Operating Room: Isolated Power System and GFCI receptacles, sections 517.19(C)(1) and 517.20(A)

[marvin.elizondo]

According to section 517.19(C)(1) operating room (wet procedure location according to NFPA 99) receptacles shall be connected to at least two branch circuits (normal-critical or critical-critical) and then section 517.20(A) says that these spaces shall be protected by Isolated Power System or GFCI receptacles.

Does it means that it is permitted to install IPS and GFCI in the same operating room for each branch circuit respectively? Or once I've decided to use IPS, I must use two IPS because there are two branch circuits that protection?

It is supposed that once you do a risk assessment and the conclusion is that the operating room needs an IPS to protect the patient, there is no justification to use GFCI receptacles in the second branch (normal or critical). So there should be at least two IPS for each operating room in order to satisfy section 517.19(C)(1).

In Costa Rica (where NFPA is obligatory by law), we use IPS in almost every operating room, but generally there's only one branch circuit (critical) feeding all the receptacles (a clear violation to the Code).

 

[d0nut]

You can use both an IPS and GFCI in the same OR, it would all come down to the risk assessment and what the facility was willing to accept.

As an aside, the risk assessment is something that the hospital, not the engineers or designers, has to perform. They know how the spaces will be used and what risks they are able to tolerate. The engineering team can certainly assist with the risk assessment, but ultimately it is the hospital's responsibility because it is their liability if something goes wrong.