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Ceiling light abuse!

6K views 5 replies 6 participants last post by  elkangorito 
#1 ·
Hello guys.
Recently I've had bad clash with Manager in my rental about ceiling light.
I have concrete floor and ceiling and wanted light in the middle of the room,
so I've hung small chandelier with long lamp cord put inside decorating chain.
Light is secure on the anchor, chain hooked to few hooks on ceiling then put in plastic conduit on vertical wall and finally plugged to el. outlet.
Manager spot it and CUT (!) wire close to chandelier and demand to remove whole installation on the ground that light need to be connected to el. box inside ceiling so where all wiring need to be. Sales assistance in the store assure me that it's perfectly fine to install light like this. Who is right and who is wrong? I live in Boston MA.

Thank you.:(
 
#3 ·
A lighting fixture can be cord connected if
1. the fixture is located DIRECTLY below outlet or busway.

2. The cord must be visible over its entire length outside the luminaire and connected to a listed grounding type plug cap and receptacle

I dont think your manager was out of line here, He was doing what managers do, covering thier a$$. Commercial wiring is not a diy project, and there are good reasons for that. If the owner gives you the go ahead thats a different story. There are other lighting methods that would be better imo.
 
#6 ·
A lighting fixture can be cord connected if
1. the fixture is located DIRECTLY below outlet or busway.

2. The cord must be visible over its entire length outside the luminaire and connected to a listed grounding type plug cap and receptacle

I dont think your manager was out of line here, He was doing what managers do, covering thier a$$. Commercial wiring is not a diy project, and there are good reasons for that. If the owner gives you the go ahead thats a different story. There are other lighting methods that would be better imo.
Even though I'm an Australian who lives in Thailand, this regulation seems a bit strange to me.

1] Having exposed wiring on a wall may not be against regulations but generally it puts the wiring at greater risk of mechanical damage.

2] In order to avoid mechanical damage to wiring, it must/(may?) be enclosed appropriately (conduit etc).

To me & in this case, this seems like a silly regulation/situation. If the cable/wiring is obviously going through a short length of conduit (vertical) after having been fully exposed, it's a bit difficult to otherwise see how this cable can be in any other way, interfering with another cable ie connections into this cable for the supply of other equipment. In other words, it would be obvious if this cable was connected to any other cable.

The building manager was obviously "covering his bum" & over-reacting in the process.

I'm sure that Stubbie will correct any of my false assumptions.:(
 
#4 ·
The fixture as you originally installed it would be called a swag lighting fixture.

I didn't think it was against code, although the last few feet of cord dangling down the wall to the receptacle would generally not be covered.

Or maybe there is a limit to how far from the wall it may be.

Anything in your lease talk about this issue, for example objects of any kind hanging from ceiling?
 
#5 ·
As far as I'm concerned, you simply had a swagged light. Very popular in the 60's and 70's even if there was a ceiling outlet available. (Remember those statues of Venus, inside the "shrine" with the oil dripping down fishing line?)



Maybe your rental agreement or lease forbids ceiling hooks or affixations. Barring that, what your rental manager did was destroy your property for no apparent reason. Electrical building codes don't apply to things you plug into outlets.
 
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