Editing Residual-current device (section)

=== North America ===
[[File:NEMA 5-20RA GFCI Tamper Resistant Receptacle.jpg|thumb|upright|A Leviton GFCI "Decora" socket in a North American kitchen. Local electrical code requires tamper-resistant socket in homes, and requires a GFCI for socket within 1 metre of a sink. The T-slot indicates this device is rated 20{{nbsp}}A and can take either a NEMA 5-15 or a NEMA 5-20 plug, though the latter type is rare on household appliances.]]

In North America socket-outlets located in places where an easy path to ground exists—such as wet areas and rooms with uncovered concrete floors—must be protected by a GFCI. The US ''National Electrical Code'' has required devices in certain locations to be protected by GFCIs since the 1960s. Beginning with underwater swimming pool lights (1968) successive editions of the code have expanded the areas where GFCIs are required to include: construction sites (1974), bathrooms and outdoor areas (1975), garages (1978), areas near hot tubs or spas (1981), hotel bathrooms (1984), kitchen counter sockets (1987), crawl spaces and unfinished basements (1990), near wet bar sinks (1993), near laundry sinks (2005),<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.cpsc.gov/PageFiles/55380/099.pdf | title=GFCIs Fact Sheet | accessdate=2009-06-28 | publisher=US Consumer Product Safety Commission }}</ref> in laundry rooms (2014)<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.ieci.org/codes-and-standards/2014_nec_changes | title=2014 NEC Changes | accessdate=2016-07-04 | publisher=Independent Electrical Contractors }}</ref> and in kitchens (2023).

GFCIs are commonly available as an integral part of a socket or a circuit breaker installed in the distribution panelboard. GFCI sockets invariably have rectangular faces and accept so-called Decora face plates, and can be mixed with regular outlets or switches in a multi-gang box with standard cover plates. In both Canada and the US older two-wire, ungrounded [[NEMA connector#NEMA 1|NEMA 1]] sockets may be replaced with [[NEMA connector#NEMA 5|NEMA 5]] sockets protected by a GFCI (integral with the socket or with the corresponding circuit breaker) in lieu of rewiring the entire circuit with a grounding conductor. In such cases the sockets must be labeled "no equipment ground" and "GFCI protected"; GFCI manufacturers typically provide tags for the appropriate installation description.

GFCIs approved for protection against electric shock trip at 5{{nbsp}}mA within 25{{nbsp}}ms. A GFCI device which protects equipment (not people) is allowed to trip as high as 30{{nbsp}}mA of current; this is known as an '''Equipment Protective Device (EPD)'''. RCDs with trip currents as high as 500{{nbsp}}mA are sometimes deployed in environments (such as computing centers) where a lower threshold would carry an unacceptable risk of accidental trips. These high-current RCDs serve for equipment and fire protection instead of protection against the risks of electrical shocks.

{{anchor|Equipment Leakage Circuit Interrupter}}
In the United States the [[American Boat and Yacht Council]] requires both GFCIs for outlets and Equipment Leakage Circuit Interrupters (ELCI) for the entire boat. The difference is GFCIs trip on 5{{nbsp}}mA of current whereas ELCIs trip on 30{{nbsp}}mA after up to 100{{nbsp}}ms. The greater values are intended to provide protection while minimizing nuisance trips.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.paneltronics.com/Atimo_s/news/ELCI_Sept2010.pdf|title=Microsoft Word - ELCI White Paper September 1 2010.DOC|last1=Gropper|last2=Criner|publisher=Paneltronics, Inc|date=1 September 2010|accessdate=16 March 2015}}</ref>