# Broken tab in blue box - violation?



## mel_kissmygrits (May 22, 2010)

Will a broken off tab in a blue box be a code violation?


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## Jupe Blue (Nov 9, 2008)

Depends on your AHJ. At the very least, the electrical cable will need to be fastened within 8 inches of the box. It may also require that the knock-out be filled with some sort of fire caulking/barrier.


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## mel_kissmygrits (May 22, 2010)

Yeah, all of the wires are stapled within 6-8" of the boxes. thanks for the reply.


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## nap (Dec 4, 2007)

yes, it is a violation. It leaves too large of a hole in the box. On top of the electrical code issues, it also destroys the fire rating.


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## Thurman (Feb 9, 2009)

Only if you get caught Sir, only if you get caught.


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## AndyinAtl (Mar 22, 2009)

nap said:


> yes, it is a violation. It leaves too large of a hole in the box. On top of the electrical code issues, it also destroys the fire rating.





Thurman said:


> Only if you get caught Sir, only if you get caught.


I agree with Thurman. Fire ratings on plastic boxes with tabs always seemed a little bit silly to me.

If I have a 12/2 and a 12/3 going into the box thru the same tab is it gonna be a little safer than if I have one 14/2?

I've yet to receive a red tag for a missing tab. I've yet to have an inspector seek one out for that matter.


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## nap (Dec 4, 2007)

Thurman said:


> Only if you get caught Sir, only if you get caught.


It's always a violation. Getting caught makes it a red tag fix it violation.:wink:


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## adpanko (Jun 18, 2009)

*Just a clarification question*

Some plastic boxes have the clamp-like closures that hold the cable coming into the box. But other plastic boxes, specifically most of the Carlon single gang boxes, have full knockouts and don't require any clamping mechanism for the cable. You just have to fasten the cable to the framing member within a few inches from the box. If you run a 14/2 cable into one of those knockout openings, more than half area of the knockout is still open, therefore an opening for flames to get through. This is not a code violation, correct? But if you have one of the other knockouts knocked out and no cable running through it, that is a violation, right?


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## nap (Dec 4, 2007)

depending on the size of the box, that may not be a proper method of installing the cable. In boxes 2 1/4X 4 or smaller, the cable is not required to be secured to the box. In anything larger than that, it must be.

additionally, the code gives this ambiguous direction concerning openings:

"openings through which conductors enter shall be adequately closed"

I can't find it but for some reason I remember something like you cannot have any openings greater than 1/4". I can't defend that though.


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## Andy-n-ATL (Apr 25, 2010)

It's weird. In commercial work it would be an unforgivable sin to install a 1900 box with an open knockout. In resi work if I have to replace an existing plastic box with another I will destroy the clamps on the box to facilitate the wires going back in w/out a twinge of guilt.

I understand the thinking about fire ratings on boxes but the way they are designed just doesn't make sense. I am a part time supervisor for Habitat for Humanity and I go into great detail explaining to the volunteers the logic behind why requiring all the holes drilled through the top plate and bottom plate of a stud wall have to be filled with a fire blocking material is so important. If a fire starts in a box due to poor wiring the way the plastic boxes are designed will not starve the fire of oxygen. What is critical is restricting the supply to just that one stud space.


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