If a guest room has a permanent cooking area, the branch circuits must meet the same rules as cooking areas in which spaces?

• A. Dwelling units
• B. Hotels
• C. Commercial kitchens
• D. Outdoors

Answer: (A)

When a space includes a permanent cooking area, it is treated as a kitchen within a dwelling unit for electrical-code purposes. That means the branch circuits must follow the same rules that apply to cooking areas in dwelling units, designed to safely support typical residential cooking and food-prep loads. For example, in dwelling units the kitchen is typically fed by two or more 20-amp small-appliance branch circuits to serve countertop receptacles and related outlets, with GFCI protection and proper receptacle spacing along the counters. This approach differs from the rules for hotels, commercial kitchens, or outdoor spaces, which have different requirements due to their different usage and loads. So, the guest room’s permanent cooking area must conform to the cooking-area rules of dwelling units.