August Newsletter:
Appeals – Corrected Sample Size Chart – GFCI Info
August’s Newsletter features a BRAND NEW, just-released by HUD, Technical Review guide to aid you in appealing your REAC score! Additionally, I added a few other updates: the corrected Sample Size Chart and extra GFCI information.
New Technical Review Guide
Click here for the printable version in PDF format: NSPIRE Technical Review Guidance
I won’t copy the whole thing here, but the guide outlines what you can appeal and a step-by-step guide on how to submit the appeal in HUD’s SalesForce online system.
Corrected Sample Size Chart
I recently discovered there was an error in the Sample Size Chart for the 26 and 27 Sample Unit category!
Here is the chart that is posted in the Federal Register: Scroll all the way down to Section V
Feel free to print this one out:
GFCI’s – Specifically, “Unprotected outlets within 6 feet of a water source”
This deficiency will begin to get scored on October 1st – get ready!
See my full Newsletter about this topic here: January 2024 Newsletter – All about GFCIs
There has been A LOT of confusion on the duplex receptacle in laundry rooms that is used for the washing machine – does it need to be GFCI’d by HUD’s NSPIRE Standards?
First – HUD provides an exception that if the outlet receptacle is “dedicated” for a major appliance, it does NOT have to be GFCI’d – REGARDLESS OF IT’S DISTANCE FROM THE WATER SOURCE!
They did this because most of their housing portfolio is much older than 2014…which is the year Code began requiring GFCI’s in the Laundry Rooms.
Unfortunately, HUD used a crazy term that makes no sense in the electrical industry – the word “Dedicated Outlet.” There is no such thing as a “Dedicated Outlet” and the term “Dedicated Circuit” is considered a layman’s term for Individual Branch Circuit – which was actually HUD’s point they were trying to make.
Additionally, HUD was way off the mark when they defined “Dedicated Outlet” as:
Many inspectors are taking this to mean that the outlet receptacle has to be a SINGLE receptacle and cannot be a DUPLEX! This is incorrect.
Do NOT swap out the duplex receptacle for a single receptacle because you could get hit with a code violation!!!!!
NEC 406.4(d) states that if you repair/replace an outlet receptacle in a location that requires a GFCI…you must UPGRADE that receptacle to a GFCI. You cannot swap a standard receptacle for another standard receptacle.
Ryan Jackson (Ryan’s CV) is a very well-respected expert in the electrical industry. He put up a fantastic video that explains everything I said above. I clipped out 3, 1-minute segments:
Segment #1: A duplex receptacle IS permitted on an individual branch circuit
Segment #2: Why you do NOT need a single receptacle and the word “dedicated”
Segment #3: Last bit on “dedicated” circuits
What’s my point?
You need to make a decision.
Choice #1: Just install the GFCI’s for the washing machines in the laundry room and be done with it.
Choice #2: If installing GFCI’s for the washing machines will be crazy expensive (e.g. Every unit has a laundry room) – you now have grounds to appeal…as long as they are on individual branch circuits, of course.
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