EM Lights in Bathrooms and Warehouses

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andrewselectric

andrewselectric

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Fort Lauderdale
I am finishing up a 98,000 sq. ft. building in NJ and there are no em lights in any office bathrooms or in the warehouse area. When I went for my final my inspector said he wants them in the bathrooms and the warehouse area.I told him I informed the engineering firm there were none and there response was there not required.They were not on the drawings either. I am aware that the NEC does not decide where the EM lights go in this type of bldg. the NFPA does.I should also note that I have already received my fire alarm inspection and the inspector said nothing about em lights and when the bldg. inspetor came thru today he said nothing about EM lights he only wanted Exit lights added. I have literally had 119 change orders on this job due to poor engineering and we are talking 30 + em lights 20` in the air in the warehouse alone so who is going to pay for this has become an issue. The engineering firm is going to write a letter to my inspector saing what, I dont know.whos job is it to enforce em light placement
 
I agree that the firm you are working with (for?) has done a somewhat less that stellar job of engineering. Egress lighting is indeed required as set out in NFPA 101, building codes and also the NEC.

As to whose job it is to enforce, I've found after working in several cities, townships, towns, etc. in NJ, it varies. In Monroe Twp for example, the local electrical subcode official is responsible for egress lighting. Down the road in Cranbury, it's the fire guy. There doesn't seem to be a clear cut division of responsibility statewide. Not to pick on NJ, though - this is common in a lot of states.
 
Good luck. I doubt he will get a TCO with no egress / exit lighting.

JMO, but I've done a lot of work in NJ and they usually make me add MORE lights. I've never been asked to take any out.
 
The egress lights fall under electrical but are approved by the building inspector (for location, as are exits).

With that being said, the Building Code has the rules where exits and egress are required. Not only the locations but also the minimum illumination levels are spelled out in the IBC (?).
 
This issue should have been raised during the plan review process. I have never seen this happen at the last minute the way its happening to you. Your designer dropped the ball, but the sub-code official could have picked it up for him. I don't know why he didn't, it seems unlikely that he/she would not have noticed it during the review.
 
According to the ICC web site, NJ has adopted the International Building Code. The IBC requires emergency lighting in rooms that require two exits. Two exits are required from rooms that have an occupant load greater than 50. Those must be some very big restrooms to have an occupant load of 51 or more people :D

For the warehouse to have a calculated occupant load of more than 50, and thus require two exits and emergency lights, it would need to be greater than 25,000 sq. ft. in area. How big is it?
 
I have always known the Fire Marshall to handle the placement of em & exit lights. He stamps the blueprints in approval of design. Then when it's time for the final, on problems. It's the electrical engineer's responsibility to include the necessary em & exit lights, but they do make mistakes. :eek:
 
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