680.22(A)(5) Pool Equipment Room.
Code Change Summary: A new code section requires a GFCI protected receptacle for a pool equipment room.
For years, a GFCI-protected 125-volt, 15- or 20-ampere receptacle has been required to be located between 6 feet and 20 feet from the inside wall of the pool. This is to ensure that extension cords are not used to plug a radio or other equipment into a receptacle that has no GFCI protection.
In the 2020 NEC®, similar language was added to require at least one GFCI-protected 125-volt, 15- or 20- ampere receptacle on a general-purpose circuit to be located within a pool equipment room.
Not all pool installations have a designated pool equipment room. For those that do, having a GFCI protected receptacle within the room will reduce the potential hazard of a pool service tech running an extension cord to a non-GFCI protected receptacle when performing service work in the pool equipment room where water is often present.
Below is a preview of the NEC®. See the actual NEC® text at NFPA.ORG for the complete code section. Once there, click on their link to free access to the 2020 NEC® edition of NFPA 70.
2017 Code Language:
This code section did not exist.
2020 Code Language:
N 680.22(A)(5) Pool Equipment Room. At least one GFCI-protected 125-volt, 15- or 20- ampere receptacle on a general-purpose circuit shall be located within a pool equipment room, and all other receptacles supplied by branch circuits rated 150 volts or less to ground within a pool equipment room shall be GFCI protected.