Home Improvement → [Electrical] junction box

Hey guys, quick question. We are finishing off our patio to make it a sun room and our contractor is running new electrical wire from the panel in our garage to the patio. The wires have to pass thru an exterior wall from the garage to the patio. On the surface of the wall in the garage the contractor has put a junction box to splice the wires. Does he need this by code since it's an exterior? I'm just wondering why he didn't run the wire right from the panel thru the wall?

Pic? Is it an actual junction box, or is it just an LB (conduit body)? Any reason you can't ask the contractor?

he is prolly future proffing it, you see, if the hydro wires go to a junction box on the exterior brick, that way if for what ever reason the sun room gets demolished, you cant just leave a live hydro wire sticking out of your brick, its smart to terminate it in a hydro box, its grounded and its safe. you can splice from this box into your new sun room / solarium safely too and it will meet all canadian hydro electric code also.

Is it all in conduit? Or did he transition from Romex to UF (direct burial) cable?

Where is the receptacle/switch mounted on the exterior? Is the box located where the cable penetrates the wall?

(Yes, a photo or two would be helpful.)

I understand, I'm at work so I can upload later. For now, it is just regular romex coming from the panel, not in conduit stapled to the surface of the wall where it meets the ceiling. Where the wire penetrates the exterior wall to then go to the patio is where the junction box will be. The patio was a screened in patio with a roof which is now framed with sheetrock on the inside and siding on the outside, sleeper floor installed, so it's now a finished room.

For right now he's on vacation as they spackle and sand the sheetrock, so I didn't want to call him and it's the last thing they did.

Eamon, I think you're on to something. Since this was an addition and if we ever wanted to knock it down, we could just undo the splices in my garage and then take the wires out of the panel and no more electric. Never thought of that.

That junction box is required to be accessible to meet code

pretty sure a junction box is just needed if its a splice, not if it was a straight run

The junction box is accessible , it's mounted on a wall, not in a wall in my garage. I just wasn't sure why the contractor didn't use a straight run with no splices. I think Eamon hit the reason, since this isn't part of the original structure, if someone wanted to take it down they could and the junction box makes it easier to remove the wires/electrical supply. Otherwise I'm not sure why he didn't run it straight. I didn't know if electrical code required a junction box if wires passed thru an exterior wall. Either way wires are run sheetrock is up no way to go back now.

Actually, the idea of making a junction box there in case you wanted to demo the sunroom in the future doesn't make any sense either. You could just as easily cut the Romex if you demoed the room in the future and wouldn't have the extra labor and expense of installing the junction box and splices now. Maybe we'll have a better idea why he did it when we see the pictures.

At first blush, it sounds like your "contractor" is not a licensed electrician and has no business running wire.
You don't surface run romex.
Did he pull a permit? What did the inspector say?

Even to me that doesn't sound right.

Maybe therein lies the answer. The romex starts at the junction box and runs thru the exterior wall into the framing of the sun room, where outlets are connected, lights, etc. NOTHING is pulled to the panel yet. Perhaps he will run wire in conduit to the junction box from the panel and splice it with the romex there, hence why there's a junction box and not a straight run of romex, since he can't surface mount it as others have noted.

Is that true if it's up high, say more than 8' from the floor? Thinking of near a garage ceiling... I will someday add some wiring in mine.

So long of the story short, contractor's apprentice stopped by to check on job so far by drywallers, I asked him why would there be a junction box on the wall there in the garage. Well there not putting in a junction box, but a 6 breaker subpanel for the sunroom.