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AFCI Protection and the 2023 NEC

jar546

jar546

CBO
Joined
Oct 16, 2009
Messages
12,718
Location
Not where I really want to be
I have had some inspectors question whether or not a bathroom can be considered 'similar areas' for requiring AFCI protection.

My opinion is NO, AFCI is not required in bathrooms. The NEC explicitly lists all of the areas and does not say bathrooms. Bathrooms, are however in other areas of the code such as GFCI protection, so it is my opinion that bathrooms were intentionally left off of the AFCI list. What are your thoughts?

210.12(B) Dwelling Units.
All 120-volt, single-phase, 10-, 15-, and 20-ampere branch circuits supplying outlets or devices installed in the following locations shall be protected by any of the means described in 210.12(A)(1) through (A)(6):
  • (1)Kitchens
  • (2)Family rooms
  • (3)Dining rooms
  • (4)Living rooms
  • (5)Parlors
  • (6)Libraries
  • (7)Dens
  • (8)Bedrooms
  • (9)Sunrooms
  • (10)Recreation rooms
  • (11)Closets
  • (12)Hallways
  • (13)Laundry areas
  • (14)Similar areas
 
I tell people that you need AFCI everywhere in a dwelling except for garages, bathrooms, and potentially attic spaces or crawlspaces.

That may be a slight oversimplification, but if they are asking me what the code says instead of looking it up, they want me to make it simple for them.

They really need to change that list to say something like "AFCI protection is required for all branch circuits in dwelling units" and then have a list of exceptions. Would be way shorter and easier to understand.

It appears to me that they definitely left bathrooms out on purpose.
 
Somebody once told me that they left bathrooms out because the fan motors can be a source of nuisance trips on AFCI breakers. No idea if that's true.
 
Could it be that a naked person in a shower stall could end up in the dark. That is reason enough to have attic lights on a separate circuit.... of course, naked in the attic is a 'nother issue.
 
jar546 said:
A long time ago, maybe. The new generations of AFCI/GFCIs are well beyond that now.
Click to expand...
Yes, except now we have linear motors, with infinite speed control. The AC to DC conversion has been a problem with GFCI and AFCI.
The whole AFCI thing has been so much time and energy and money, for yet unproven large scale benefit :-(.
 
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