Written against the 2026 NEC and checked section by section, September 2026
Receptacle Spacing Practice Questions
Nobody measures 6 feet from a receptacle. The rule is about how far a point on the floor line can sit from one, and the 2026 edition changed which stretches of floor line you are allowed to skip. These 25 items work the general provisions and the wall space definition first, then the countertop provisions that answer a kitchen question, then the subdivisions that carry their own threshold for bathrooms, outdoors, laundry areas, garages, hallways and foyers.
Pick an answer and the explanation opens with the section it comes from. These are original questions written for this site, not questions from the exam. Have your own code book open: the Texas exam is open book, and looking the section up is the skill being tested.
Read the receptacle spacing study page first if the topic is new to you.
1. What does the general dwelling spacing rule actually measure, and along what line?
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A. The distance measured horizontally along the floor line of any wall space to a receptacle outlet
Three words do all the work. Horizontally, so a change in wall height changes nothing. Floor line, so the tape runs at the base of the wall rather than at outlet height. Wall space, so the measurement only exists where the code says there is wall space to measure, and that definition is where the items are actually lost.
NEC 2026 210.52(A)(1)
2. A run of base cabinets with a countertop on it sits along a kitchen wall. Under the 2026 wording, does that run break the wall space measurement?
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C. Yes, since any fixed cabinet breaks the floor line
This is the change in the 2026 edition. The previous wording broke the floor line only at a fixed cabinet without a countertop or similar work surface, so a run of base cabinets had to satisfy both the general rule at floor level and the countertop rule. Now the cabinets break the floor line and the countertop provisions are the only ones that reach them.
NEC 2026 210.52(A)(2)
3. How wide does a space have to be before it counts as wall space?
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B. 2 feet or more, and space measured around corners counts toward that width
Two feet is the threshold and the phrase about corners is the half that gets skipped. A corner is still floor line, so a 16 inch return that turns into a 12 inch return around the corner is wall space even though neither piece reaches 2 feet on its own. That is also why the shortcut about a receptacle every twelve feet stops working the moment a run turns.
NEC 2026 210.52(A)(2)
4. Which of these breaks the floor line so that the space stops being wall space?
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D. A doorway
The definition lists what breaks the floor line: doorways and similar openings, fireplaces, stationary appliances and fixed cabinets. A doorway is not wall space and never was, which makes it the most reliable question in this group. Fixed panels in walls run the other way, since the space they occupy counts as wall space.
NEC 2026 210.52(A)(2)
5. How does the wall space definition treat panels in walls?
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A. The space occupied by fixed panels counts as wall space, but sliding panels are excluded
The rule counts the space a fixed panel occupies and then carves out the sliding one, since a sliding panel is really an opening. Material that adds the words not exterior walls to this item is describing wording the code dropped before the 2020 edition. Fixed room dividers such as freestanding bar-type counters or railings are a third kind of wall space in the same list.
NEC 2026 210.52(A)(2)
6. A receptacle outlet is installed in the floor. When does it count toward the required number?
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C. Only where it is located within 18 inches of the wall
Floor receptacles are counted, but only when they sit close enough to the wall to be doing the wall's job, and 450 mm prints as 18 inches. A floor outlet in the middle of a room is a perfectly legal outlet that buys you nothing toward the spacing requirement. Measure the distance to the wall before you count it.
NEC 2026 210.52(A)(3)
7. Do the receptacle outlets installed for a kitchen countertop count toward the general spacing requirement for the room?
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B. No, they are counted separately and do not satisfy the general provisions
The general provisions and the countertop provisions are two separate obligations on the same room, and the code says in as many words that countertop outlets do not answer the first one. The same idea runs the other way in the countertop subsection. Counting the same receptacle twice is the most common way a kitchen comes up short.
NEC 2026 210.52(A)(4), 210.52(C)
8. The 2026 edition added a subsection headed Receptacle Outlet Locations Prohibited to the general provisions. What does it prohibit?
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D. A receptacle outlet in a fixed room divider space below a countertop or work surface, within 24 inches of that surface
This subsection did not exist in the 2023 book, so nothing written before this edition mentions it, and its counterpart inside the countertop provisions is new as well. It reaches receptacle outlets installed in the wall space afforded by fixed room dividers where those outlets sit below a countertop or work surface, and it holds them at least 610 mm below that surface. An item describing a receptacle on the side of a divider under a bar top is testing this.
