Bedroom hallway
What's wrong here?
- The hallway is more than 10 ft long and has no receptacle outlet
- The hallway light must be switched from both ends of the hallway
- The living room receptacle is too close to the hallway opening
- Nothing. This installation is compliant
Show the answer and the code reference
The answer
The hallway is well over 10 ft long, measured along its centerline, and has no receptacle outlet of its own.
Correct choice: 1. The hallway is more than 10 ft long and has no receptacle outlet
210.52(H) requires at least one receptacle outlet in any dwelling hallway that is 10 ft or more in length, measured along the centerline of the hallway without passing through a doorway. This hall runs past three doors to a fourth at the end, roughly 14 ft, with no receptacle anywhere on its walls. The receptacle beside the opening is on the living room wall and serves that room's wall space under 210.52(A), not the hallway. Without a hall receptacle, vacuums and night lights end up on extension cords strung from the bedrooms.
How to fix it
Add at least one receptacle outlet on a hallway wall, typically near the middle of the run so a vacuum cord reaches both ends. It can be supplied from a general-purpose 15 A or 20 A circuit, with AFCI protection per 210.12.
Code references
NEC 2023 210.52(H) — Hallways
In dwelling units, hallways 3.0 m (10 ft) or more in length must have at least one receptacle outlet. Hallway length is measured along the centerline of the hallway without passing through a doorway.
Drills citing 210.52(H)NEC 2023 210.70(A)(2) — Additional Locations
Item (1) requires at least one lighting outlet controlled by a listed wall-mounted control device in hallways, stairways, attached garages, and detached garages with electric power. Item (3) requires a control device at each floor level and each landing level with an entryway, but only for interior stairways with six or more risers.
Drills citing 210.70(A)(2)
2026 NEC:same rule and number. Rule and number appear unchanged: 2026-edition summaries still require at least one receptacle outlet in dwelling hallways 10 ft or longer, measured along the centerline without passing through a doorway. No 2026 revision to this item turned up in change summaries. Confidence: medium
Minnesota
Minnesota adopted the 2023 NEC without amendment as the Minnesota Electrical Code (Minn. Rules 1315.0200; Minn. Stat. 326B.35), effective July 1, 2023, so no Minnesota amendment to 210.52(H) exists. The Board of Electricity has since adopted the 2026 NEC, also without amendment, for permits filed on or after Aug. 17, 2026; this drill follows the 2023 text, which governs permits filed before that date.
How Minnesota adopts the NECWhy the other choices are wrong
- The hallway light must be switched from both ends of the hallway. 210.70(A)(2)(1) requires a lighting outlet in a hallway controlled by a listed wall-mounted control device, and the switch inside the opening provides that. Control from each level is required only for interior stairways with six or more risers (210.70(A)(2)(3)). Three-way control in a long hall is good practice, not a Code requirement.
- The living room receptacle is too close to the hallway opening. 210.52(A) limits how far any point along the floor line of a wall space can be from a receptacle (6 ft). It sets no minimum distance from a door or opening.
- Nothing. This installation is compliant. A hallway 10 ft or longer needs at least one receptacle outlet (210.52(H)); the one on the living room wall is outside the hallway and does not count.