TOPIC: 20 amp receptacles in kitchen/baths?

Just rode along on an inspection yesterday (I'm a General Contractor just getting into Home Inspection) and I pointed out to the very veteran inspector I was shadowing that the kitchen had 15A receptacles and they were not spaced <48" apart. None of the bathrooms had 20A receptacles either. Every building inspector I ever had on a job through the years would fail an inspection over that. My friend did some research and came up with the fact that if the circuit is 20A (breaker and wiring), you do not have to use 20A receptacles, unless it's a dedicated circuit. My buddy is always right, but why have I been wiring houses with 20A receptacles all these years,then. I think it's the correct way to do it, otherwise you have a potential weak link at the receptacle, right???
Thanks for any input.... ;D

Hi Bruce,

How old was the house?

Hey Bruce,

The National Electrical Code, in article 210.21 ( 1, 2, and 3, describes the requirements of single and multiple receptacles on a circuit.

The use of multiple 15 amp receptacles on a 20 amp circuit is permitted. A duplex receptacle is considered as multiple receptacles and is therefore permissible to use as the single, or one of several, multiple type receptacles on the circuit.

The house was built in 2000. My question really, is why do building inspectors 'interpret' the code to make a Builder use 2 - 20A counter appliance circuits with 20A GFI protection in a kitchen, and baths must have a separate 20A circuit, also GFI protected......yet Home Inspectors don't appear to think this is a requirement? It seems to me that a 20A breaker with 12 gauge wire that ends at a 15A receptacle is a problem waiting to happen (the receptacle being the weak link IMO). A toaster oven or hairdryer will draw close to 20A and would cause that receptacle to overheat, right? And yes, I know I think too much like a builder, I keep getting told I gotta think more like an inspector...

Many AHJ's spend too much time trying to "interpret" codes rather than follow them. When you fail an inspection, or an AHJ wants you to do something in particular, they are supposed to quote the section of the code in their instruction to the builder....good luck with that! Many aren't totally familiar with the very codes they are failing you for!

The biggest difference between the NEMA 15r configuration and the NEMA 20r configuration are literally the blade configurations. It has very little to do with the outlet being a "weak link".

So how do we write this up? It is incorrect, right? I mean no 20A receptacles in a kitchen....