Receptacle placement and required circuits
CERT 2 · Residential Wiring · ~10 min
Dwelling receptacle spacing follows the 6/12 rule: no point along a wall line may be more than 6 feet from a receptacle, which in practice means one every 12 feet. Any wall section 2 feet or wider counts as wall space that must be served — including fixed panels of sliding doors and freestanding railings.
Kitchen countertops have their own tighter rule: no point along the counter wall line more than 24 inches from a receptacle, and any counter space 12 inches or wider must have one. These outlets are served by the two (minimum) 20 A small-appliance branch circuits from Unit 2.3 — and those circuits may not feed anything outside the kitchen, pantry, dining, and breakfast areas.
Certain loads demand dedicated individual branch circuits: the laundry (20 A), the bathroom receptacles (20 A, and this circuit serves bathrooms only), plus fixed appliances like dishwashers, disposals, and electric ranges per their nameplate.
Exam focus: 6/12 for general walls, 24 inches for countertops, 2-foot wall minimum, and which circuits are prohibited from serving other rooms. These are pure recall — free points once memorized.
Quiz — 3 questions
1. Along a dwelling wall, the maximum distance from any point to a receptacle is:
2. Kitchen countertop receptacles must be placed so no point is more than:
3. The 20 A bathroom receptacle circuit may also serve: