Arc Flash Warning Signs

[PeteHJ]

On the design side, there is an architect and his/her consultants, including an electrical engineer. The design team works for the project owner and in some cases, the owner becomes an employer when the project is complete and occupied.

On the other side, constuction is provided by a general contractor and his/her subs, including an electrical contractor. They also are under contract to the project owner, who again becomes an employer once the project is complete and occupied.

Who has the responsibility to insure the field installed arc flash warning labels get installed? The employer has a lot of responsibility for providing a safe work environment, and proper training and equipment as required by NFPA 70E, but where do the responsibilities fall in specifying or providing the warning labels on equipment specified by the engineer and furnished and installed by the electrical contractor?

 

[jim dungar]

In my opinion, the project manager/engineer is never responsible for the actual physical act of installing anything.
The project manager has the responsibility to make sure the installation is done, by others, per the specifications.

This is really no different than asking who is responsible for making sure the correct fuses are supplied and installed.

 

[PEDRO ESCOVILLA]

the electrical contractor would be responsible, unless he writes it out of his scope and the owner or owners agent agrees to fulfill that requiremennt. it's in the NEC, normally written into div 16 of specs, it's on the EC, if your having difficulty getting it completed, i'd think your electrical inspector could assist you in the "chain of enforcement", ie, project specs and code

 

[zog]

The NEC required arc flash warning label should be provided with the equipment by whomever is providing it. The 70E label with the Ei or PPE requirements should be provided by the owner of the system.

 

[charlie b]

The degree of hazard, and the appropriate information to put on the label, cannot be known by the engineer or the equipment supplier, until the make and model numbers of all components are known, and until the breaker settings have been assigned. As a design engineer, I can select one manufacturer's equipment as my design basis, and I can establish breaker settings, and so therefore I can calculate the arc flash hazard at each panel location. But then the project goes out for bid, and a contractor is selected, and that contractor submits the equipment that is the basis of his bid. That equipment can certainly be different from the design basis equipment. So my arc flash calculation will be meaningless. My solution is to require the contractor to obtain, from the equipment supplier, a complete analysis package (i.e., short circuit, load flow, voltage drop, and arc flash). In other words, within the specs I make it the contractor's responsibility to obtain the stickers, and to place them on each panel.