Two-car attached garage
What's wrong here?
- The right-hand vehicle bay has no receptacle within 5-1/2 ft of the floor
- Garage receptacles must be mounted at least 18 in above the floor
- The ceiling receptacles for the door openers may not be GFCI protected
- Nothing. This installation is compliant
Show the answer and the code reference
The answer
The right-hand vehicle bay has no receptacle outlet within 5-1/2 ft of the floor; its only receptacle is the ceiling receptacle for the door opener.
Correct choice: 1. The right-hand vehicle bay has no receptacle within 5-1/2 ft of the floor
210.52(G)(1) requires at least one receptacle outlet in each vehicle bay of an attached garage, installed no more than 5-1/2 ft above the floor. The left bay's workbench receptacle satisfies that bay, but the right bay has nothing on its walls. The ceiling receptacle feeding the opener is about 9 ft up and cannot serve as the bay receptacle. The required bay receptacles must be on a 20 A circuit that supplies no other outlets, other than readily accessible outdoor receptacles (210.11(C)(4)), and every garage receptacle needs GFCI protection (210.8(A)(2)).
How to fix it
Add a GFCI-protected receptacle on a wall of the right bay, no more than 5-1/2 ft above the floor, supplied from the dedicated 20 A garage receptacle circuit.
Code references
NEC 2023 210.52(G)(1) — Garages
In each attached garage, and in each detached garage with electric power, at least one receptacle outlet must be installed in each vehicle bay, not more than 1.7 m (5-1/2 ft) above the floor.
Drills citing 210.52(G)(1)NEC 2023 210.11(C)(4) — Garage Branch Circuits
At least one 120-volt, 20-ampere branch circuit must supply the receptacle outlets required by 210.52(G)(1). That circuit can have no other outlets, except that it may supply readily accessible outdoor receptacle outlets.
Drills citing 210.11(C)(4)NEC 2023 210.8(A)(2) — Dwelling Units: Garages
125-volt through 250-volt receptacles in dwelling unit garages and in accessory buildings with a floor at or below grade require GFCI protection for personnel.
Drills citing 210.8(A)(2)
2026 NEC:same rule and number. The requirement for at least one receptacle outlet in each vehicle bay of an attached garage, not more than 5-1/2 ft above the floor, carries into the 2026 NEC unchanged as far as summaries show. Summaries mention scope wording for multifamily dwellings and a single-bay-garage exception at 210.11(C)(4), but neither changes this one-family, two-bay drill. 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(G) 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
- Garage receptacles must be mounted at least 18 in above the floor. The 18 in rule comes from the Class I location in commercial repair garages (Article 511); it does not apply to a dwelling garage.
- The ceiling receptacles for the door openers may not be GFCI protected. The opposite: 210.8(A)(2) requires GFCI protection for all 125 V through 250 V receptacles in a dwelling garage, ceiling receptacles included.
- Nothing. This installation is compliant. 210.52(G)(1) requires a receptacle in each vehicle bay no more than 5-1/2 ft above the floor. The right bay's only receptacle is on the ceiling for the opener, which does not count.