Hello all, I have an electrical room (NYC building) with one double door means of egress, I have CT cabinet facing to the side of a distribution board (2000A rated), do I need to follow "Extra working Space" NEC 2008- 110.26 (C)(2)(b) section with double the clearance for a room with one egress? Does the clearance in front of the CT cabinet also need to be doubled for that matter?
Appreciate any help to sort this confusion out.
Here's how I interpret your question, and several code-compliant layouts I could see for similar situations. To clarify, it's BOTH (1200A or more) and (>6 ft wide) that requires either exits on both sides or double the workspace. In 2020, they also extended this to apply to a line-up of equipment that adds up to 1200A (if adding up amps is applicable), such as a 1200A service distributed among 3x 400A service disconnects.
Layout 1: exit on both sides of the switchboard workspace
Layout 2: single exit, double the workspacace
Layout 3: single exit, as a contunuous and unobstructed path from the switchboard workspace, without trapping anyone at the wrong end of an aisle over 6 ft long, along the equipment.
In all layouts, I've assumed a CT cabinet that is <= 6 ft wide, and not direclty on the same line-up of other 1200A equipment that would add up to >6 ft wide. This would allows the CT cabinet to have standard workspace, regardless of the exit path. I'd always assume that distribution equipment in general (switchboards, panelboards, disconnects, transformers, metering, etc) requires working space. You may be able to de-energize for most maintenance, but there is the chance that you need to voltmeter it for diagnostics, which requires energizing it. The last thing you want to do is trap future site personnel, in an unreasonable contortionist's position to do their work.
