Outdoors
Every dwelling receptacle outdoors since 1973 (210.8(A)(3)), in a weather-resistant (WR) device under an in-use cover that closes over a plugged-in cord (406.9(B)). Since 2020, 210.8(F) reaches outdoor outlets generally — including hard-wired equipment — with the HVAC amendment noted in the room-by-room list.
Garages and accessory buildings
Since 1978. For decades the Code exempted a single receptacle for a plug-in freezer and the ceiling receptacle for a garage-door opener; the 2008 edition removed both. The reasoning: the exemptions were being used for everything, and modern GFCIs do not nuisance-trip on a healthy motor.
Basements and crawl spaces
Unfinished basements and crawl spaces at or below grade, since 1990. A finished basement follows its rooms' rules (a bathroom or a bar sink there brings its own requirement).
The freezer question
A freezer on a GFCI that trips while you are on vacation is the classic complaint. The answer the Code gives is to keep the protection and fix the reason for the trip: a healthy freezer does not leak 5 mA. The answer our customers use when the equipment must not stay dead is an automatic-reset portable GFCI on the appliance cord, which restores power after an outage but still opens on a real fault. A plug-in alarm or a smart plug that reports loss of power covers the rest.
Which device
A WR GFCI receptacle at the first outdoor box; a GFCI breaker for a circuit that feeds several outdoor boxes or hard-wired equipment; for a job outdoors on an unprotected outlet, a portable GFCI at the cord.