Change Summary

• GFCI protection for personnel is required for all 125-volt, single-phase, 15- and 20-ampere receptacles installed outdoors, in boathouses, and in buildings or structures used for storage, maintenance, or repair, without consideration of whether “electrical diagnostic equipment, electrical hand tools, or portable lighting equipment” is being used.

Expert Analysis

The previous language at 555.19(B) required groundfault circuit-interrupter (GFCI) protection for personnel at all 15- and 20-ampere, single-phase, 125-volt receptacles “where portable electrical hand tools, electrical diagnostic equipment, or portable lighting equipment was to be used”.

For the enforcement community, it is extremely difficult for the AHJ to determine which receptacles will employ “portable electrical hand tools, electrical diagnostic equipment, or portable lighting equipment” and which receptacles will not. This determination is made even more difficult for the AHJ since this determination is typically required to be made on the final inspection with the marinas, docking facilities, buildings or structures, etc., unoccupied.

To this end, the 2017 NEC deleted the condition that the receptacles involved must supply “portable electrical hand tools, electrical diagnostic equipment, or portable lighting equipment” in order for GFCI protection to be required.

Marine environments can be hard on all electrical equipment, wiring devices are no exception. The Leviton line of Extra-Heavy Duty Weather and Tamper-Resistant GFCI receptacles exceed all standards pertaining to GFCI devices, truly making Leviton the smart choice when it comes to personnel protection. Designed with the installer in mind, the devices include features that reduce the chance of miswire and provide dependable and secure connections.