Re: 517.13
From the 2002 Edition of the NFPA NEC Handbook:
"The requirements in 517.13(B) cover the second component of the redundant grounding approach. An insulated, copper, equipment grounding conductor sized in accordance with 250.122 must be installed with the branch-circuit conductors in the wiring method that meets the provisions of 517.13(A). The conductor can be either solid or stranded. It is not required to run a separate, insulated equipment grounding conductor to the branch-circuit panelboard where the feeder wiring method is recognized as an equipment grounding conductor per 250.18, or the feeder wiring method contains an equipment grounding conductor.
The grounding requirements of 517.13 for patient care areas are not limited to hospitals. They are also required for patient care areas in other health care facilities, such as nursing homes, clinics, medical and dental offices, and so on.
Exception No. 1 to 517.13(B) permits metal faceplates to be grounded by means of the metal mounting screws rather than by having a separate equipment grounding conductor or bonding jumper run to the metal plate. See 404.9(B), which requires switches and their metal faceplates to be effectively grounded.
Exception No. 2 to 517.13(B) exempts luminaires mounted 71/2 ft above the floor and switches located outside of the patient vicinity from redundant grounding requirements because it is unlikely that the patient or attendants will contact these items and the patient at the same time. The patient vicinity space consists of a volume 6 ft horizontally in all directions from the bed and up to a height of 71/2 ft above the floor."
Keep in mind that the notes in the handbook do not carry as much weight as a FPN and that a FPN is not enforceable.
