NEC 517.30 (C) (1) says you must separate life safety and critical branch circuits from other wiring. NEC 710,10 says legally required circuits may occupy the same raceways as general wiring. NEC 700.9 (B) says emergency wiring must be kept separate from other wiring. I am confused??
Emergency systems
- Thread starter wyboy
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skeshesh
Senior Member
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- Los Angeles, Ca
Emergency generation
Emergency generation
The provisions of 517.30 (C) (1) defines the subcategories "emergency" generation which does apply to hospitals; such circuits have two sub categories called 'life safety' & 'critical branch' as you mentioned. "legally required generation" is different than "emergency" and has it's own provisions in NEC 710 as you mentioned - for example I was working on a standby generator for a small government microwave communication site somewhere up in the mountains so that would be a "legally required" case. Legally required circuits may occupy the same raceways as general wiring. Now as far as 700.9 (B), it is saying that you should keep the "emergency" wiring seperate. One last thought is that I have seen older smaller hospitals that don't want to or have means to deal with seperating the circuits provide a big enough generation means to allow all circuits to run as emergency circuits, but this crude solution is obviously not applicable to facilities of greater scale and complexity.
Emergency generation
The provisions of 517.30 (C) (1) defines the subcategories "emergency" generation which does apply to hospitals; such circuits have two sub categories called 'life safety' & 'critical branch' as you mentioned. "legally required generation" is different than "emergency" and has it's own provisions in NEC 710 as you mentioned - for example I was working on a standby generator for a small government microwave communication site somewhere up in the mountains so that would be a "legally required" case. Legally required circuits may occupy the same raceways as general wiring. Now as far as 700.9 (B), it is saying that you should keep the "emergency" wiring seperate. One last thought is that I have seen older smaller hospitals that don't want to or have means to deal with seperating the circuits provide a big enough generation means to allow all circuits to run as emergency circuits, but this crude solution is obviously not applicable to facilities of greater scale and complexity.
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