Electrical Room Egress

[augie47]

('08 Code in effect)
I have switchgear over 6 ft and over 1200 amps in an electrical/control room.
The working space in front of the gear meets the requirements of 110.26(C)(2)(b) thus allowing for a single entrance. That entrance has panic hardware as prescribed in (3).
In addition to that one door there is an additional door less than 25 ft from the working space.
Does that 2nd door have to be equipped with panic hardware in that it is not a required means of egress ?

 

[don_resqcapt19]

It is my opinion that if the second door provides access to the electrical room and is within 25' of the electrical equipment, it requires the "panic hardware".

 

[mgookin]

It is my opinion that it is not required but I would put it there anyway because there's no telling what a jury's opinion will be.

 

[charlie b]

Does that 2nd door have to be equipped with panic hardware . . .

Yes

. . . in that it is not a required means of egress ?

Not relevant.

The words in the code are not asking if the door that is the required means of egress is within 25 feet. It asks whether the door is intended to be a means of egress from the working space, and if so whether it is within 25 feet.

 

[cowboyjwc]

Remember it only talks about the "space". So only the door(s) leading from the space is required to have panic hardware, per the NEC.

 

[packersparky]

This is one section that makes no sense to me. It calls for doors intended for entrance to and egress from the "working space" to meet certain requirements. Another section clearly defines "working space". So if I exit the working space, as it is defined, how can a door that is 23 feet away from me be an exit to or egress from the working space that I am no longer in?

Very poorly worded in my opinion. Maybe I am just missing something.:?

FWIW, I agree with Don.

 

[Pierre C Belarge]

The wording does not say the doors are working space entrance, it says," intended for entrance to and egress from the working space..."
One walks from the working space (egress from) to the door.

It may be difficult language to understand, but so is much of the NEC.

 

[steve66]

This is one section that makes no sense to me. It calls for doors intended for entrance to and egress from the "working space" to meet certain requirements. Another section clearly defines "working space". So if I exit the working space, as it is defined, how can a door that is 23 feet away from me be an exit to or egress from the working space that I am no longer in?

Very poorly worded in my opinion. Maybe I am just missing something.:?

FWIW, I agree with Don.

My wild guess: The intent is that doors within 25' and within the same room or area are required to have the panic hardware. That's why it refers to "exit to or egress from the working space". It just means doors into the same room, area, or space.

Once you get 25' away, you have some margin of safety from an arc flash. Once you exit the room to another space, you also have some margin of safety from an arc flash.

 

[packersparky]

The wording does not say the doors are working space entrance, it says," intended for entrance to and egress from the working space..."
One walks from the working space (egress from) to the door.

It may be difficult language to understand, but so is much of the NEC.

IMO it does say exactly that. Is not the exit and entrance from the working space required by 110.26(C)(2) intended for "entrance to and egress from the working space"?

But in 110.26(C)(3) the term "working space" is intended to mean the whole room?

IMO the the term "working space" should not appear in 110.26(C)(3).

 

[Carultch]

('08 Code in effect)
I have switchgear over 6 ft and over 1200 amps in an electrical/control room.
The working space in front of the gear meets the requirements of 110.26(C)(2)(b) thus allowing for a single entrance. That entrance has panic hardware as prescribed in (3).
In addition to that one door there is an additional door less than 25 ft from the working space.
Does that 2nd door have to be equipped with panic hardware in that it is not a required means of egress ?

From the perspective of the unfortunate gentleman trying to get out in an emergency, is he going to remember which door is his requisite egress door with the listed panic hardware? And which door is unrelated to egress? Unlikely.

I'd say that it is easier to defend, if you open both doors in the direction of egress, and equip both doors with listed panic hardware. If this is impossible (see example below), I'd make sure your exit door is well-labeled in the standard manner.


This does bring up another interesting, but frustrating issue. What if you have a main electrical room accessed from outdoors, and then a sub-electrical room accessed from within the main space, controlled by a second door, and a second set of locks?

For the person working in the main electrical room, that has double the workspace and one intended entrance/egress, you don't want him to egress to the sub-electrical room. You want him to exit the building. Also, the door to the sub-electrical room needs to open away from that room, thus toward the main electrical room. Unless it has a dual swing, it cannot open in both directions of egress.