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enter image description hereI've got a gas drop-in cooktop that will be installed in the next couple of weeks as part of a whole house renovation. The electrician put in the 4x4" electrical box shown in the same cabinet that the gas cooktop is mounted in. As it stands, it is directly behind the cooktop, and will touch the back edge of the cooktop. The wiring coming to the box includes the 220 for the wall oven in the adjoining cabinet. I am looking for either code or best practice suggestions for what appears to be a poor judgment on the part of the electrician when he did his rough in, but I can't find any guidance (code or otherwise) on distances the box would need to be from the cooktop. What would be the best way to resolve the electrical box, which would be inaccessible if the cooktop was installed 'as is'? Note that the electrical outlet needed to power the electric ignitor for the cooktop has not yet been installed either. I have a photo, but there doesn't seem to be any way to attach it here, so if my post is unclear, please ask for clarification.

Thanks in advance!

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  • First, you may not have enough reputation to attach photos (I think that's how it works), so upload it to a photosharing site (Photobucket, Flickr, it doesn't matter), provide a link, and someone will edit the post to embed the image. Aside from that, I haven't read the entire NEC, but I don't think there are specific codes relating to it anymore. Check out these links: forums.mikeholt.com/showthread.php?t=52210 and nachi.org/forum/f22/gas-pipe-close-electric-j-box-60619 – Hari Ganti Mar 3 '17 at 19:09
  • Edit the question. look for the mountain icon at the to, click that to add a picture. And yes..that sounds awful close, esp if you can not get to it once the burner unit is installed. – Trevor_G Mar 3 '17 at 19:09
  • I'd be calling the sparky back and rubbing his nose in it..... – Trevor_G Mar 3 '17 at 19:11
  • It looks like he surface mounted it... Can you get at the screws he used and lower it an inch or so? – Trevor_G Mar 3 '17 at 19:48
  • Are you sure that's the final position of the cooktop? From the angle of your picture it looks like it might be shoved. Also, where is the gas line? – Machavity Mar 3 '17 at 20:06
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Nope. You must be able to remove the cover of every box, without disassembling or modifying any part of the building. Even a lift-out false back on a bookcase is dodgy.

Since this looks like surface mount, and it's on flexible cable or conduit... unscrew it, move it down a few inches, done. Your jurisdiction will likely consider this movement a trivial repair that doesn't need a permit. They sure won't pass the work as it is.

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