Bathroom wiring (apartments, houses, live in)

[Kefir King]

I live in a 40 year old building built before the need for GFI (ground-fault-interrupter) receptacles in bathrooms.

If I replace an ancient ugly and painted over too many times receptacle must I legally put in only GFI?


Are buildings required to replace non GFI bathroom fixtures or are the old ones grandfathered in to perpetuity?

[bmwguydc]

I think that it depends upon the renovation status of the bathroom as to what is required to be replaced, since there are houses and apartments with original bathrooms that may not even have an an electrical outlet in the bathroom, which is not up to the current building code. A GFCI plug is not terribly difficult to have installed, such that a management company may opt only to have that type of outlet installed, regardless of code, as do many home owners. Even in an older home, that's something I would not avoid when having new electrical receptacles installed.

For an existing standard outlet in a "wet" location, there are GFCI adapters that can be used to make the plugs much safer, without changing the receptacles. This would function similarly to hair dryers that have this type of plug, but would cover everything plugged into the wall.

[mathjak107]

Scanning the nec code book which has now been adopted by nyc i see no exceptions for not having gfci receptacles installed.

It reads all dwellings in section 210 shall have gci protection in bathrooms . however i keep hearing if nothing was modified in an old building then not having them is fine but i cant find anything in the book on it. My guess is if it was legal not to have them when the house was built unless the service was modified either by adding more outlets or moving them your still good to go as is.