Office Partitions On The Manufacturing Floor

[Davebones]

Management is putting office people on the manufacturing floor to be closer to the ( " GEMBA " ) ( Kaizen ) work area . We have office partitions that have no interconnections electrically between them . We have decided to mount a 2 x 2 post at top of some of the partitions . We would sleeve MC 12-3 cable down this to the floor and mount a box on the side of the partition and branch out with MC as needed adding outlet boxes to feed other cubicles . Do you see any problems doing it this way ? We see this as a way to eliminate extension cords . As these are not connected with any electrical inside the partitions would this be in violation of NEC 605.7 (D) of the 2011 code ? It says multiwire circuits not permitted ????????

 

[WorkSafe]

There is no 605.7 (D) in the 2011 NEC. There is a 605.8 (D) which is talking about cord and plug type partitions.

I say you are fine.

605.7 Freestanding-Type Partitions. Partitions of the freestanding type (not fixed) shall be permitted to be connected to the building electrical system by one of the wiring methods of Chapter 3.

605.8 Freestanding-Type Partitions, Cord-and-Plug-Connected. Individual partitions of the freestanding type, or groups of individual partitions that are electrically connected, are mechanically contiguous, and do not exceed 9.0 m (30 ft) when assembled, shall be permitted to be connected to the building electrical system by a single flexible cord and plug, provided all of the conditions of 605.8(A) through (D) are met.


A Flexible Power-Supply Cord. The flexible power-supply cord shall be extra-hard usage type with 12 AWG or larger conductors with an insulated equipment grounding conductor and shall not exceed 600 mm (2 ft) in length.



B Receptacle Supplying Power. The receptacle(s) supplying power shall be on a separate circuit serving only panels and no other loads and shall be located not more than 300 mm (12 in.) from the partition that is connected to it.



C Receptacle Outlets, Maximum. Individual partitions or groups of interconnected individual partitions shall not contain more than thirteen 15-ampere, 125-volt receptacle outlets.



D Multiwire Circuits, Not Permitted. Individual partitions or groups of interconnected individual partitions shall not contain multiwire circuits.
Informational Note: See 210.4 for circuits supplying partitions in 605.6 and 605.7.

 

[Davebones]

Your right ( 605.8 (D) ) Guess I need to upgrade my reading glasses . Thanks for the input .