Do bathroom and kitchen outlets near sinks need GFCI?

Phoenix adopted the 2024 International Residential Code and the 2023 National Electrical Code, effective August 1, 2025 (Ordinance G-7397). The residential code's electrical chapter, Section E3902, sets the GFCI rules for houses. The ones that matter around sinks:

• Bathrooms (E3902.1): 125-volt through 250-volt receptacles installed in bathrooms and supplied by single-phase branch circuits rated 150 volts or less to ground "shall have ground-fault circuit-interrupter protection for personnel." Every bathroom receptacle, not only the ones near the sink.
• Kitchens (E3902.6): receptacles that serve kitchens, on those same circuits, need it too.
• Other food-prep areas (E3902.7): receptacles that serve areas with sinks and permanent provisions for food preparation, beverage preparation, or cooking, such as a wet bar or a second kitchen.
• Any sink (E3902.8): receptacles "located within 6 feet (1829 mm) of the top inside edge of the bowl of the sink." This covers laundry sinks, utility sinks and bar sinks, not just the kitchen and bath.
• Showers and tubs (E3902.9): receptacles within 6 feet of the outside edge of a bathtub or shower stall.
• Laundry areas (E3902.10): receptacles installed in laundry areas.

Phoenix's published amendments to the residential code and to the 2023 NEC do not amend these GFCI sections, so the model-code language above applies as written in the city.

Not in a straight line through a wall. Section E3902.19 says that when determining distance from receptacles, the distance is "measured as the shortest path the supply cord of an appliance connected to the receptacle would follow without piercing a floor, wall, ceiling, or fixed barrier." A receptacle on the other side of a wall from the sink may fall outside the 6 feet, while one that is a cord's length away around a counter corner may not.

The code also protects the branch circuit or outlets for several appliances plumbers connect: dishwashers, sump pumps, drinking water coolers and bottle fill stations, plus electric ranges, wall ovens, dryers and microwaves. That is why a dishwasher or sump pump that keeps tripping its breaker is worth taking seriously instead of bypassing. A trip is the protection doing its job. See why a sump pump keeps tripping the GFCI for the plumbing-side causes, and what to do when a dishwasher leaks when water is reaching places it shouldn't.

An outlet under the sink that a disposal plugs into is, as a rule, well inside 6 feet of the bowl, so the sink-distance rule applies to it.

A house wired before these rules may have ordinary outlets near its sinks. The Consumer Product Safety Commission says "GFCIs can prevent electrocutions" and that it "recommends using them in kitchens, bathrooms, and other areas where the risk of electric shock is higher." If your bathroom or kitchen outlets don't have the TEST and RESET buttons on the face and aren't downstream of one, ask a licensed electrician to add protection. Electrical work is its own licensed trade, so this is not a job HQ's plumbers take on, though we're happy to tell you what we saw during a plumbing visit.

The CPSC checklist says to test every GFCI once a month. The steps it gives for an outlet GFCI: plug a light into the outlet and turn it on, press the test button, and the light should go out. Press reset, and it should come back on. If either step doesn't happen, replace the GFCI.

• Bathroom outlets: all of them need protection.
• Kitchen and bar outlets: those that serve the kitchen, plus anything within 6 feet of a sink bowl.
• Dishwasher and sump pump circuits are covered by the appliance rule.
• Test monthly, and call an electrician for anything that fails.

If you're remodeling a kitchen or bath, the plumbing and electrical both need to meet current code, and the permit covers both. Our page on what plumbing work needs a permit in Phoenix explains the plumbing side. HQ is licensed and insured for residential plumbing, with free estimates and upfront pricing. This page is general information about the code as published; the electrician or city inspector has the final say for your home.