal recommendation to all of my clients is that if missing, even though it may not be required for safety sake, all outlets should be modified to meet current GFCI requirements.

Thought for the week