Spot the Violation

ElectricalGFCI, AFCI & receptacle devicesLevel 22023 NEC

New-house panel schedule

A 200 A residential load center on a plywood backboard over a concrete block basement wall, door open and dead front on, NM cables entering the top. Circuits are labeled in marker: left column Range, Kitchen 1, Kitchen 2, Dishwasher, Living Rm, Bedroom 2, Bedroom 1; right column Dryer, Laundry, Bath, Furnace, Garage, Hall, Bedroom 3. The two-pole Range and Dryer breakers and the Kitchen, Dishwasher, Living Rm, Bedroom 1, Laundry, Bath, Garage, Hall and Bedroom 3 breakers have a small TEST button; the Furnace and Bedroom 2 breakers do not. 200 40 RANGE TEST 20 TEST KITCHEN 1 20 TEST KITCHEN 2 20 TEST DISHWASHER 15 TEST LIVING RM 15 BEDROOM 2 15 TEST BEDROOM 1 30 DRYER TEST 20 TEST LAUNDRY 20 TEST BATH 15 FURNACE 20 TEST GARAGE 15 TEST HALL 15 TEST BEDROOM 3
New single-family house, final inspection. All protection for the branch circuits is at the panel; the receptacles are standard devices and the furnace is hard-wired.

What's wrong here?

  1. The Bedroom 2 circuit has no AFCI protection
  2. The 30 A dryer circuit also needs AFCI protection
  3. The bath circuit needs a dual-function AFCI/GFCI breaker
  4. Nothing. This installation is compliant
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Show the answer and the code reference

The answer

The 120 V, 15 A branch circuit serving Bedroom 2 is on a plain thermal-magnetic breaker with no AFCI protection.

Correct choice: 1. The Bedroom 2 circuit has no AFCI protection

210.12(B) requires AFCI protection for every 120-volt, 15- and 20-amp dwelling branch circuit feeding outlets in bedrooms, along with kitchens, living and family rooms, hallways, closets, laundry areas and similar rooms. Every other listed-area circuit in this panel is on a breaker with a TEST button, but Bedroom 2 is on a standard breaker, and the caption rules out AFCI receptacles downstream. Bedrooms are where cords get pinched under beds and space heaters run overnight, which is exactly the arcing fault an AFCI is built to catch. The furnace, garage and bath circuits are not in listed areas, and the 240 V range and dryer circuits are outside 210.12; those two carry GFCI because 210.8(D) requires it.

How to fix it

Replace the Bedroom 2 breaker with a listed combination-type AFCI (or dual-function) breaker that is listed for the panel, land the circuit neutral as the breaker instructions require, and test it.

Code references

  • NEC 2023 210.12(B) — Arc-Fault Circuit-Interrupter Protection: Dwelling Units

    All 120-volt, single-phase, 15- and 20-ampere branch circuits supplying outlets or devices installed in dwelling unit kitchens, family rooms, dining rooms, living rooms, parlors, libraries, dens, bedrooms, sunrooms, recreation rooms, closets, hallways, laundry areas, or similar rooms or areas shall be protected by any of the means described in 210.12(A)(1) through (A)(6).

    Drills citing 210.12(B)

  • NEC 2023 210.12(A) — Arc-Fault Circuit-Interrupter Protection: Means of Protection

    Lists the six permitted methods of providing AFCI protection, the first being a listed combination-type AFCI installed to protect the entire branch circuit; the others rely on an outlet branch-circuit AFCI at the first outlet, with conditions on the upstream device or the home-run wiring.

    Drills citing 210.12(A)

  • NEC 2023 210.8(D) — GFCI Protection: Specific Appliances

    GFCI protection shall be provided for the branch circuit or outlet supplying listed appliances rated 150 volts or less to ground and 60 amperes or less, single- or 3-phase, including sump pumps, dishwashers, electric ranges, wall-mounted ovens, counter-mounted cooking units, clothes dryers and microwave ovens.

    Drills citing 210.8(D)

2026 NEC:same rule and number. The dwelling AFCI rule and its list of rooms, bedrooms included, carry into the 2026 NEC. The notable 2026 edit is to Exception No. 2: the Jan. 1, 2025 sunset was removed, and it now also covers arc-welder outlets in garages and accessory buildings. That does not affect a bedroom circuit. Confidence: medium

Minnesota

MN adopts the NEC rule as writtenConfidence: medium

Minnesota adopted the 2023 NEC without amendment (Minn. Stat. 326B.35; Minn. Rules 1315.0200), so 210.12(B) applies as published to permits filed July 1, 2023 through Aug. 16, 2026. Permits filed on or after Aug. 17, 2026 fall under the 2026 NEC; see the 2026 NEC note on this drill.

How Minnesota adopts the NEC

Why the other choices are wrong

  • The 30 A dryer circuit also needs AFCI protection. 210.12 covers only 120-volt, single-phase, 15- and 20-ampere branch circuits, so a 240 V, 30 A dryer circuit is outside it. The dryer does need GFCI protection under 210.8(D), which its two-pole breaker with a TEST button provides.
  • The bath circuit needs a dual-function AFCI/GFCI breaker. Bathrooms are not among the dwelling areas listed in 210.12(B). They need GFCI protection under 210.8(A)(1), which the bath breaker provides.
  • Nothing. This installation is compliant. Bedrooms are a listed AFCI area in 210.12(B), and the Bedroom 2 circuit has no AFCI device at the panel or, per the caption, at the outlets.
Safety hazardLevel 2 · Journeyman#afci#panel#bedroom#dwelling#breaker

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