110.26

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I am working on a new building and am trying to give some information on an electrical room to the drafter. I was hoping that someone could give me a little help and verify my dementions. I am going to have a switch board that is 9 ft wide and 3 ft deep against the wall. Accross the room on the other wall I am going to put 2 panalboards that are 8 inches deep. There will be no other equipment in this room. Would a 12ft by 9ft room with one exit be code compliant?
 

chris kennedy

Senior Member
Location
Miami Fla.
Occupation
60 yr old tool twisting electrician
Sounds like you need two doors unless you can meet the requirements of (a) or (b).

110.26(C)(2) Large Equipment.
For equipment rated 1200 amperes or more and over 1.8 m (6 ft) wide that contains overcurrent devices, switching devices, or control devices, there shall be one entrance to and egress from the required working space not less than 610 mm (24 in.) wide and 2.0 m (6? ft) high at each end of the working space.
A single entrance to and egress from the required working space shall be permitted where either of the conditions in 110.26(C)(2)(a) or (C)(2)(b) is met.

(a) Unobstructed Egress.Where the location permits a continuous and unobstructed way of egress travel, a single entrance to the working space shall be permitted.

(b) Extra Working Space. Where the depth of the working space is twice that required by 110.26(A)(1), a single entrance shall be permitted. It shall be located such that the distance from the equipment to the nearest edge of the entrance is not less than the minimum clear distance specified in Table 110.26(A)(1) for equipment operating at that voltage and in that condition.


110.26(C)(3) Personnel Doors.
Where equipment rated 1200 A or more that contains overcurrent devices, switching devices, or control devices is installed and there is a personnel door(s) intended for entrance to and egress from the working space less than 7.6 m (25 ft) from the nearest edge of the working space, the door(s) shall open in the direction of egress and be equipped with panic bars, pressure plates, or other devices that are normally latched but open under simple pressure.
 
There will be nothing else in the room so I would say that the exit will be unobstructed. With that said, will the 12 by 9 room be large enough?
 

charlie b

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Lockport, IL
Occupation
Retired Electrical Engineer
You didn't explicitly say this, but I will take it that the 9 foot wide board will be against the 12 foot wide wall. The two items opposite one another will take up just under 4 feet of the available 9 feet. That leaves just over 5 feet. With 480 volt equipment opposite other live equipment, the table requires 4 feet of clearance between them. You have that. But you do not have twice that, so you can't use 110.26(C)(2)(b) as the basis for allowing a single exit. You can use 110.26(C)(2)(a), as has already been discussed. I agree with bluesmoke's statement that the opening of a panel door cannot be such that the door is between the worker and the exit.
 
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