cabinetselectricalnecreceptacle
I'll be putting some base cabinets in my townhouse (northern Virginia), on an existing wall with several electrical receptacles. The receptacles are near the floor, as this is not a kitchen, and would be covered by the cabinets.
What are my options for dealing with those receptacles in a safe and code-compliant way? I'm not averse to moving them up if need be, so they'll sit above the new cabinets / countertop.
Just use these plastic extension fillers.
You might want to remove the receptacles as they can get stuck behind the cabinets if the "ears" on the receptacles are not removed.
Ears are the thin pieces of removable metal tabs on the top and bottom of the receptacle. They have cut lines on them and can be removed using a pair of needle nose pliers.
Technically the two minimum kitchen, pantry, dining room, breakfast room, or similar area, small appliance branch circuit only applies to outlets served on the walls, counter-tops, and/or floor outlets if they are within 18" of a wall. All other appliances, with the exception of refrigerators, that are fastened in place, CANNOT be included on the two minimum small appliance circuits. They MUST be on their own appliance circuit.
Still though, you may be able to combine and share the dishwasher and disposal on one dedicated circuit if the following conditions are met.
210.23 Permissible Loads, Multiple-Outlet Branch Circuits
(A) (2) Utilization Equipment Fastened in Place. The total rating of utilization equipment fastened in place, other than luminaires, shall not exceed 50 percent of the branch-circuit ampere rating where lighting units, cord-and-plug-connected utilization equipment not fastened in place, or both, are also supplied.
430.53 Several Motors or Loads on One Branch Circuit
Two or more motors or one or more motors and other loads shall be permitted to be connected to the same branch circuit under conditions specified in 430.53( D) and in 430.53( A), (B), or (C). The branch-circuit protective device shall be fuses or inverse time circuit breakers.
(A) Not Over 1 Horsepower. Several motors, each not exceeding 1 hp in rating, shall be permitted on a nominal 120-volt branch circuit protected at not over 20 amperes or a branch circuit of 1000 volts, nominal, or less, protected at not over 15 amperes, if all of the following conditions are met:
The full-load rating of each motor does not exceed 6 amperes.
The rating of the branch-circuit short-circuit and ground-fault protective device marked on any of the controllers is not exceeded.
Individual overload protection conforms to 430.32.
Best Answer
All junction boxes in use, whether with receptacles, splices, switches or other devices, must be accessible.
Move 'Em
This is probably the generally "best" answer. But it may involve significant work, depending on the type of wall. However, not only can receptacles not be covered, junction boxes can't be covered, even if they are only in use for a splice.
If a cable comes down from above, moving the receptacle up is easy.
If a cable comes up from below, you have a problem because you need to extend the existing cable. Normally you do that by splicing in an additional cable in the junction box. But that doesn't help here because now you have a junction box that still can't be covered. There are splices that are approved for in-wall use (i.e., not accessible) which may be an option.
Use 'Em
Depending on the type of cabinet, or specifically the type of cabinet back wall, you can:
Both!
With typical walls, you could use the receptacles below and it should be very easy to install receptacles above the counter and drop cable down to the lower receptacles. Pigtail each set of 3 wires (in, out, new) in the lower boxes, even if originally they had the normal in on one screw, out on the other screw.