Board President Violated CC&Rs and building codes

The board President remodeled her Kitchen and Laundry room where she had common area soffits removed which exposed electrical wiring. The contractor cut wires and put junction boxes in the walls which would be covered by drywall and new cabinets. The President didn't get a member's vote on the removal of the common area soffits and failed to pull permits. We are paint-in condominiums and Members must vote not the board. I contacted the board after she completed the project and nothing ever happened as she was on the board. I contacted the board again with pictures and CC&R violations and still, the other board members are doing nothing as she is the President. If there was a fire started by the hidden junction boxes the Insurance would deny the claim and it would fall on all members. Yes, the city was called but they didn't want to pursue it as it was almost a year. Contacting the Insurance company is a bad idea as it would or could cause them to cancel the policy. I know there is a derivative suit but that would cost me money. We are only nine units.

how did you get into her home to see the junction boxes behind drywall/cabinets??? you would of had to been in there before and after to make such a claim?

Junction boxes behind walls are not an inherent safety issue. It is more so that it makes it easier to fix things if they are not hidden. Yes it's a code violations, but there are tons of code violations all over the place. Putting crap in front of your garage breaker box is a code violation. Smoke alarms past 10 year expiration or battery are code violations, etc.
It's been over a year I wouldn't worry about it. but if you must, sue on your own dime as you would just be wasting the other 6 members money.

he did, they didn't care cause it was over a year old

I'm just glad I don't live in your neighborhood! So it's ok and all members will pay the price at some point! Power surges, lightning strikes, drilling into them, and water intrusion?

Can You Put a Junction Box in a Wall? (Quick Answers)
Posted on Last updated: July 12, 2022

CategoriesHome & Garden

Junction box is a very familiar name to electricians, as well as people who are thinking about putting electric connections to their houses. It is a part that ensures safe and secure electricity flow throughout your house.

Can you put a junction box in a wall?
This is a very essential part of wiring your house, protecting them from any kind of damage, preventing short circuits, and it keeping away from water, fire, or human contact. Placing the junction box inside the wall is against the standard building code. So, it is not recommended.

A junction box or electric switch box is also known to electricians who use it to enclose electric wiring inside your house. Generally, switches could be needed to be put anywhere inside the house and that requires complicated wiring lines.

Electrical wires are usually connected to switches in different parts of the house while they are attached to the wall. And the wires of different connections come together in the junction box.

It is a box that you can hide inside the wall in order to keep all the wiring connections in a place together as well as away from any sort of contact with humans, fire, or water to prevent short circuits.

A special reason why the junction box is needed to be put inside the wall is to protect your cable connections from any external contact.

If the cable connection is left open in the house, it might catch fire due to a short circuit and it can spread to the furniture of the house. Again, if the cable connections are not properly sealed, anyone can be electrified.

So, it is required to use a junction box to cover the wiring connections. Also, for some reason, the junction box should not be placed inside the wall again. Placing the junction box inside the wall is against the building code.

It is a delusive and ineffective way, causing weakness to the building walls’ load capacity. Moreover, a junction box packed with various wires might rub off together resulting in an unwanted fire if not aligned properly.

A simple mistake could cost you expensive damage and hassle to your living. So, it is highly recommended to avoid putting junction boxes inside a wall. But still, if you want to put it, you must follow the building code and proper procedure.

Can you bury an electrical junction box behind a wall? “inside a wall”
You can bury an electrical junction box inside a wall to secure your wirings but it is not advised to do so. Burying junction boxes inside walls weakens the wall by decreasing the load capacity and creating space inside walls which makes it dangerous.

In addition to that, sometimes wires could rub off with each other when stacked together inside the junction box and cause fire from a short circuit, which is also a safety risk.

When you bury the electrical junction inside or behind a wall, it remains hidden from view, resulting in unseen occurrences due to the lack of visibility inside the box.

Can a junction box be hidden behind drywall?
As per the United States electrical code, it has been mentioned that it should never be attempted to keep a junction box behind drywall.

But if you want to place it behind drywall, it should have a continuous run of wire, where it could be accessible to any sort of addition, reduction, or repair of connection.

The best solution is to put a cover over the junction box so that it could be accessed anytime.

Also, the problem with having a junction box behind the wall is, if your home is ever hit by a high-voltage surge, you might need to check all the junction boxes to ensure they are working properly.

Why are hidden junction boxes bad?
There are plenty of reasons why hidden junction boxes are considered to be a bad decision for houses. The main issue is, it prevents inspecting the issues inside and makes the repair procedure very difficult to pull off.

Some of the reasons are discussed below:

Difficult to locate:
Hidden junction boxes are difficult to locate as they are buried inside a wall. Sometimes, it is even difficult to keep track of all the junction boxes.

For this, during a high-voltage surge, it might take a lot of time to locate and inspect all the junction boxes and repair them.

Harder to evaluate:
During repair, the junction boxes become harder to evaluate. As they remain hidden inside the wall, you cannot inspect the issue with bare eyes, you have to break the plaster in order to inspect the issue and solve it.

Sometimes, the stacked planless wiring makes it more difficult to find out the problematic wiring inside a junction box.

Safety risk when drilling:
During installations of new household furniture or items, such as TV, photo frames, wall hangings, or similar kinds of stuff that need drilling, it creates a safety risk for the boxes. It becomes difficult to find or avoid the boxes.

As a result, mistakenly drilling over a box or wiring could cause a short circuit in your house.