NEC 2026 210.52(A)(5)
9. How wide does a countertop or work surface have to be before the countertop provisions reach it?
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A. 12 inches or wider
Three hundred millimeters prints as 12 inches, and below that width the countertop provisions simply do not apply. The same figure appears again in the rule that treats each 12 inches of a multioutlet assembly holding two or more receptacles as one receptacle outlet. The subsection reaches kitchens, pantries, breakfast rooms, dining rooms and similar areas rather than kitchens alone.
NEC 2026 210.52(C)
10. A wall countertop runs 8 feet between two side walls. What is the smallest number of receptacle outlets that satisfies the countertop spacing rule?
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B. Two
No point along the wall line may be more than 24 inches from a receptacle outlet, so each outlet reaches 24 inches in both directions and covers 4 feet of counter. Eight feet needs two. One outlet at the midpoint leaves both ends 4 feet away, which fails, and three is more than the rule asks for. Notice the distance and the line are both different from the general 6 foot rule two subsections earlier.
NEC 2026 210.52(C)(1)
Ten down. If you want these timed and scored by content area, the practice exam runs thirty questions free, and the full bank of 178 plus the calculation ladder is $79 once.
11. A kitchen island countertop is installed. What does the 2026 edition require?
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D. No receptacle outlet is required, but where one is not provided, electrical provisions have to be left at the island for a future receptacle outlet
This reverses a requirement that stood since 1990, and the stated reason was children pulling appliance cords down off the counter. Read the subsection as a permission with a condition attached rather than as a deletion: the outlet is optional, the provisions for adding one later are not. Where an outlet is installed, the location rules and the new prohibition subsection both apply to it.
NEC 2026 210.52(C)(2)
12. Where may a receptacle outlet serving a countertop be located?
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C. On or above the countertop, but not more than 20 inches above it, or in a listed in-counter assembly
Five hundred millimeters prints as 20 inches and that is the ceiling on the height. The same subsection permits a receptacle outlet assembly listed for use in countertops or work surfaces to be installed in the surface itself. A receptacle on the vertical face of an island under the overhang no longer answers the countertop provisions.
NEC 2026 210.52(C)(3)
13. A receptacle outlet is installed in a drawer beneath a kitchen countertop. Is it permitted?
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A. Yes, an exception permits receptacle outlets installed in a drawer below countertops and work surfaces
The general rule keeps receptacle outlets beneath a countertop at least 24 inches below the surface, and the drawer is the way out of it. The reasoning is that a closed drawer is not a place a cord hangs down from. An item on this often pairs a compliant drawer assembly with a noncompliant face-mounted receptacle to see whether you know there are two rules here.
NEC 2026 210.52(C)(3)
14. A sink is set into a kitchen countertop. What does the countertop spacing rule say about the space directly behind it?
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C. An exception removes the requirement for a receptacle outlet directly behind a sink in the installation the figure describes
The first exception to the countertop spacing rule covers the space directly behind a range, a counter-mounted cooking unit or a sink, and it ties itself to a printed figure with dimensions in it. A second exception handles the case where a required outlet cannot go in the wall areas the figure shows, and it keeps the total count the same. Read the figure rather than reasoning from the sentence.
NEC 2026 210.52(C)(1)
15. Which receptacle outlets do the required small-appliance branch circuits have to serve?
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B. All wall and floor receptacle outlets covered by the general provisions, all countertop outlets, and receptacle outlets for refrigeration equipment, in the kitchen, pantry, breakfast room, dining room or similar area
Two or more 20-ampere circuits are required and the list of what they serve is wider than the countertop. Those circuits have no other outlets, subject to two exceptions for an electric clock and for supplemental equipment and lighting on gas-fired cooking appliances. No small-appliance branch circuit serves more than one kitchen.
NEC 2026 210.52(B)(1), 210.11(C)(1)
16. A bathroom has one sink. Where does the required receptacle outlet go relative to it?
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D. Within 3 feet of the outside edge of the sink
Nine hundred millimeters prints as 3 feet and the measurement runs from the outside edge of the sink rather than from the center of the basin or from the mirror. A second subsection then fixes which surfaces the outlet may sit on. Where a bathroom has two sinks, read the requirement again, since it is written for each sink.
NEC 2026 210.52(D)(1)
17. Where may the required bathroom receptacle outlet be mounted?
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A. On a wall or partition adjacent to the sink or sink countertop, on the countertop, or on the side or face of the sink cabinet, and not more than 12 inches below the top of the sink or countertop
The location subsection is a list of permitted surfaces plus one depth limit, and an item will offer you a mounting that satisfies the 3 foot distance and none of the surfaces. Three hundred millimeters prints as 12 inches and it is measured from the top of the sink or sink countertop downward. A listed in-countertop assembly is separately permitted in the surface itself.
