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We're in the process of remodeling our kitchen and removing soffits around the perimeter of the room. I've opened up a portion of it above our cooktop and refrigerator and wanted to get some advice on how to proceed. As you can see, there are several NM cables that are on various circuits. These wires need to be routed above through the joists.
When I splice the wires, is it recommended or required to have separate junction boxes for each cable?
You do not need a separate junction box for each line, nor do you need one per circuit. Unless you're strapped for space inside the box, one does just fine.
The National Electrical Code does say that the junction box has to be accessible "without removing any part of the building". So any junctions will need to be accessible through some sort of hole - normally covered by a simple faceplate. All the more reason to keep the number of boxes as small as possible.
