Rough-in: branch circuits and receptacle layout (NEC 2026 210.52, 210.11, 210.23)

In 50 minutes, your students learn where receptacles go in a home, which circuits feed them, and how to match the breaker to the wire.

At a glance

Level

First-year apprentices

Time

50 minutes, with a 90-minute variant

Sections

210.52(A)(1), 210.52(A)(2), 210.52(A)(3), 210.52(C)(1), 210.52(C)(3), 210.11(C)(1), 210.52(F), 210.52(G)(1), 210.23(B)(1), 240.4(D), 200.10(B), 200.11, 250.148

Students need

Their own 2026 code book

Edition

2026 NEC

Last checked

October 2026

Class plan by minutes

1. 0 to 5 minWarm-upDraw one bedroom wall on the board with a door in it. Ask students where the receptacles go. Take guesses and leave them up.
2. 5 to 20 minVisualPlay the Loose connection visual. Then teach receptacle spacing and the kitchen circuits on the board. When you reach wall space, have students mark it on your drawing before you reveal it.
3. 20 to 35 minSimulationPairs play Rough-In jobs 1 to 3 (Bedroom receptacle, Living room wall, Light and switch). Walk the room and ask each pair to say where the hot and neutral land before they flip the breaker.
4. 35 to 45 minQuestionsAsk the three quiz questions below, one at a time. Students write an answer alone, then you give the answer and its section. They can use the code book.
5. 45 to 50 minWrap-upCheck the warm-up guesses against the spacing rule. Go over the question most students missed.

For a 90-minute block, give the simulation 30 minutes so pairs finish all four jobs, including Kitchen counter, 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 place receptacles in a room and along a kitchen counter, name the circuits a home kitchen needs, and pick a breaker that matches the wire size.

210.52(A)(1)

Room receptacles are spaced so that no spot along a wall's floor line is more than 6 ft from one.

210.52(A)(2)

Defines which stretches of wall count as wall space, including around corners and at fixed dividers.

210.52(A)(3)

A receptacle in the floor counts only if it is near the wall.

210.52(C)(1)

Kitchen counters use a tighter spacing than rooms: 24 in. from any point on the wall line.

210.52(C)(3)

Counter receptacles go on or just above the counter, within a set height.

210.11(C)(1)

A home needs at least two 20 A small-appliance circuits for the outlets 210.52(B) lists, such as the kitchen and dining room.

210.52(F)

The laundry area needs a receptacle.

210.52(G)(1)

Each garage vehicle bay needs a receptacle, within a height limit.

210.23(B)(1)

One plug-in appliance may use at most 80% of its circuit rating.

240.4(D)

14 AWG copper gets a 15 A breaker at most, 12 AWG gets 20 A, and 10 AWG gets 30 A.

200.10(B)

On a receptacle, the neutral goes on the terminal marked white or silver.

200.11

Keep polarity at every terminal: the hot and the neutral never trade places.

250.148

Join the grounds in a box, keep the ground path unbroken past each device, and bond a metal box.

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

2023 to 2026: our list has 2 changes in 210.52. See the changes

Quiz questions

1. 1. Along the floor line of a bedroom wall space, how far can any point be from the nearest receptacle?

   Answer. No point may be more than 6 ft from a receptacle. (210.52(A)(1))

2. 2. What is the largest distance allowed between a point on a kitchen counter wall line and the nearest counter receptacle?

   Answer. 24 in. (210.52(C)(1))

3. 3. A 20-ampere general-purpose circuit also feeds a plug-in space heater. What is the highest rating that one plug-in appliance may have on this circuit?

   Answer. 80 percent of 20 amperes, which is 16 amperes. (210.23(B)(1))

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 visual and the Rough-In simulation 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 call each wire placement.

How to use the simulation in class

• Run it after you teach receptacle spacing and the kitchen circuits, so students know what the inspector looks for.
• Pairs take jobs 1 to 3 (Bedroom receptacle, Living room wall, Light and switch). Each pair says which wire lands on which screw before they flip the breaker.
• Early finishers play job 4 (Kitchen counter) to feed counter receptacles from two 20 A circuits and bond every metal box.
• When the inspector fails a job, ask the pair to find the section on the ticket in their code book before they try again.

Two discussion questions

1. 1. A customer asks for one receptacle in the middle of a 14 ft bedroom wall with no doors. Is that enough?

   Look for: Seven feet from the receptacle to each end is over the 6 ft limit (210.52(A)(1)), so students should say the wall needs a second receptacle. Ask where they would put the second one.

2. 2. A kitchen has a counter receptacle on the same circuit as the dining room lights. What is wrong, and what do you do?

   Look for: The small-appliance circuits supply only the 210.52(B) small-appliance outlets, which are the kitchen, pantry, breakfast room, and dining room wall, floor, and counter receptacles plus the refrigerator outlet (210.11(C)(1), 210.52(B)(1)). The only exceptions in 210.52(B)(2) are a clock outlet and the built-in lights and equipment on a gas range, oven, or cooktop, so kitchen ceiling lights stay off these circuits. Students should move the lights to a general lighting circuit and keep the counter receptacles on their own 20 A circuits.

Mistakes to watch for

• Measuring spacing from the receptacle to the end of the room instead of along the floor line from the nearest receptacle.
• Counting a counter receptacle toward the room spacing rule. The counter has its own rule, and the room needs its own receptacles.
• Putting the kitchen lights on a small-appliance circuit.
• Using a 20 A breaker on 14 AWG wire.
• Putting the hot on the silver (white) terminal (200.10(B)), or leaving the ground out of a pigtail so the next receptacle loses it when one is removed.

If a student’s book is a different edition

This lesson follows the 2026 NEC. If a student has an older book, tell them to find the same topic in their book and compare the section number, 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.