malachi constant
Senior Member
- Location
- Minneapolis
Hi all,
I am working on a project that falls under NEC 708 COPS. I do not believe there is a hard and fast requirement to separate emergency and normal equipment. To tease that out first, correct me if I'm wrong here:
1. I understand NEC does not generally have separation of such equipment as a requirement.
2. I do not see anything in 708 that requires this. It requires the COPS equipment to be within the DCOA (Designated Critical Operations Area) that it serves, but doesn't appear to state that the COPS equipment (nor transfer switches) need to be in a separate room.
3. I am aware of NFPA 110 criteria (Level 1 vs Level 2, EPS vs EPPS) but have never been required to follow that, I assume that is local interpretation as to whether/when it is required.
4. I have a meeting with the AHJ next week but am not expecting them to have any local requirements (including NFPA 110) that force a separation of equipment.
That said, the project I've been told to crib from provided separate rooms for the normal service and emergency gear - specifically appears to separate normal gear and COPS gear. I figure that's easy enough to do at this project. My question is regarding best practices - should the panels served by the ATS's be located in the normal room, the emergency room, a third separate room, or different ATS's in different rooms? My template project appears to follow the last option - putting COPS related equipment in the "COPS/emergency" room, and non-COPS equipment (including life safety and discretionary ATS's) in the normal room.
If anyone has examples on how they've approached separation of equipment it is appreciated.
I am working on a project that falls under NEC 708 COPS. I do not believe there is a hard and fast requirement to separate emergency and normal equipment. To tease that out first, correct me if I'm wrong here:
1. I understand NEC does not generally have separation of such equipment as a requirement.
2. I do not see anything in 708 that requires this. It requires the COPS equipment to be within the DCOA (Designated Critical Operations Area) that it serves, but doesn't appear to state that the COPS equipment (nor transfer switches) need to be in a separate room.
3. I am aware of NFPA 110 criteria (Level 1 vs Level 2, EPS vs EPPS) but have never been required to follow that, I assume that is local interpretation as to whether/when it is required.
4. I have a meeting with the AHJ next week but am not expecting them to have any local requirements (including NFPA 110) that force a separation of equipment.
That said, the project I've been told to crib from provided separate rooms for the normal service and emergency gear - specifically appears to separate normal gear and COPS gear. I figure that's easy enough to do at this project. My question is regarding best practices - should the panels served by the ATS's be located in the normal room, the emergency room, a third separate room, or different ATS's in different rooms? My template project appears to follow the last option - putting COPS related equipment in the "COPS/emergency" room, and non-COPS equipment (including life safety and discretionary ATS's) in the normal room.
If anyone has examples on how they've approached separation of equipment it is appreciated.