Office cubicles

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luke.stickney

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Sometime along the way over the past 13 years I ran into an inspector that failed me on my free standing cubical installation. It has been some time since this happened, but in recalling some of the details I was connecting two circuits to four, freestanding cubicles with a total of 16 receptacles and it went something like...

Inspector: "Code requires you to have a minimum of four circuits per each free standing cluster of cubicles. So sorry, I can?t pass this."

Me (not knowing my code off the top of my head): "Really?! Ok... uh... no problem! Can you check for that at the final?"

So ever since then, I have installed a minimum of three circuits to each cluster of cubicles, whether it was one freestanding cubical or a cluster of six freestanding cubicles all tied together.

Well today, I was at a job walk for a 100% design development job and I raised the question about whether or not the customer was going to be installing cubicles that were power ready or simply cubicles without power.

I then proceeded to explain the above code that was so perfectly explained to me by some inspector previously in my carrier. The building engineer said that he has never heard such a thing, but everyone just basically agreed that code is code and that the job should be priced as such.

Now I'm here, head in the code book, realizing that I have probably wasted my employers money for the past ten years because I can't find a darn thing that says anything about minimum circuit requirements for free standing office furniture.

I am in San Francisco and local code might have something to do with it, or maybe not.

Any ideas on where to look? Have I been wasting money for years? Should we engineer our drawing to provide power distribution as mention above or should we simply follow 220.4?

Thanks.
 
Jim W in Tampa

Jim W in Tampa

Senior Member
Location
Tampa Florida
There is nothing about cubicals that differs from normal office space.180 va per yoke is all that applies.I would likely try to be a bit over that if each will have a computer.500 watts per each would be plenty.
Also never simply take inspectors words without the code number and then read it to see if it applies.
 
infinity

infinity

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Location
New Jersey
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We've wired cubes with any combination of 2 through 5 circuits. Never heard of a 4 circuit requirement.
 
J

jshaw

Member
Location
Idaho
The only restriction on office cubicles I see is for cord and plug connected cubicles. In 605.8 (B) it says the receptacle supplying power must be a dedicated circuit serving only the partitions. In (C) it says that there can a maximum of 13 15-amp, 125-volt receptacle outlets.
 
mdshunk

mdshunk

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Right here.
My biggest gripe about cubicles is that threre's 9,000 wires coming out of the supply whip, and depending on the cubicle options, maybe only a few will actually be used.
 
iwire

iwire

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Location
Massachusetts
mdshunk said:
My biggest gripe about cubicles is that threre's 9,000 wires coming out of the supply whip, and depending on the cubicle options, maybe only a few will actually be used.
Click to expand...

The fact I have to install a 90 degree 1/2" LTFM connector on a furniture whip with eight 12 AWG and two 10 AWGs makes me gripe.:roll:
 
peter d

peter d

Senior Member
Location
New England
iwire said:
The fact I have to install a 90 degree 1/2" LTFM connector on a furniture whip with eight 12 AWG and two 10 AWGs makes me gripe.:roll:
Click to expand...

Just installed 8 of them in the past few days, minus the #10's thankfully.

I sure am glad they have separate neutrals for each hot, as well as isolated ground. That stuff is very important and makes the computers run much better. ;)
 
mdshunk

mdshunk

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Location
Right here.
peter d said:
Just installed 8 of them in the past few days, minus the #10's thankfully.

I sure am glad they have separate neutrals for each hot, as well as isolated ground. That stuff is very important and makes the computers run much better. ;)
Click to expand...
Yeah, the last one's I did had three circuits with a super neutral, plus an dedicated ISO circuit with it's own ground and neutral. The cube only used the first two circuits, and didn't even need the third circuit or the iso circuit. What a waste, if I'd have hooked everything in the whip up without checking to see what all was installed in the partitions. I guess those Reloc style supply whips are generic to every piece of office furniture a given company makes?

Oh... here's the kicker... the office manager says... "There's an outlet right here. You can tie all of them in right here".

Ya... okey dokey lady.
 
iwire

iwire

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Location
Massachusetts
On my example the 10s where a super neutral for two multiwire branch circuits along with grounding and Isolated grounding.

(Ask Dennis about them at the IRS)
 
iwire

iwire

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Staff member
Location
Massachusetts
mdshunk said:
I guess those Reloc style supply whips are generic to every piece of office furniture a given company makes?
Click to expand...

I have a wiring diagram I keep in my folder from one manufacturer and it shows about 7 different whips and wiring schemes.

I am often involved with relocation of used cubes and it becomes more of a use what we got type of process.

So I may supply the circuits to match the whip and the harness may have those conductors but they only have one type of plug to use (The plugs determine what circuits are actually used) abandoning the extra circuits.
 
C

Chris6245

Senior Member
Location
Ohio
iwire said:
On my example the 10s where a super neutral for two multiwire branch circuits along with grounding and Isolated grounding.
Click to expand...

Doesn't 605.8(D) stop you from installing multiwire branch circuits in free standing cubicles?
 
mdshunk

mdshunk

Senior Member
Location
Right here.
Jim W in Tampa said:
Am i missing something ? Do prints no longer mean anything ?We bid on what you asked for not on what will really work.
Click to expand...
It's more common for me to run into cubes that need wired during a service call/small job T&M deal rather than a bid job.
 
peter d

peter d

Senior Member
Location
New England
One thing that I have learned from working commercial is that midway through the project, the cubicle layout will change and your circuits will have to be abandoned and relocated. :rolleyes:
 
L

LawnGuyLandSparky

Senior Member
mdshunk said:
Oh... here's the kicker... the office manager says... "There's an outlet right here. You can tie all of them in right here".

Ya... okey dokey lady.
Click to expand...

Yea, and electricity comes from a hole in the wall...

Best thing about cubicles though, is you can't go "Prarie doggin'" without them!
 
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