My residence is a town home built in the late '90s, thus having non-tamper-resistant outlets. I assume that they are grandfathered in NEC? Am I required, by NEC, to install tamper-resistant when replacing an outlet?
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Also, not all outlets, even if swapped out, are required to be tamper-resistant. There are currently four exceptions in the NEC, but your local authority may be different. Those exceptions are 1) any outlet over 5 1/2 ft. 2) any outlet behind appliances. 3) any duplex outlet readily accessible but is plugged in by two appliances, or a single yoke outlet that is plugged in by one appliance. 4) Or any outlet not in a habitable area of the house like attics, crawl spaces, and maybe outdoors. I say maybe outdoors because of habitable cabanas or other similar areas.– KrisCommented Nov 10, 2015 at 20:21
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To where on the receptacle is that 5 1/2 feet measured?– Phil NCommented Nov 11, 2015 at 0:00
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the code doesn't specify that. It just says receptacles 5 1/2 ft above the floor.– KrisCommented Nov 11, 2015 at 0:24
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1 Answer
Yes. If you're not making changes, there's no requirement to swap them out. If you are changing out the receptacles for any reason, you'll have to install tamper resistant receptacles. You cannot replace the receptacles with non-tamper resistant receptacles (technically).
answered Nov 10, 2015 at 16:26
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Thanks to both Tester101 and bib for their answers. They cover the original question well.– Phil NCommented Nov 11, 2015 at 0:01