NM in commercial buildings is regulated by ICC and building codes. Depends on where you live if 'legal' or not.
That being said, other than a dwelling, NM is not allowed above drop ceiling per NEC. Looking at pictures, they have bigger problems than v drop
Other thing I would say...is look into it yourself. Inspectors are a phone call away!

 

for the Vdrop .... check at the main breaker hi side
that should be no less 115V
if it is less, then check w poco about moving the transfmr taps

ideally you should have about 120V at the main brkr and at least 116V at the furthest receptacle
investigate further as needed, bad splices, etc.

 

The NEC doesn't entirely rule out NM in commercial buildings, look at (3) below. The problem is determining the construction type is not simple. The informational note is misleading, there's not enough info in the annex for you to determine the building type, IMO. There are a fair number of one story commercial buildings around here that were stick built / wood framed and wired with mostly NM. On the other hand, I know of a building where I'm pretty sure it would have been of a construction type for which NM would be legal, and there were no local amendments, but the inspector wouldn't allow NM in commercial, period.

Of course the NEC is pretty clear about leaving exposed splices lying on the ceiling drywall, so I doubt who ever did this cared about the building's construction type

If you can't lay your hands on documentation that says the building is of Type III, IV, or V, you're taking a chance using NM in a commercial building.

334.10 Uses Permitted. Type NM, Type NMC, and Type NMS
cables shall be permitted to be used in the following, except as
prohibited in 334.12:

(1) One- and two-family dwellings and their attached or
detached garages, and their storage buildings.

(2) Multi-family dwellings permitted to be of Types III, IV,
and V construction.

(3) Other structures permitted to be of Types III, IV, and V
construction. Cables shall be concealed within walls,
floors, or ceilings that provide a thermal barrier of mate‐
rial that has at least a 15-minute finish rating as identified
in listings of fire-rated assemblies.

Informational Note No. 1: Types of building construction and​

occupancy classifications are defined in NFPA 220 -2015, Stand‐​

ard on Types of Building Construction, or the applicable building​

code, or both.​

​

Informational Note No. 2: See Informative Annex E for determi‐​

nation of building types [NFPA 220, Table 3-1].​

 

Codes aside, woodframe is typically wired with NM type cable. The structure and wiring are similarly combustible.

'Commercial' is an ambiguous label. A building can change usage by the stroke of a pen. A building isnt usually exhaustively re-wired to fit the new label. It would be useful to know what the rules were at the time of original construction.

Fwiw, most of the 'residential' work I've done was in concrete and steel stud buildings; where we used BX (AC) throughout.

 

My local "powers" finally decided that NM can be used on occupancies of less than 100. Which means most contractors are bidding NM for new and remodel work for any store with a low occupancy.

 

as usual ... it depends more on local code, which will include building code

 

The NEC doesn't entirely rule out NM in commercial buildings, look at (3) below. The problem is determining the construction type is not simple. The informational note is misleading, there's not enough info in the annex for you to determine the building type, IMO. There are a fair number of one story commercial buildings around here that were stick built / wood framed and wired with mostly NM. On the other hand, I know of a building where I'm pretty sure it would have been of a construction type for which NM would be legal, and there were no local amendments, but the inspector wouldn't allow NM in commercial, period.

Of course the NEC is pretty clear about leaving exposed splices lying on the ceiling drywall, so I doubt who ever did this cared about the building's construction type

If you can't lay your hands on documentation that says the building is of Type III, IV, or V, you're taking a chance using NM in a commercial building.

My local "powers" finally decided that NM can be used on occupancies of less than 100. Which means most contractors are bidding NM for new and remodel work for any store with a low occupancy.

as usual ... it depends more on local code, which will include building code

These 3 answers basically sum it all up. It’s allowed in the code, but heavily regulated and has odd building codes attached to it that are not always clear from an electricians point of view. Basically, this issue varies all of the country. Check with your local inspectors.

In my area, we have thousands of commercial buildings wired in romex. Even brand new ones coming out of the ground. The inspectors in my area allow it if (1) the building is less than 3 floors, (2) the romex is behind a 1hr rated fireblock (5/8’s Sheetrock or equivalent) and (3) isn’t exposed or above a drop ceiling.

So from this, you can see that’s it’s basically only allowed in ground up new construction. Remodels, add-on’s and small jobs all need to be done in MC, unless you can meet all the requirements listed above. Which rarely happens outside of new construction.

 

Let's be real. #12 isn't going to change voltage drop whether it's in MC or MC. The flying splices are crap, and need to be repaired, but that isn't going to change anything if the splices are tight.

 

Nice work. Did you happen to catch the name of the Hack that did this?

 

It kind of looks like there might have been arc fault on the connections with the missing wire nuts especially if it was a well used circuit. See it similar in backstabs where it had arced with every cycle. I will agree it aint got a lot to do with V drop if the nuts are secure.

 

Not many would have given this much a thought if it was boxed and secured. That and way too many cables in the 1 hole without some further investigation.

 

Would be interesting to hear the whole story. That looks like an ok place to work a little,,,, my bet someone behind the electrician shoving him with a fukkit stick once the lights come on.

 

What a mess....

you typically can use Romex in commercial building that are made of wood....it's permittable uses depends on the building type(steel, masonry, wood) under the ICC Building code.

In general steel buildings and masonry building are typically a no....even if its a yes under ICC any electrician's who uses NM commercial building should trying doing plumbing.

Most of the towns I work in will stamp a electrical permit with MC cable only stipulating a local ordinance.

 

What a mess....

any electrician's who uses NM commercial building should trying doing plumbing.

🤘Awesome!!🍸

 

No romex in commercial. Only one exception. Not in those pictures. We will not even bring up the subject of no boxes. Probably some handyman or something. That is what gives true sparky's a bad name. That's why we need to be diligent about quality, commitment, care for our trade.

 

The QCC let us all live by that ladies and gents.

 

The white sheathed 12 AWG NM dates back to 2002-03 or older, that is when the color coded NM cable sheathing came out.

That place is a hack fest.

 

I try not to do it in commercial one story buildings. Cause sooner or later somebody going to open up a sandwich shop or a Korean BBQ or something similar. Pretty quickly rats infest the place. Rats like to eat the insulation of NM cables.
That's the reason....