GFCI and AFCI protection (NEC 2026 210.8, 210.12)

In 50 minutes, your students learn where a house needs GFCI protection under 210.8 and where it needs AFCI protection under 210.12, and how to protect a circuit with the right device.

At a glance

Level

First-year apprentices

Time

50 minutes, with a 90-minute variant

Sections

210.8, 210.8(A), 210.8(B), 210.8(C), 210.8(D), 210.8(F), 210.12(A), 210.12(B), 210.12(C), 210.12(D), 210.12(E)

Students need

Their own 2026 code book

Edition

2026 NEC

Last checked

October 2026

Class plan by minutes

1. 0 to 5 minWarm-upAsk for a show of hands: does a bathroom need AFCI? Does a bedroom need GFCI? Write the guesses on the board and leave them up.
2. 5 to 20 minVisualsPlay What a GFCI senses. At Predict, have students commit to an answer before you pick one. Then play Line and load and What an AFCI senses. Then read the dwelling GFCI list and the dwelling AFCI list in the code book, and have students name a room that is on one list but not the other.
3. 20 to 35 minSimulationPairs play Protection Map jobs 1 to 4. Each pair says out loud what a circuit feeds before they place a device.
4. 35 to 45 minQuizRun the Quiz scene. Students write an answer alone before you choose Show the answer. They can use the code book.
5. 45 to 50 minWrap-upReturn to the warm-up guesses and settle each one with a section number. Go over the question most students missed.

For a 90-minute block, give the simulation 30 minutes so pairs finish jobs 1 to 6, and add 10 minutes to go back over the three questions with the code book open.

What students learn

By the end of the period, each student can look at a room in a home and say whether its receptacles need GFCI, whether its circuit needs AFCI, and name a device that meets each rule.

210.8

GFCI protection is by a listed Class A GFCI in a readily accessible location. Distance to a sink or tub follows the cord path.

210.8(A)

In a home, receptacles in kitchens, bathrooms, garages, basements, crawl spaces, laundry areas, and outdoors need GFCI, as do those near sinks and tubs.

210.8(B)

Outside homes, a different list of places needs GFCI, for circuits up to 50 A single-phase or 100 A three-phase.

210.8(C)

Lighting outlets in crawl spaces need GFCI.

210.8(D)

Dishwashers, ranges, wall ovens, cooktops, dryers, microwaves, sump pumps, and more need GFCI on the circuit or the outlet.

210.8(F)

Outdoor outlets at a home need GFCI, hardwired ones too. Replacing the equipment brings the outlet under the rule.

210.12(A)

Six ways to give a circuit AFCI protection, from a breaker at the panel to an outlet AFCI at the first outlet.

210.12(B)

In a home, 120 V circuits of 10, 15, and 20 A that feed kitchens, bedrooms, living areas, closets, hallways, and laundry areas need AFCI.

210.12(C)

Dormitories have their own AFCI list.

210.12(D)

Hotel and motel guest rooms, nursing home sleeping rooms, and sleeping quarters in fire and police stations need AFCI.

210.12(E)

Modifying, replacing, or extending a circuit in those areas brings in AFCI, with a short-extension exception.

Section numbers only. Read the full text in your code book.

2023 to 2026: our list has 5 changes in 210.8. See the changes

Quiz questions

1. 1. A dining room receptacle in a house is 5 ft from a kitchen sink, measured along the cord path to the inside edge of the bowl. Does it need GFCI protection?

   Answer. Yes. Any dwelling receptacle within 6 ft of the inside edge of the sink bowl needs GFCI, and the distance follows the cord path. (210.8(A))

2. 2. A 15-ampere, 120-volt branch circuit feeds the outlets in a house bedroom. Does it need AFCI protection?

   Answer. Yes. Bedrooms are on the dwelling AFCI list. (210.12(B))

3. 3. You extend an existing bedroom circuit by 5 ft of cable to a spot that has no new outlet or device. Is AFCI protection required for the extension?

   Answer. No. An extension of 6 ft or less that adds no new outlet or device is excepted, apart from splices. (210.12(E))

Teaching notes

Before class

Students need their own 2026 code book open to Article 210. Open this lesson on your teaching computer before class and project it. Step through the visuals, the Protection Map simulation, and the quiz with the arrow keys. Students can play the simulation on a phone or a laptop. If they have neither, you can project the simulation and let the class vote on each device.

How to use the simulation in class

• Run it after the visuals, so students already know the two lists.
• Pairs take jobs 1 to 4 (Kitchen, Bath and laundry, Garage and basement, Bedrooms). Each pair says what a circuit feeds before they place a device.
• Early finishers play jobs 5 and 6 (Whole house and Remodel) to work to a budget and to clear an inspector's red tags.
• When a pair gets a call wrong, ask them to find the section the inspector named in their code book before they try again.

Two discussion questions

1. 1. A kitchen circuit has a GFCI receptacle at the first outlet, and the rest of the receptacles are wired to its load side. Which outlets does it protect, and what else does the circuit still need?

   Look for: A GFCI receptacle protects the outlets wired to its load terminals. The circuit still needs AFCI protection in a home kitchen (210.12(B)), so students should say a dual-function breaker or an AFCI device in addition.

2. 2. A homeowner asks you to add a bedroom outlet 4 ft from an existing one, and then asks for a second one 20 ft away. How does AFCI apply to each?

   Look for: Both need AFCI, because each adds an outlet. The exception in 210.12(E) covers only an extension of 6 ft or less that adds no outlet or device. Use any means in 210.12(A), or an outlet AFCI at the first outlet of the existing circuit (210.12(E)). Students should say why the short distance does not help here.

Mistakes to watch for

• Treating GFCI and AFCI as one rule. They have separate lists in 210.8 and 210.12(B).
• Calling for AFCI on a bathroom circuit. Bathrooms are not on the home AFCI list in 210.12(B).
• Measuring the sink distance through a wall instead of along the cord path.
• Forgetting that a GFCI receptacle only protects the outlets wired after it.
• Missing the specific appliance list in 210.8(D). It protects the branch circuit or the outlet, so a hardwired appliance is covered too.

If a student’s book is a different edition

This lesson follows the 2026 NEC. The GFCI and AFCI lists change from one edition to the next, so tell students with an older book to compare the lists in their own book and to check what their state has adopted. Hold the final answer to the code your authority having jurisdiction enforces.

Ask Shorty is independent and is not affiliated with NFPA. Check every answer against your adopted code and your authority having jurisdiction. This lesson follows the 2026 NEC and was last checked October 2026. See something wrong? Tell us and we will check it against the code.