Exposed Wiring - outside the building
Exposed Wiring - outside the building
(OP)
First inspection of daughter's house, she just moved into. There are two location where the prior owner ran typical looking romex wire from the porch light or just through the wall. Then he stapled it to siding and bottom side of gutters and up the downspout to a flood light. The wire to the AC condensor is not in conduit or flex cover.
Are these building code violations that the city would be interested in? Is it legal to sell such if it is an obvious code violation? Can you tell me where to find the standard to quote to the seller to fix?
This concerns me for occupant safety, of course.
Thanks.
Are these building code violations that the city would be interested in? Is it legal to sell such if it is an obvious code violation? Can you tell me where to find the standard to quote to the seller to fix?
This concerns me for occupant safety, of course.
Thanks.






RE: Exposed Wiring - outside the building
This cable can be run exposed, per the NEC, as long as certain conditions are met. NM can only run in dry locations. NMC can be run exposed in moist and damp locations. It cannot be run unprotected outdoors. So if it run under the eave it might be OK. If it is run exposed to direct rain/snow outdoors, this is probably a violation.
RE: Exposed Wiring - outside the building
In this case, they are not under the eaves at all. They are totally unprotected, directly exposed to the sun, snow, etc. One comes through the wall and a 90 El for plastic piping. The other comes out the side of the porch light fixture.
RE: Exposed Wiring - outside the building
RE: Exposed Wiring - outside the building
If she bought the house, then she's probably stuck with making the repairs or living with it. If she's renting, she may want to speak with landlord.
In any event, based on the wiring you can see, I'd make sure she has enough smoke detectors and that they have new batteries.
Good luck.
RE: Exposed Wiring - outside the building
Beware that many jurisdictions disallow all such wiring. Chicago (which has its own code) and Chicago suburbs (which follow NEC but ammend it to exclude most Romex-type wiring methods) are perfect examples. In general, the closer you get to many cities, the greater the chance that Romex is disallowed, PERIOD.
Please note that PVC conduit must be identified for use in exposed areas. Normal PVC will degrade in the sunlight.
The only answer to your question based on the information presented is: "maybe". You need to find out EXACTLY what kind of cable you have, and then you need to call your local building department to see if they permit that kind of cable, and if they don't, then you should see if they used to permit the installation of that kind of cable at the time when the cable was installed.
RE: Exposed Wiring - outside the building