Oshpd 3

[andy@advancelectric.com]

Hi,

I have been doing electrical work for almost 20 years now. I was wondering if anybody has any advise regarding starting to do OSHPD 3 work. We have done supermarkets like sprouts, all kind of commercial TI's, light industrial, 4 story buildings with 74 units. Tract housing of 276 units. What is it about OSHPD work that seems to be so complicated. Any advice in how to even considering doing this kind of work would be appreciated.

God Bless.

 

[infinity]

Is this a California thing?

 

[norcal]

Is this a California thing?

They are the AHJ for all healthcare facilities in CA, and have a habit of making a grain of sand into Mt Everest.

 

[andy@advancelectric.com]

Yes this is in California.

 

[Jraef]

Is someone requiring OSHPD? Because OSHPD no long exists, it’s been called HCAI since 2021.

The effect on electrical systems is that much of the equipment used must have certification that it meets standards that HCAI has developed in order to maintain operation of critical infrastructure, such as hospitals and air traffic control, in the event of if a natural disaster. For us here in CA where we don’t get hurricanes and tornados, it basically comes down to earthquakes. So to attain HCAI certification on equipment, it has to have seismic certifications and all installations must be done to seismic resilience specifications. HCAI has documents that outline all this.

Technically from a government approval standpoint these extra regulations only apply to health care facilities and a few other critical infrastructures, but some engineers extend the concept to their pet projects even though not legally enforced. I’ve been seeing this lately in W/WW applications.

 

[petersonra]

Technically from a government approval standpoint these extra regulations only apply to health care facilities and a few other critical infrastructures, but some engineers extend the concept to their pet projects even though not legally enforced. I’ve been seeing this lately in W/WW applications.

It seems to me that W/WW infrastructure is pretty critical. Perhaps in lieu of creating their own standards for just how these facilities should be protected from seismic catastrophe the engineers involved chose to select an existing standard, even if not specifically targeted to those facilities.

 

[Jraef]

Specs already call for that. The difference is in also having to get approval from a different State agency that is not involved in water treatment regulations. Total PITA.

And even for companies that have HCAI approvals on things like VFDs, it’s only on their HVAC versions, whereas in W/WW they will typically spec out industrial grade stuff.