A friend of mine asked me today why the electrical outlets in my house were "upside down". They are positioned with the ground pin hole at the top and the two slots of the outlet on the bottom. I agree that, to me, they "look" like they are upside down, and I think they would "look" better with the ground pin hole on the bottom. But, my belief is that the National Electrical Code (NEC) is silent on this question and that there is no right or wrong orientation for electrical outlets. My friend said that he has had code enforcement officials tell him that electrical outlets with the ground pin hole on top were "upside down" and that they needed to be reversed to be with the ground pin on the bottom to pass the electrical inspection. Is there anything in the NEC that says that one way is "upside down" and the other way is the "correct" orientation?

This was discussed recently. Some inspectors want the pin up. The reason is that in an office a paper clip fell and hit the prongs of a plug that was not pushed in fully. Pin up would not let it short. IIRC, national code does not mention it.

Electrical Outlets Upside Down? Code?

Sep 29, 2016 Last reply: 7 years ago 111 Replies

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BMWMetro 7 years ago

replying to FromTheRafters, BMWMetro wrote: RE Lilliputian: I thought I was the only one to use that phrase AND know what it means... Swift was brilliant.

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Ron B 4 years ago

No it's up to the owner or organization hospitals have ground up.

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Ron B 4 years ago

What's the big deal? just put the outlet the way you want it. I like the hot on the right so it's ground down.

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