Well, I have re-read this a few times... can someone please clarify what this little section means? Does it mean that, if I want to run electrical up a stairwell (e.g. apartment building, core through 10 floors, run EMT with conductors in it), that i must enclose the conduit within some other materials (e.g. 2 layers of drywall) so that if the wiring catches fire inside the EMT, the srywall must contain it for 2 hours? or ????? Thanks! :-?
NEC 3.4.4.4 1b - Stairwell code interpretation
- Thread starter outpace
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ron
Senior Member
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- New York, 40.7514,-73.9925
What code is that from? It is not the NEC.
Basically the way I read it is that you cannot run anything in a stairway that does not directly serve the stairway.
Similar to the concrete encasement of conduit (in the NEC) they are considered outside of the building. If you enclose the conduits in a similar construction as the stair enclosure (without infringing upon the code required clearances) you can run it in the stairway.
With all that being said I believe it will be almost impossible in an existing building to run conduits and enclose them without cutting down the required width of the exit stair.
As a side note I ran 2" EMT 12 stories through a stairway about 15 years ago and had to remove it and repair the landings. Lesson learned I will never do that again
Similar to the concrete encasement of conduit (in the NEC) they are considered outside of the building. If you enclose the conduits in a similar construction as the stair enclosure (without infringing upon the code required clearances) you can run it in the stairway.
With all that being said I believe it will be almost impossible in an existing building to run conduits and enclose them without cutting down the required width of the exit stair.
As a side note I ran 2" EMT 12 stories through a stairway about 15 years ago and had to remove it and repair the landings. Lesson learned I will never do that again
ah yes, this info is along the lines of what i needed confirmation on. yes, stuff in the stairwell must be there to serve the stairwell. the stairwell must be clear to move through but also not have anything throwing smoke into it, e.g. cables burning inside EMT - smoke leaking out the joints. so, the EMT must be enclosed with something - a couple layers of drywall for example... this basically confirms what i have heard - do not want to install then deinstall... thanks!
dbuckley
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I'm certain there was a big thread on this issue a while back, and I'm fairly sure the conclusion was that you cant run anything directly in the stairwell that doesn't serve the stairwell.
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