Junction boxes not permitted in attic?

[William.Deans]

Greetings,

A) I have never heard anyone complain about junction boxes within an attic. It is not an NEC rule. What is the URL to the document? Where (what page?) does the document say this.

B) Some boxes have cable clamps INSIDE rather than outside. You might have run across such a box. Otherwise feel free to add the clamps.

Hope this helps, William

PS: If there really aren't any clamps I would take the time to inspect the other boxes within the house. Pull out a light and a receptacle or two in your investigation as well.

[shoppa]

That makes no sense at all. That would mean that junction boxes must be on the surface of the wall (how 'bout that exposed Romex?) and in the basement, I guess.

There are some other bizarro factoids in that PDF file. Like how the roughing-in inspection has to be done with all insulation off, what the heck can that mean?

I'm sure that whoever wrote those sections had good intentions but I doubt he intended it to be read the way we are.

Tim.

[RicodJour]

Concealed in a wall and recessed are two different things. They don't want buried boxes.

The attic reference is very odd. Maybe they're assuming an inaccesible attic?

Wall insulation, primarily. The inspector prefers to see exposed runs and connections.

R

[Percival P. Cassidy]

While browsing some Google results I came across a document by some particular State/Municipality building department advising DIY homeowners that junction boxes are not permitted in attics.

Is this an NEC rule or a local idiosyncracy? In either case, why would this be bad?

I've discovered two metal junction boxes in our attic with the Romex simply fed through the knockouts with no clamps. I was planning to redo them with clamps, but now I'm wondering whether it would be good to undertake a more radical upgrade.

Perce

[William.Deans]

Greetings,

I did the unthinkable and called up the city of Bloomington, MN for clarification. When I asked about the attic box rule the lady said that they follow the National Electrical Code. I didn't know exactly what she meant by that answer so I asked her if that meant they had no rules in addition to the NEC. She said that she wasn't an inspector and didn't know. None of the inspectors had the time to speak with me and I was not given the option to hold. I left a voice mail and will let you know what the inspector says when (if) he calls back.

Hope this helps, William

[gfretwell]

It must be some local yokel rule. The NEC only requires that boxes be accessible without disturbing the building finish.

[shoppa]

Oh, I had my "electrical" hat on at the time!

Tim.

[Percival P. Cassidy]

On 08/05/05 01:28 pm [e-mail] tossed the following ingredients into the ever-growing pot of cybersoup:

It's the "Circuits and Wiring Information Sheet" from the City of Bloomington, MN:

Page 1, right-hand column, under heading "Junction Boxes":

"Do not install junction boxes in the attic or conceal them in walls."

I'll check the boxes in question. I have already found some weird electrical stuff in this house, including a couple of instances of wires joined by twisting copper wire around the untwisted conductors and insulated with the cap of a "magic marker" and the whole lot taped up.

Thanks.

Perce

[Art Todesco]

[George E. Cawthon]

You are right, true or not, it makes no sense. For example all of the light fixture boxes and outlet boxes in the ceiling are attached to joists and open from the attic (usually covered with insulation). There is less protection in the attic than in the room below. So putting a box in the attic would not increase the danger any. I would bet that the statement applies to non-accessible attics.

[Pop]

" [e-mail]" wrote in message news: [e-mail]...

Goog going; anxious to hear back! I wonder if "attic" in a place like Mn means something different than it means to the rest of us? Either that or some clarification of the statement is missing. It just isn't reasonble as it is.

Pop

[trader4]

I've seen local guys come up with some real BS stuff on their own before. Someone I knew was putting a hot tub on their outside deck. The electrician went to get a permit to run the wiring. The building inspector hands him a list of their requirements, some of which came from BOCA proposals, that were not even adopted. The classic was that the spa must have a cover capable of supporting two adults for a rescue. Now that surely ranks as dumber than no junction boxes in an attic. I mean, do these guys even know what a hot tub/spa is? I've seen a lot of them, even large ones at hotels, and have yet to see one where having a cover that would support two people would be in any way relevant to rescuing anyone from a spa.

[Colbyt]

The local yokel crap got so bad around here that the state finally took over and implemented state wide licensing and standards based strictly on NEC. A lot of crap disappeared over night.

Colbyt

[William.Deans]

Greetings,

I had not heard back from the city so I called them up again. "All lines were busy." I waited on hold for about 4 minutes and spoke to the operator. She wanted to know which electrical inspector I wanted to speak with and I told her that any of them would do. Then she asked me what region of Bloomington it concerned and I said all of them. She then asked me where the property was located and I said that my question concerned a "Circuits and Wiring Information Sheet" and not a particular property. She seemed perturbed by my insistence that any electrical inspector would do but eventually she gave up and said that she would put me into someone's voicemail. At this point I was disconnected. I guess it is not too late to hear back today from my call placed Friday so I'll hold off until tomorrow before calling them back.

Hope this helps, William

[Pop]

" [e-mail]" wrote in message news: [e-mail]...

Thanks; keep us posted. This is really a curious one. It sounds like one about has to camp on their doorstep to get anythiung done in that town.

Pop

[William.Deans]

Greetings,

I called back and spoke with the operator Julie. I asked to speak with an inspector. She told me that they were all out on inspections but that I could leave a message. I told her that my message from 6 days ago had not yet been returned and she said that I might be able to catch them between 3-4 pm today. I thanked her and then left a message in "Rick's voicemail" for him to call me back.

Will keep you posted, William

[Duane Bozarth]

Pop wrote: ....

Oh, I'm sure that threat will strike terror to his heart... :)

[Duane Bozarth]

A code description document apparently documenting local requirements in addition to NEC in the OPs locale...somewhere in MN, Istr??? There was a link to it somewhere early on in the thread--apparently this document does actually say this from others' comments alto I didn't go look myself.

[Pop]

" [e-mail]" wrote in message news: [e-mail]...

Sounds like his gal friday runs a lot of interference for him. No well known name, no interest. Just a homeowner? Nahh, don' wurry 'bout him!"

Interesting saga.

You should tell them you're making this info available to millions of people on the internet next time.

Pop

[Phil Munro]