Hospital vs. limited care facility

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On a current job there is a battle between the electrical inspector and the health department over the designation of the building and the requierment of conduit for emergency circuits. From what I can see in the code the line between the two is not well defined, is there way in that we can tell the diffrence?
 

roger

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Fl
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Actually this would be an Architect and / or AHJ issue, as an EC you will have to live with whoever makes the final decission.

The NEC would not make the call.

Roger
 

raider1

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Logan, Utah
Welcome to the forum.:)

A limited care facility is defined in Article 517 as;

"A building or portion thereof used on a 24-hour basis for the housing of four or more persons who are incapable of self-preservation because of age; physical limitation due to accident or illness; or limitations such as mental retardation/developmental disability, mental illness, or chemical dependency."

So a limited care facility is a nursing home or mental care type of facility that houses persons on a 24-hour basis.

A hospital is defined as;

"A building or portion thereof used on a 24-hour basis for the medical, psychiatric, obstetrical, or surgical care of four or more patients."

A hospital does not "house" persons for the most part.

Hope this helps.

Chris
 
The facility is one that house mental patients for rehab purposes but since the architect has labeled it a psychiatric facility the health department says it is a hospital the code just doesn?t go far enough to define the difference between mental health care and psychiatric care.
 
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