Fire alarm activation of emergency lights.

[Strathead]

NFPA101 2018 Section 7.8.1.2.2
...5) In new installations, the lighting control device is activated by activation of the building fire alarm system, if provided...

I have been struggling with trying to understand how this section either allows typical battery operated bug eyes and on board battery inverter emergency packs, or if everyone just ignores the requirement since this code came out. I know we do this when we have an emergency (700) generator, but I haven't seen anyone yet, do anything with regular emergency lights. It would seem the only way to actually accomplish this would be to interrupt the circuit, which seems stupid. But one would think the code would spell out an exception.

 

[ron]

1st, double check that it is actually a code that has been adopted by your jurisdiction (so you could ignore it if it isn't). NFPA 101 has not been adopted in most jurisdictions in its entirety. Some applications like Hospitals claim 101 is adopted, but other than that, it gets ignored.