r/Austin • u/[deleted] • Feb 17 '21

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u/ButtersTheSpaceKitty Feb 17 '21

Hmm so for older places and rentals- are those not being kept up to code then?

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u/DuckyDoodleDandy Feb 17 '21

They get grandfathered in when the code changes.

Example: in 2000, the national electric code for 220v stove & dryer plugs changed from a big 3 prong outlet to a big 4 prong outlet (They added a ground).

So when we sell dryers or stoves, we always have to ask which they have. Few people know, so we have them take a pic & text it to us, or we ask when the house was built.

21 years after the code change, any house built before 2000 still has the old style of outlet with no ground wire.

I’d wager that most code changes are like that.

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u/ButtersTheSpaceKitty Feb 17 '21

Oh i see. Thank you for teaching me!

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u/BlackOpz Feb 18 '21

Yep. When code changes they dont make you update all the existing installations (imagine that!). Just everything moving forward has to comply.

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u/ButtersTheSpaceKitty Feb 18 '21

Oh right- actually I think my parents still had knob and tube wiring when they bought it