Healthcare Facility Special Power Routing

[EE in Forest of Red Tape]

I am new to the Healthcare Construction industry. I have many years' experience in Electrical Automation, Design, R&D, Controls, etc. I saw two different (separtly derived) power receptacles (120 VAC) in the same quad receptacle box. 1 duplex outlet was Orange - UPS Power, and the other duplex outlet was Red - Emergency Power. The facility has been remodeled, expanded, and renovated many times since it was built in 1872.

My question is whether or not this quad receptacle box violates the NEC, good practice, or any other reason that I must do something about it. I am not going to change it for aesthetics, but the colors are very similar in low light, and each has a specific purpose (nothing is currently plugged in).

I can't directly ask the Sub-Contractors Master Electrician because he does not report through me or my department.

Thank you.

 

[roger]

What ATS does the UPS originate from? If it is the Critical Branch you're fine. You could also provide a barrier in the boxes to separate the two systems.

 

[EE in Forest of Red Tape]

UPS ATS Feed switches between Main Switchboard and Backup Generator.
Critical Circuit ATS Switches between Main Switchboard (different branch circuit) and Backup Generator.

There is a 480:208 transformer exclusively for the Critical Circuit off the Generator.
There is a different 480:208 transformer for the UPS from the Generator.

Thanks for your reply.

 

[roger]

In that case a barrier would be my suggestion. Note, the colors for the EM systems are determined by the hospital so either of the receptacle colors could be changed and made common through out the facility.

 

[EE in Forest of Red Tape]

Thanks Roger.

The Hospital uses Orange throughout the Hospital to signify UPS supported Power.
Red is used to signify Critical Circuits on a generator (with a manual transfer switch to a second generator).

I appreciate your time to respond.

 

[roger]

Are the devices labeled at each location as required? If they do not want to change colors they could provide different color phenolic labels above each device for better identification.

 

[EE in Forest of Red Tape]

No, there are no labels at this time. (Including that there are 2 sources of power to the receptacles in the box).

I will have my electrical contractor verify these are on separate breakers, and put a barrier in, or separate into 2 duplex outlets. The current quad box is on a mounting surface along with 2 distribution panels.

It's an old building, these are in a non-occupied area. Most likely labels were overlooked, or even not required when these were installed. Its a small thing to correct, and could be a problem in the next phase when we install a full redundant utility feed and a parallel/redundant UPS (Data Center Upgrade).

Regards

 

[roger]

No, there are no labels at this time. (Including that there are 2 sources of power to the receptacles in the box).



Regards

Have them read 517.19(A)

Emergency
system receptacles shall be identified and shall also indicate
the panelboard and circuit number supplying them.

 

[EE in Forest of Red Tape]

I knew that applied to new construction and remodeling, but not sure how far back that was introduced into code. Either way, since I want work done there, the labeling will apply before they are complete.

 

[garbo]

Thanks Roger.

The Hospital uses Orange throughout the Hospital to signify UPS supported Power.
Red is used to signify Critical Circuits on a generator (with a manual transfer switch to a second generator).

I appreciate your time to respond.

I retired from a large hospital ( over 550 beds ) and they did not have any orange receptacles. I was lucky to only go into patient rooms, ICU & NICU units a few times a year. Spent most of my time troubleshooting VFD'S & PM'S. We had a zone mechanic ( BMT = basic maintenance technician ) on every one of the 9 patient floors that took care of that area. Was told that the important pieces of patient equipment each had a small battery back up . The red emergency receptacles were backed up by 7 large generators ( 8,000 KW ). Between have dual 13 2 KV services with automatic tie breakers and generators they never lost critical or emergency power. All of the 22 elevators were on emergency power thru at least 8 ATS'S. Question how often do do have a technician ( vendor ) test & replace UPS batteries. Believe this rich hospital replaced all of the UPS batteries every two years. Was present when they had to replace 24 12 volt 1,500 CCA long heavy batteries on the 4 natural gas generators ( each gen set had three 24 volt starters to get them on line in less then 10 seconds ).

 

[Strathead]

UPS ATS Feed switches between Main Switchboard and Backup Generator.
Critical Circuit ATS Switches between Main Switchboard (different branch circuit) and Backup Generator.

There is a 480:208 transformer exclusively for the Critical Circuit off the Generator.
There is a different 480:208 transformer for the UPS from the Generator.

Thanks for your reply.

I am trying to figure this out. What do you mean different branch circuit? Where you sate this makes it sound like a "different feeder". (See code definitions of branch and feeder). How many ATS's do you have? Typical is (3) Life Safety, Critical and Equipment system. Normal could have an ATS, but I usually see that only be an MTS to a generator quick connect.

All of this said, what system feeds the UPS? If it isn't the critical system then not only does the box require a barrier, the wiring can't be in the same raceway.

 

[Strathead]

One other thing, orange receptacles usually have a green triangle on them. If they do, the are isolated ground receptacles and while I don't remember the codes off the top of my head, the grounding codes in patient care areas are different and narrow for isolated ground receptacles.

 

[EE in Forest of Red Tape]

We are way behind those standards. But the long term plan is 3 phases, and will get us close to that level of redundancy and reliability. If you are interested, PM me and I can share more specific details.

 

[EE in Forest of Red Tape]

One other thing, orange receptacles usually have a green triangle on them. If they do, the are isolated ground receptacles and while I don't remember the codes off the top of my head, the grounding codes in patient care areas are different and narrow for isolated ground receptacles.

Thank you.
There 4 ATS and 3 Manual Transfer Switches. More ATS (BIG ones) will be added as we add the redundancy required for new Data Systems. (We are upgrading the entire power distribution system for the whole campus as we make improvements for the Data System).

Most of the UPS outlets have a green dot, as do Critical Power outlets. The specific quad Receptacle I started this thread with is in a non-occupied area. I thought that the two circuits should be separate, but i don't have the experience in Hospital Power distribution to make that call off the cuff.

In 2 years when I have dual UPS Feeds and multiple Generators It will have to be separate boxes. Just need to be careful how to bridge the here and now, to the desired end result.

Thanks for the input.

 

[EE in Forest of Red Tape]

I am trying to figure this out. What do you mean different branch circuit? Where you sate this makes it sound like a "different feeder". (See code definitions of branch and feeder). How many ATS's do you have? Typical is (3) Life Safety, Critical and Equipment system. Normal could have an ATS, but I usually see that only be an MTS to a generator quick connect.

All of this said, what system feeds the UPS? If it isn't the critical system then not only does the box require a barrier, the wiring can't be in the same raceway.

Sorry for my misuse of the terms Feeder and Branch Circuit.
The UPS is fed from the main Switchboard (utility distribution) or the Backup Generator through an ATS.
Critical Power is fed through the main Switchboard or the Primary Backup generator (using a transformer) through an ATS, or a secondary generator through a MTS,

The UPS and Critical Circuits have seperate Over current protection at the Generator Distribution Bus, and at the main Switchboard bus..

Hope this makes it clearer (can't publish drawings).

 

[roger]

Most of the UPS outlets have a green dot, as do Critical Power outlets.

They are both Hospital Grade and with the absence of the green triangle they are not Isolated Ground.

 

[EE in Forest of Red Tape]

Thanks Roger!