At the risk of sending this thread in an entirely different direction, I would like to assert that journeymen are professionals, who are paid for their knowledge, experience and judgement- not simple slaves to the time clock, who "only do as told."
Indeed, I will go even farther to say that it is the electrician who is the expert- more so than any inspector, engineer, architect, or whatever.
Carry things far enough, and you reach the same point the US Supreme Court once reached in a pornography case: "I can't define it, but I know it when I see it!"
The only reason this sort of thing becomes an issue is when folks use the NEC as a design manual- rather than planning for the needs of the customer. Indeed, I make a fairly decent income converting new homes "built to code" into homes "suitable for living in."
These problems are made worse by the code attempting to be too specific, rather than defining principles. They are also the result of removing Joe Citizen from the process. The best definition of 'what is right' is 'what you can convince twelve strangers is appropriate."
We do have a criteria for determining if a set of stairs needs three-way light control. Applying that principle, perhaps "three steps" is a reasonable point where a second, lower receptacle is warranted. Similarily, we have the "six foot rule" for spacing; perhaps that could be applied to the width of decks and such.
If you're going to make this an enforcement issue, the time for application is at the plan review stage; it would be wrong to apply it after the house is up.
