On 1/13/2020 4:17 PM, Scott Lurndal wrote:
Ed Pawlowski writes:
On 1/13/2020 1:14 PM, Shawn OShea wrote:
replying to john, Shawn OShea wrote:
Somewhere around 2005 I took a class on residential wiring and codes.
According to the 2002 ( I think) N.E.C all vertically mounted outlets, both
single and duplex, requires the ground prong to be at the top. Horizontally
mounted must have the (Common) or (Big) prong at the top.

Not true. My house was built a year ago and all are down. As are the
other 400 houses here.

Are you saying that the NEC doesn't require that? A single example
doesn't invalidate the rule; nor confirm it (my house, built in 1970,
has them all correctly oriented with the grounding pin at the top).

I've never seen it required. My house built in 1978 had them down too.
I mentioned the office because when we did major work in our office in
about 2005 the electrician said it was not required but the local
inspector wanted them that way so he did.

The question has come up here a few times an no one vear posted a
requirement either, I just checked with Mr. Google and he does not care.
The electrical code allows outlets to be installed with the ground plug
hole facing up, down or sideways. It's up to you, there is no standard
electric outlet orientation. So that means there really is no such thing
as upside down outlets.

Archtoobox
Ground Pin Up or Ground Pin Down?
There is an age-old debate about whether an electrical outlet should be
mounted with the ground pin up or down. Unfortunately, there is not a
fully accepted answer. However, it is commonly accepted that the
National Electrical Code (NEC) of the United States (NFPA 70), does not
provide any specific direction for the orientation of the outlet. We
recommend checking local codes to make sure there aren't any local code
requirements.