Sump pumps on GFCI: what I tell homeowners after every big storm
Every big rain, I hear the same complaint: "the GFCI tripped and my basement flooded, why does code make me do this?" Here's how I explain it. Current code editions want GFCI protection on basement receptacles, and the old exception that let a single dedicated sump receptacle skip it went away several cycles back. Check which code edition is in effect for your permit, because an older install may have been legal when it went in. A GFCI that trips on a sump pump is usually telling you something. Pumps sit in water, and as they age the windings and cords leak current. That leak is exactly the thing that kills people in wet basements. So the answer I give isn't "remove the GFCI." It's: put a high-water alarm in the pit, think hard about a battery backup pump, test the GFCI and the pump before storm season, and replace a pump that keeps tripping it. Not legal advice, just how I'd look at it after too many flooded basements.