The lookup
Where ground-fault protection is required
13 of the 14 places below require it under the edition of the Code most of the country enforces. The rule and the year are on every row; the reasoning is in the room-by-room guide. Your inspector's edition binds — states adopt the 2017, 2020 and 2023 editions on their own schedules.
| Location | GFCI | Rule | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bathroom | Required | NEC 210.8(A) — dwelling units | Every receptacle. |
| Kitchen countertop | Required | NEC 210.8(A) — dwelling units | Countertop receptacles since 1987; 2023 extends to every kitchen receptacle in many adoptions. |
| Within 6 ft of a sink | Required | NEC 210.8(A) — dwelling units | Measured from the top inside edge of the bowl. |
| Laundry area | Required | NEC 210.8(A) — dwelling units | Since 2014. |
| Garage and accessory buildings | Required | NEC 210.8(A) — dwelling units | The old exemptions for a dedicated freezer or garage-door receptacle are gone. |
| Outdoors | Required | NEC 210.8(A) — dwelling units | Receptacles; and since 2020 outdoor outlets generally (210.8(F)). |
| Unfinished basement | Required | NEC 210.8(A) — dwelling units | Finished basements: the rooms' own rules apply. |
| Crawl space | Required | NEC 210.8(A) — dwelling units | At or below grade. |
| Within 6 ft of a bathtub or shower | Required | NEC 210.8(A) — dwelling units | Outside the bathroom too. |
| Boathouse | Required | NEC 210.8(A) — dwelling units | |
| Pool, spa, hot tub, fountain | Required | NEC Article 680 — pools, spas, hot tubs, fountains | Pump motors, lighting, receptacles within 20 ft. |
| Living room, bedroom, hallway | Not by 210.8 | NEC 210.8(A) — dwelling units | Not required by 210.8 (AFCI protection is, in most adoptions — a different device). |
| Construction site temporary power | Required | OSHA 29 CFR 1926.404(b)(1) — construction | OSHA, not the NEC: GFCI or an assured grounding program. |
| Commercial kitchen, sink area, rooftop, service bay | Required | NEC 210.8(B) — other than dwelling units | Non-dwelling list; check the edition your jurisdiction adopted. |
The rules behind the table
- NEC 210.8(A) — dwelling units
Receptacles (125 V through 250 V, 50 A or less since 2020) in bathrooms, garages and accessory buildings, outdoors, crawl spaces, unfinished basements, kitchens, sinks (within 6 ft), boathouses, bathtubs and showers (within 6 ft), laundry areas, and indoor damp or wet locations.
Since: Bathrooms 1975; outdoors 1973; kitchens 1987; basements 1990; laundry 2014; 250 V receptacles 2020 · Where the NEC requires GFCI protection, room by room
- NEC 210.8(B) — other than dwelling units
Bathrooms, kitchens and areas with sinks, rooftops, outdoors, indoor damp or wet locations, locker rooms with showers, garages and service bays, crawl spaces, unfinished basements, laundry areas.
Since: Commercial kitchens 2008; broadened 2017 and 2020 · Where the NEC requires GFCI protection, room by room
- NEC 210.8(F) — outdoor outlets, dwellings
Outdoor outlets supplied by single-phase branch circuits 150 V to ground or less, 50 A or less — including hard-wired equipment such as air-conditioner condensers (with a temporary exception for HVAC that most jurisdictions adopted).
Since: 2020 · GFCI outdoors, in garages, basements and crawl spaces
- NEC Article 680 — pools, spas, hot tubs, fountains
Pump motors (2020: all, cord-connected or hard-wired), underwater luminaires above the low-voltage limit, receptacles within 20 ft of the water, spa and hot-tub equipment.
Since: Pool receptacles 1968 (the first GFCI rule); pump motors broadened 2020 · GFCI for pools, spas and hot tubs: Article 680
- NEC 422.5 — appliances
Certain appliances rated 150 V to ground or less and 60 A or less: automotive vacuums, drinking-water coolers and bottle-fill stations, high-pressure spray washers, tire inflators, vending machines, sump pumps, dishwashers (2020), and others as listed.
Since: Vending machines 2005; dishwashers 2014; broadened 2017 / 2020 · GFCI for food service and wash-down floors
- NEC 406.4(D)(2) — replacements where no ground exists
A non-grounding receptacle may be replaced with a GFCI receptacle (or a grounding-type one protected by a GFCI) marked "No Equipment Ground" — the Code's route to protection in two-wire homes.
Since: 1993 (as 210-7(d)) · GFCI in older homes without a ground wire
- OSHA 29 CFR 1926.404(b)(1) — construction
All 120 V, single-phase, 15 A and 20 A receptacle outlets on construction sites that are not part of the permanent wiring: GFCI protection, or an assured equipment grounding conductor program. NEC 590.6 asks the same of temporary installations and adds the 30 A receptacles.
Since: OSHA 1981; NEC 590.6 (formerly 305-6) 1990s · GFCI on construction sites: the OSHA rule and how contractors meet it
- UL 943 — the GFCI product standard
Class A trip 4–6 mA; trip time within 25 ms at 250 mA of fault current (the inverse-time curve); self-test and lock-out for receptacle GFCIs since June 2015; reverse-line-load miswire protection.
Since: 1976 (first edition); self-test 2015 · The standards behind every rule on this site
- IEC 61008 / 61009 / 61540 — RCDs, RCBOs, portable RCDs
Residual-current devices for the 230 V world: 30 mA for additional protection, 10 mA where required, 100–300 mA for fire protection; types AC, A, F and B by the waveform detected.
Since: 1990s; type F 2010s · RCD types AC, A, F and B: what each one can see