Bedroom receptacle in an older home
What's wrong here?
- A jumper from the neutral screw to the green screw fakes a ground on a two-wire circuit
- The hot-water radiator piping must be bonded to this receptacle's grounding screw
- Two-wire cable must be replaced before any receptacle on it can be replaced
- Nothing. This installation is compliant
Show the answer and the code reference
The answer
The grounding terminal of a three-prong receptacle is jumpered to the neutral (a bootleg ground) on a two-wire circuit with no equipment grounding conductor.
Correct choice: 1. A jumper from the neutral screw to the green screw fakes a ground on a two-wire circuit
The cloth-sheathed cable has only a black and a white conductor, so there is no equipment grounding conductor in this box. The jumper from the silver terminal to the green screw puts the grounding pin on the neutral, which 250.142(B) prohibits on the load side of the service. A three-light tester will read correct, but every cord-connected frame plugged in now sits on a current-carrying conductor. If that neutral opens upstream, or hot and neutral get reversed anywhere on the circuit, the metal case becomes energized at 120 V. 406.4(D)(2) lists the only acceptable ways to replace a receptacle where no EGC exists.
How to fix it
Remove the jumper. Then either install a non-grounding two-prong receptacle, install a GFCI receptacle marked "No Equipment Ground", or protect this three-prong receptacle with an upstream GFCI and mark it "GFCI Protected" and "No Equipment Ground" (406.4(D)(2)). You can also run a separate EGC per 250.130(C). Because this is a bedroom, the replacement also needs AFCI protection under 406.4(D)(4).
Code references
NEC 2023 250.142(B) — Load-Side Equipment
Except as permitted in 250.30(A)(1) and 250.32(B)(1) Exception No. 1, a grounded circuit conductor shall not be used for grounding non-current-carrying metal parts of equipment on the load side of the service disconnecting means.
Drills citing 250.142(B)NEC 2023 406.4(D)(2) — Non-Grounding-Type Receptacles
Where attachment to an equipment grounding conductor does not exist in the receptacle enclosure, a replacement shall be a non-grounding-type receptacle, a GFCI-type receptacle marked "No Equipment Ground", or a grounding-type receptacle supplied through a GFCI and marked "GFCI Protected" and "No Equipment Ground".
Drills citing 406.4(D)(2)NEC 2023 406.4(D)(4) — Arc-Fault Circuit-Interrupter Protection
Where a receptacle outlet in an area requiring AFCI protection under 210.12 is replaced, the replacement shall be AFCI protected by a listed outlet branch-circuit AFCI receptacle or a combination-type AFCI breaker, with limited exceptions.
Drills citing 406.4(D)(4)
2026 NEC:not yet checked Confidence: low
Minnesota
Minnesota adopts the NEC as published, with no section-by-section amendments (Minn. Stat. 326B.35; Minn. Rules 1315.0200), so 250.142 and 406.4(D) read the same as in the 2023 NEC. The 2023 NEC governs permits filed from July 1, 2023 until the 2026 NEC took effect; for newer permits, check the section numbers in the 2026 edition.
How Minnesota adopts the NECWhy the other choices are wrong
- The hot-water radiator piping must be bonded to this receptacle's grounding screw. Metal piping bonding under 250.104 is done back at the service or through the EGC of a circuit likely to energize it; nothing requires a radiator to be bonded at a nearby receptacle.
- Two-wire cable must be replaced before any receptacle on it can be replaced. 406.4(D)(2) lets you replace receptacles on a two-wire circuit with a non-grounding receptacle, a GFCI receptacle, or a GFCI-protected grounding-type receptacle, each marked as required.
- Nothing. This installation is compliant. A plug-in tester will read correct, but the grounding pin is tied to a current-carrying neutral, which 250.142(B) prohibits.