A Room within an Electrical Room

[kshah]

Hi All,

I have a case where the access to the women's locker room is through the electrical room. There is a door within the electrical room which has the womens locker room. Thus, un qualified people are entering the electrical room to access the locker room. My understanding is that the gear needs to be metal enclosed and labeled with appropriate caution signs per NEC 110.31. Is there any other code, NEC or otherwise, which prohibits there to be access to another room through an electrical room? Thanks for the help.

 

[iwire]

What is an electric room?

 

[kshah]

In this case, it is a room housing indoor electrical installations.

 

[iwire]

My point was that the gear in that room could have been located almost anywhere, there is no requirement for it to be in a dedicated room.

Often it is right out in the open.

 

[Rewire]

As far as NEC you dont have any restrictions on what a room used for electrical panels can be used to access other areas as long as you have proper clearances for your panels.

 

[north star]

: - :

kshah,

Is this "new" or existing construction ?.......Also, is the
Women's Locker Room a Locker Room only, or is it a
restroom also ?

: - :

 

[jim dungar]

My understanding is that the gear needs to be metal enclosed...

That equipment is in metal enclosures and as such meets the NEC requirements.

As iwire said, it is often found in hallways and other open areas.

There is no NEC requirement to restrict access to 'electrical rooms' by unqualified personel, although your company may have its own rules.

 

[JoeStillman]

As long as you meet the requirements for Article 110, you are fine. The building code in my area (IBC) doesn't have special requirements for electrical rooms.

The code doesn't always require things to make sense. The owner needs to decide if he can trust his people around the electrical equipment.