Removal and feeders
29 CFR 1926.405(a)(2) governs temporary wiring on construction work. Temporary wiring must be removed immediately upon completion of construction or of the purpose for which it was installed. The construction rule sets no fixed day limit. The trap is the 90-day figure: that is the general-industry holiday-lighting limit in 1910.305, not a construction rule.
Under (a)(2)(ii)(A), feeders must originate in a distribution center, not at a permanent receptacle or branch-circuit junction box. Feeders run as multiconductor cord or cable assemblies or in raceways, or, where not subject to physical damage, as open conductors on insulators not more than 10 ft (3.05 m) apart. Spacing of 12 ft exceeds that maximum.
Branch circuits are a separate rule
Paragraph (ii)(B) covers open branch-circuit conductors:
- fastened at intervals of no more than 10 ft (8 ft or 10 ft both comply)
- never laid on the floor, even in a dry area
- a separate equipment grounding conductor is required
Both figures are 10 ft, but they are two different rules: feeder insulator spacing and branch-circuit fastening. Mixing them up is a listed common error.
Temporary lighting
- (ii)(E): all lamps for general illumination must be protected from accidental contact or breakage, and metal-case sockets must be grounded. There is no height cut-off such as 7 ft, no wattage cut-off such as 100 watts, and no wet-location limit on grounding the sockets. Forgetting lamp guards and socket grounding is a listed common error.
- (ii)(F): temporary lights may not be suspended by their electrical cords unless designed for it. This is not an absolute ban, and a hard-usage cord rating or GFCI protection does not make a light designed for suspension.
Wet and conductive locations
Under (ii)(G), portable lighting in wet or conductive locations, such as inside a wet steel tank, must operate at 12 volts or less, unless 120-volt lights are protected by GFCIs. A lamp guard on a 120-volt light does not replace the GFCI. The limit is 12 volts, not 24 volts, and the rule does not restrict the choice to battery lights rated for hazardous locations.