Office Furniture Neutral

[Mike Loon]

Does the new (2011) code require a seperate neutral for office furniture ? No neutral sharing on multi circuit cubicles.

 

[ActionDave]

No it does not. Handle ties or multi-pole breakers are required though.
It's late so I am not going to look up chapter and verse. Someone with a computer version of the NEC can post the text as well as the reference. I do consider it to be one of the top two worst code changes of all time.

 

[infinity]

Does the new (2011) code require a separate neutral for office furniture ? No neutral sharing on multi circuit cubicles.

That would be a design issue not a code issue.

 

[jumper]

Are you talking about this?

605.8 Freestanding-Type Partitions, Cord-and-Plug-
Connected. Individual partitions of the freestanding type,
or groups of individual partitions that are electrically connected,
are mechanically contiguous, and do not exceed 9.0
m (30 ft) when assembled, shall be permitted to be connected
to the building electrical system by a single flexible
cord and plug, provided all of the conditions of 605.8(A)
through (D) are met.

(A) Flexible Power-Supply Cord. The flexible powersupply
cord shall be extra-hard usage type with 12 AWG or
larger conductors with an insulated equipment grounding conductor
and shall not exceed 600 mm (2 ft) in length.
(B) Receptacle Supplying Power. The receptacle(s) supplying
power shall be on a separate circuit serving only panels
and no other loads and shall be located not more than 300 mm
(12 in.) from the partition that is connected to it.

(C) Receptacle Outlets, Maximum. Individual partitions
or groups of interconnected individual partitions shall not
contain more than thirteen 15-ampere, 125-volt receptacle
outlets.

(D) Multiwire Circuits, Not Permitted. Individual partitions
or groups of interconnected individual partitions shall
not contain multiwire circuits.

 

[iwire]

Are you talking about this?

605.8 Freestanding-Type Partitions, Cord-and-Plug-
Connected. Individual partitions of the freestanding type,
or groups of individual partitions that are electrically connected,
are mechanically contiguous, and do not exceed 9.0
m (30 ft) when assembled, shall be permitted to be connected
to the building electrical system by a single flexible
cord and plug, provided all of the conditions of 605.8(A)
through (D) are met.

(A) Flexible Power-Supply Cord. The flexible powersupply
cord shall be extra-hard usage type with 12 AWG or
larger conductors with an insulated equipment grounding conductor
and shall not exceed 600 mm (2 ft) in length.
(B) Receptacle Supplying Power. The receptacle(s) supplying
power shall be on a separate circuit serving only panels
and no other loads and shall be located not more than 300 mm
(12 in.) from the partition that is connected to it.

(C) Receptacle Outlets, Maximum. Individual partitions
or groups of interconnected individual partitions shall not
contain more than thirteen 15-ampere, 125-volt receptacle
outlets.

(D) Multiwire Circuits, Not Permitted. Individual partitions
or groups of interconnected individual partitions shall
not contain multiwire circuits.

To be clear that applies only to cord and plug connected partitions, not hardwired ones.

 

[jumper]

To be clear that applies only to cord and plug connected partitions, not hardwired ones.

Yep. That is why I posted the whole section and not just the paragraph.

This would be misleading and incomplete.

605.8(D)

(D) Multiwire Circuits, Not Permitted. Individual partitions
or groups of interconnected individual partitions shall
not contain multiwire circuits.