What is code for an electrical junction box?
In the US electrical code, it is mentioned to keep junction boxes accessible and the size of the box from which the wires will come out should be at least 12 inches. They cannot be covered with any type of surfacing, drywall, or blocking material.

A junction box connects wires coming from different locations so it must have the wires aligned properly in order to conduct proper power supply and ensure easy repairing.

It is also mentioned to leave at least six inches of extra wiring inside the junction box considering future connection purposes.

Where should junction boxes be located?
The junction boxes are used to connect two or more wire connections ending up to an outlet, light fixture, or switchboard. Depending on planning and design, they might extend to various accessory fixtures.

The inspection and repair procedure might consume a lot of time and money if the junction boxes are hidden. So, it is advised to keep the junction boxes covered, so that they can be removed to inspect any sort of damages.

Some of the easy ways to locate junction boxes are mentioned below:

Wiring Diagram:
If you can manage to get the electrical wiring plan or the diagram for your apartment or house, you can easily get access to the junction boxes located in your house.

The “J” in the diagrams refers to the junction boxes in the drawing. So, it is a very simple idea to manage the wiring diagram to locate the junction boxes.

Walls near heavy equipment:
Generally, in warehouses or factories, where heavy machinery is used, junction boxes can easily be found beside or around the machinery. In a warehouse, you can look around the compressors, pumps, or generators.

Inside cabinets:
Considering residential purposes, junction boxes can be found inside cabinets. That makes them covered and easy to access for a mechanic. Take a look at the kitchen cabinets or store room cabinets to easily find the junction boxes.

How to install a junction box in a wall?
It is better to get this job done by a skilled mechanic as electric wirings are sensitive, need proper alignment and connection sealing to prevent any type of damage. When installing a junction box, some criteria are required to install it.

It is important to choose the right size of the junction box based on the wirings needed. Also, you will need a screwdriver, hammers, pliers, drill, etc.

The process to install a junction box in a wall is mentioned below:

Place the junction box:
Decide a place where it is safe to mount the box. Make sure your wires have space for some extra inches inside the box. The box must be kept away from water, fire, and reach of human contact.

Once you’ve decided, drill the wall and mount the box by screwing them up tightly.

Join the wires:
Once you have placed the box, Bring the wires inside the box from the wiring line. Keep at least 6 inches extra for both the wire ends. Separate the cover of the wires and twist the metal parts to ensure proper connection.

Fold and seal the wires:
Now that you’ve established the connection between two wires, it is important to seal them or they might get in contact with some other wire and catch fire. So, seal them using caps or electrical tapes.

Final Thoughts
It is possible to put a junction box behind a wall yet highly recommended not to do so as it violates the building code and standards. Putting junction boxes behind the walls makes it difficult to access and a safety risk. So, it must be placed in a place where it can be accessible for repair.

To add into what Sheila is saying that you can't prove that "junction box" did not already exist or was "new" by a picture even if it was. The risk of a junction box is NOT in it's existence. They can exist and be safe. They just can't be moved or cut out into a wall/stud board.

Are you an Electrician and know electrical code? If the person who did the work was a certified Electrician then any work they did would be on them. That is why they should be licensed and insured. That is why you ALWAYS hire a licensed and insured contractor. That is the RULE every HOA should have in place whether or not anyone likes the work that was done.

I am an Electrician but not a practicing one. Can not assume what your describing is actual code violation or something you heard was "bad". Example: Some people have their ground holes in their outlets facing upwards instead of down. It will look odd if your used to seeing the ground hole on the bottom. Is this a code violation? No. It's more of a "preference". I don't personally like that "look" but you can wire your outlets the other direction.

If I was to do my own work, then I do not have to pull a permit. Which sounds crazy to me. Not knowing the laws in your state, what requires a permit and what doesn't? How do you know a permit wasn't pulled? Do you know what name it would been pulled under?

I was just using the "upside down" outlet as an example for something many people who are not electricians can visualize. Plus my dogs are wanting a walk to keep typing much more...

Even as a homeowner you must pull permits for this type of work!

Contact insurance after you move? Whose insurance- yours or the new owner? When will you disclose this to the new owner- before or after the sales agreement is signed? This may not be in your house, but how would a judge react if you knew of a potential problem and didn't say anything? And you're a general contractor and therefore know the pitfalls??? I don't think that would end well for you, but maybe I'm overthinking it.

Before you bury yourself in more horse dukey, you really need to talk to an attorney - start with what homeowners are required to disclose to buyers before the house changes hands. I don't know what answer you were looking for in starting this conversation, but I don't think you're getting what you want to hear. Thus is something you really need to discuss with an attorney, not a message board. Goid luck in whatever you choose.

I do NOT have to disclose this at all and wouldn't cause my self any problems. I would be the Associations duty to disclose this issue which would fall back on them!

OK, so what was the point of this entire conversation? Were you just venting (which is fine) or did you want suggestions/ opinions on your options and which was the best one?

who wrote this article Chat GPT?
you are a general contractor and post fearmongering crap that doesnt' even make any sense? "creating space" in a wall makes it dangerous? huh?
only someone who never changed a lightbulb would think this article is informative.

I would say you are the one that is dangerous!

lets look at this logically
if water intrustion is actually an issue, how would moving a juction box 1/2" forward so it is visible prevent the water intrusion?
If accidently drilling into a junction box is really an issue, then why are wires allowed to be put into a wall studs/ cavities where they can also be drilled into?

Yes NEC Code specifies a junction box be visible, but even your AHJ @ your code dept doesnt' think it's worth looking into. that should tell you all you need to know.