Hospital vs. limited care facility

[hippie6877]

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]

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]

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

 

[hippie6877]

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.