Like many people, I have a dishwasher and a disposer, which are plugged into an outlet in the cabinet under the kitchen sink. Also like many, this is where I keep a whole host of cleaning products and other things that children should be kept away from. So, as part of general childproofing of my home, I am going to install a child-safe latch on the cabinet door.
The question is, does the outlet under the sink still need to be tamper-resistant by code if the cabinet itself is made inaccessible by some other means? Also, since it's a "wet" area, does it additionally need to be weather-resistant?
Best Answer
In NEC 2008 Tamper Resistant receptacles are covered in section 406.11
Since section 210.52 specifies receptacles located within cabinets or cupboards, even those receptacles in the cabinet used to supply disposals are required to be tamper resistant.
NEC 2011 revised section 406.11 to 406.12 and added some exceptions.
However, none of these exceptions exclude under cabinet receptacles. If you're replacing the receptacle under the cabinet or installing a new receptacle under the cabinet, it must be tamper resistant. Having a lock on the cabinet door has no bearing on the code.