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Wednesday, August 17, 2016

Question:

I’m looking for some clarification on the requirement for a neutral conductor when wiring a switch. What code section governs this requirement? The information I’ve found indicates the spare is now required “to facilitate future installation of energy-efficient automatic controls” Facilitating future technology doesn’t seem to be something the code normally concerns itself with.

Jeff Dow

A

Answer:

Hey Jeff thanks for your question. The grounded circuit conductor (usually also a neutral conductor) must be provided for switches under the conditions stated in 404.2(C). It took several code cycles of proposals for this to be added so I'm sure the code panel based their decision on sufficient substantiation. Equipment grounding conductors are sometimes used to carry current because a grounded conductor was not present when various switches that needed a grounded conductor connection were installed at a later date which would violate 250.6.

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