"I have not heard of any complaints"
I heard that from a property manager Friday, while discussing a tenant who -literally- was leaving bodies in the parking lot. I was objecting to my truck being inside the crime-scene tape at the time. Oh, well, that's another story ... suffice it to observe that the 'right' folks are often the last to know.
Whatever the issues in the AFCI debate, the NEC has called for all bedroom 'outlets' to be AFCI protected since the beginning of the AFCI rules. "Outlet" has been defined, from the start, as a point where electricity is used, so lights and smoke detectors are 'outlets' in the NEC, just as much as receptacles are. Switches, by comparison, are not considered outlets (even if the switch is a dimmer, or an illuminated one).
Passing inspections is another matter. With all due respect to inspectors, I have exactly ZERO faith in the inspector catching even the most glaring of goofs. It has been my observation that inspections are unnecessary for the conscientious tradesman - and inadequate for the rest.
NEC aside, AFCI's have been the subject of much local ammendment. It has been common for locales to exempt smoke detectors from the AFCI requirements. In a similar manner, I have often observed bedroom light not being AFCI protected (contrary to local code), and not being caught at inspection (presumably due to the difficulty of testing).
All I can say is: the AFCI experience underscores the need to get involved. With all the fuss over AFCI's, there are comparatively few proposals or comments made to the code committees each cycle. We ought to be drowning them with our objections!
