You are not allowed to bury an octagonal (junction) box so it is inaccessible.
Yup, that's the case nationwide. The reason is simple. Bad connections create heat. Many Electrical Fires start at a bad connection. If that connection is inside a wall nobody sees the smoke until its too late.
One New years eve, hours before 40 people were to arrive I lost all power in my living room
Ouch. Bet your boss was royally pissed! Also betting it was all your fault no matter what really happened!
I should add that whenever I get an inspection I always comply no matter what they say, no matter how weird it sounds....
Yup, arguing with the inspector is like shooting yourself in the foot.
But as I said in my last post, I'd sure like to talk to the folks who wrote that into the code. FWIW, I looked through the national code last night and couldn't find any reference to it. So last night I set my mind to why "might" it be code? The only thing I could come up with is
extra connections.
Four more (three for the hot pigtail and one for the extra neutral) than otherwise - all in a location where nobody would ever see or smell smoke.
The other connections thing that crept into my dreams last night was the extreme temperature cycling you guys get in Alberta. Temperature cycles could stress and loosen connections over time. So again, it's in everyone's best interest to minimize the number of connections. Perhaps that kind of thinking made it into the code.
But wow, talk about extra wiring! My house has 12 exterior lights (mostly pot lights) on the front of the house all controlled from one switch at the front door and 10 lights at the back of the house all controlled from two 3-way switches at both back doors. You would practically need a breaker box to distribute all those connections if you are not allowed to daisy chain them. You sure are not doing in in a standard junction box!
Do I need a special box in these locations? Weather proof?
So this probably (I have no Alberta expertise) depends on where it is outside. If it's in the soffit, it isn't needed. If it's on the wall (as you said it was) it should be weatherproof. Frankly, I would do weatherproof no matter where it is.
I believe the code is you cannot use that box as a junction box for other circuits. (ie running 14/3 into the box and using one for the light(s) and and the other to tap off and feed exterior plugs. You can run more exterior lights off that switch/circuit.)
Although I agree that this makes sense, I'd want to confirm that with the inspector himself.