NEC 2026 210.52(D)(2), 210.52(D)(3)
18. A one-family dwelling sits at grade. What outdoor receptacle outlets does the code require?
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C. At least one readily accessible from grade at the front and at the back, not more than 6 feet 6 inches above grade level
Two outlets, one front and one back, and the height ceiling is 2.0 m, printed as 6 feet 6 inches. Multifamily dwellings get a parallel rule that reaches each unit at grade level with individual exterior access. Both are separate from the balcony, deck and porch rule in the same subsection.
NEC 2026 210.52(E)(1), 210.52(E)(2)
19. A deck is built onto a dwelling. When does it need a receptacle outlet?
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B. Where it is within 4 inches horizontally of the dwelling unit
The trigger is a distance rather than an area or a height, and 102 mm prints as 4 inches. The outlet has to be accessible from the balcony, deck or porch itself and sit not more than 6 feet 6 inches above the walking surface. A freestanding deck set away from the building falls outside this rule.
NEC 2026 210.52(E)(3)
20. How are receptacle outlets counted in an attached garage?
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D. At least one in each vehicle bay, not more than 5-1/2 feet above the floor
The count runs per vehicle bay rather than per garage, which is what an item with a three-bay garage in the stem is checking. The height ceiling is 1.7 m, printed as 5-1/2 feet, and it matches the height above which a receptacle stops counting toward the general provisions. Detached garages with electric power are covered as well, and an exception releases multifamily garage spaces not attached to an individual unit.
NEC 2026 210.52(G)(1)
21. A hallway in a dwelling needs a receptacle outlet at what length, and how is the length measured?
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A. 10 feet or more, measured along the centerline of the hallway without passing through a doorway
Three meters prints as 10 feet and the measuring instruction is the half people skip. Running the tape along the centerline and stopping at a doorway can turn one long corridor into two short hallways that need nothing. That instruction is stated in the same subsection rather than left to judgment.
NEC 2026 210.52(H)
22. When does a foyer need receptacle outlets, and where do they go?
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C. Where the foyer is not part of a hallway and has an area greater than 60 square feet, with a receptacle in each wall space 3 feet or more in width
Two thresholds ride together here and both differ from the general provisions: an area of 5.6 square meters, printed as 60 square feet, and a wall space width of 900 mm rather than the 2 feet used elsewhere. The subsection also says doorways, door-side windows that extend to the floor and similar openings are not wall space, which is the general definition restated for this one place. A foyer that is part of a hallway is handled by the hallway rule instead.
NEC 2026 210.52(I), 210.52(H)
23. Which of these does not count toward the receptacle outlets the dwelling section requires?
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B. A receptacle located more than 5-1/2 feet above the floor
The opening paragraph of the section lists four kinds of receptacle that are in addition to what the section requires: part of a luminaire or appliance, controlled by a wall switch or listed wall-mounted control device under a named exception, inside cabinets or cupboards, and above 5-1/2 feet. Reading that list first saves an argument later. Baseboard heaters with factory-installed receptacle outlets are separately permitted to serve as the required outlets for the wall space they occupy.
NEC 2026 210.52
24. What branch circuit does an attached garage require, and what else may it supply?
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D. At least one 120-volt, 20-ampere branch circuit for the garage receptacle outlets, with no other outlets, except that an exception permits it to supply outdoor receptacle outlets
The circuit is dedicated, which is the point, and then two exceptions loosen it in specific ways rather than generally. One permits outdoor receptacle outlets on the same circuit, and the other permits other outlets in a single vehicle bay garage under the permissible load rules. Additional circuits rated 15 amperes or more may serve receptacle outlets other than the required ones.
NEC 2026 210.11(C)(4), 210.52(G)(1)
25. What does the code require in a dwelling laundry area, and on what circuit?
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A. At least one receptacle outlet in the area designated for laundry equipment, on an additional 120-volt, 20-ampere branch circuit with no other outlets
The outlet and the circuit are written in two different sections and an item can satisfy one and break the other. Two exceptions release the receptacle where a multifamily building provides laundry facilities for all occupants, and where laundry facilities are not to be installed or permitted in other than one-family dwellings. The dedicated circuit is not a small-appliance branch circuit, which is a separate obligation with its own count.
NEC 2026 210.52(F), 210.11(C)(2)
One question a day keeps the habit, the practice exam runs the clock, and the tools page has the calculators and games.