code requirement for fire stopping and the EC's responsibility

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mshields

mshields

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Boston, MA
A client recently asked us to critique the work of an electrician who had performed work in one of their electrical rooms. One of the problems was that MC cable was run through walls and the openings left unsealed. The room is a normal electrical room and doesn't need to be fire rated.

The client wants to know two related things;

1. Do the openings need to be sealed and/or fire sealed.

2. If code required, can the hospital require the electrician to come back since the installation did not comply with applicable codes.

This is one of those things I confess to leaving to our specs to cover, the letter of the code unclear to me.

If it's a non-fire rated wall, I believe you would still need to have some kind of seal. True? If it's a fire rated wall, even though it doesn't need to be, I would think he'd be required to maintain that fire rating and put in the fire rated sealant. If true, would this be something covered in the building code? Is it covered in the NEC (I've never seen it)

I'd appreciate any feedback.

Thanks,

Mike
 
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Have you as a design professional already concluded that the wall does not have to be rated? (based on what's in that room) You're not giving us the information required to make that determination.

If the wall doesn't have to be there, I can't see making him seal it up.

Contract specs are another thing. Did he violate them?
 
Put another way, the NEC simply states that the electrical penetration must be sealed with an approved firestopping method to MAINTAIN the fire resistance rating of the structure (wall, partition, floor, etc.). Nothing in the NEC determines WHETHER a structure is or is not considered a fire resistant rated structure or what that rating is (or is not). That is determined by the Building Code. So IF the contractor was given no guidance or specification telling him that the wall he penetrated had a fire resistance rating, I see no reason for him to have to cover it in his scope.

Were it me, I would have asked out of shear courtesy and professionalism. Those sort of things have a nasty way of biting someone in the rear at project closeout time and if I can help head off the last-minute panic attack by mentioning it early, I have provided a value to my customer.
 
I agree with jraef, of course. However, if the electric room includes over 600 volts-nominal-equipment then art. 110.31(A)(1) states:
?The wall and roofs shall be constructed of material... and a minimum fire resistance of 3 hours.?
 
When it comes to hospitals, it's safer to have the electrician cover sealing all of his wall/floor penetrations in the specs, whether you think it's required by Code or not.

It's not just for fire ratings, but also for smoke ratings. If the penetration enters a corridor, that's a problem, also.

This is not simply paranoia on the hospital's part -- improperly sealed penetrations are often a hot button for Life Safety Joint Commission surveyors. And without proper follow up, management and preventative maintenance of such things can be a full time job.
 
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