Originally Posted By: rpalac
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I can’t stand back…
As a commercial/industrial electrician I can't sit by idol....
There is nothing illegal about the sheathing of BX being used as a ground.
There is nothing wrong with a non-grounded receptacle.( 2 wire as it is referred to).
There are circumstances that do make the issues wrong. Such as changing a non-grounded receptacle to a grounded receptacle with out adding the grounding conductor.
If the system exist when it was acceptable by code via 1964, 1979, 1999 code it is grandfathered and okay.
Do you expect me to remove every piece of BX I installed in all teh Acme's 2 Penn-Center, the IBM building, Commerce Square, ....I don't think so.
They are all fine.
AS Jeff F. Pointed out it is acceptable and we are stepping further than we should.
If there is corrosion then it is our duty to write it up. If there is a no-ground or boot leg, or reversed polarity, then we write that up.
If it is a non-grounded system then we suggest that be upgrade for safety. But we can't red flag it.
If the GFI's are not there then we write that up according to the municipality requirements. Not ever municipality requires GFI's every where. You do not have to bring a house up to the most modern code that is out. NEC Article 80.9 (A), (B) and (C).
I have been doing consulting for the last 20+ years, half the time it is in defense of a home owner who was selling a building and someone wrote up a requirement to change things that were supposedly illegal or not to code. Be careful what you qualify as not acceptable.
BX if installed as it was intended is Okay. If it has signs of corrosion , it is not okay.
Some receptacles do not have to have a ground wire connected to them they are manufactured as previously described to be self grounding.
Sorry....I get very defensive on electrical issues.............
I guess we all want the world to be modern and perfect but reality is that we have to accept the issues we have from the past. We just need to know what is safe and unsafe.
Knob and tube is safe. It's when you have some one getting their grubby little paws into the box and screwing it up.
Boy...I'm sure I got some people mad with this reply.
Bob P.