Healthcare Essential Electrical Systems
Remake batch 25 and its neighbor re-points, batch 24 where missing, and the adopted-electrical-code parameter: brought in line with the authoring repository
Showing changes from Rev 3
to Rev 4
in Healthcare Essential Electrical Systems.
---
title: Healthcare Essential Electrical Systems
category: Electrical / Power Distribution Equipment
−toc_depth: 3
description: >
− When to use: Design, specification, and installation of the Essential Electrical System (EES) in healthcare facilities governed by NEC Article 517 and NFPA 99 — hospitals, ambulatory surgical centers, outpatient clinics, and nursing homes containing patient care spaces. Covers all three EES branches (Life Safety, Critical, Equipment), the branch transfer switches, feeders, and distribution panelboards, and the Type 1 / Type 2 selection driven by NFPA 99 risk category.
− Not intended for: Generator set sizing and fuel systems (use [[sync/generators]]) and paralleling switchgear (use [[sync/generator-paralleling-switchgear]]); automatic transfer switch hardware selection (use [[sync/automatic-transfer-switches]]); normal-mode overcurrent coordination and short-circuit study (use [[sync/protective-coordination-study]]); normal-service panelboards (use [[sync/panelboards]]); non-healthcare NFPA 110 emergency and standby power (use [[sync/emergency-and-standby-power]]); the electrical safety program and arc-flash labeling (use [[sync/electrical-safety-program]]).
+ When to use: The essential electrical system of a health care facility under NFPA 70 Article 517 and NFPA 99: hospitals, nursing homes, limited care facilities, ambulatory health care occupancies, and any other facility with patient care spaces. Covers the risk categories of the spaces served and the system type that follows from them, the life safety, critical, and equipment branches and the loads assigned to each, the alternate source performance the system requires, the number and arrangement of the transfer switches that serve the branches, the separation and mechanical protection of the branch wiring, the branch circuits and receptacles of patient bed locations and their identification, the second level of ground-fault protection, isolated power systems for wet procedure locations, the coordination requirement specific to the system, the documentation the Authority Having Jurisdiction and the accrediting bodies survey, and the acceptance and periodic testing of the system as a whole.
+
+ Not intended for: The Article 700, 701, 702, and 708 systems of buildings that are not health care facilities, and the alternate source redundancy and transfer type decisions this standard inherits from that layer ([[sync/emergency-and-standby-power]]); the engine-generator set as a product, its fuel on the skid, and its controller ([[sync/generators]]); the assembly that synchronizes multiple machines onto one bus ([[sync/generator-paralleling-switchgear]]); the switch itself, with its mechanism, its ratings, its time delays, and its enclosure ([[sync/automatic-transfer-switches]]); the panelboard as a product ([[sync/panelboards]]); the device as a product, with its grade, its configuration, and its color ([[sync/wiring-devices]]); the redundant grounding of patient care spaces and the grounding test NFPA 99 requires there ([[sync/grounding-and-bonding]]); the short-circuit study itself ([[sync/short-circuit-study]]); the coordination study itself ([[sync/protective-coordination-study]]); the egress lighting itself ([[sync/emergency-and-egress-lighting]]); and the raceway products and their installation ([[sync/raceways-and-conduit]]).
---
# Scope {toc}
−## This standard covers the design, specification, and installation of the Essential Electrical System (EES) that supplies power to patient care and life-safety loads in a healthcare facility during loss of normal utility power. {note}
+## This standard governs the essential electrical system of a health care facility as one system: the risk categories that decide what the facility needs, the type of system those categories require, the branches the system is divided into and the loads each branch carries, the performance the alternate source owes the branches, the transfer switches that serve them, the wiring that keeps them independent, the circuits and receptacles at the patient bed, the ground-fault protection and the isolated power that protect the patient, the coordination requirement that applies to the whole system, and the tests and records that prove the system and keep it provable through its life. {note}
−## The EES is the set of branches, alternate power sources, transfer switches, feeders, and panelboards required by NEC Article 517 and NFPA 99 to keep designated loads energized when the normal source fails. {note}
+## The essential electrical system is a layer over the emergency and standby power system, not a replacement for it: NFPA 70 Article 517 applies Article 700 to the life safety branch and amends it, and NFPA 99 adds the risk categories, the branch structure, the equipment branch sequence, and a testing regime of its own. The system-level decisions that are not specific to health care, including the alternate source redundancy, the transfer type, the neutral treatment, and the integrated acceptance test, are made under [[sync/emergency-and-standby-power]] and are not repeated here. {note}
−## This standard applies to new construction and to renovation of any facility containing patient care spaces classified as Category 1 or Category 2 under the NFPA 99 risk-category framework. {note}
+## The following are governed elsewhere and are outside this standard: {note}
−## The EES shall be designed and installed in accordance with NEC Article 517, NFPA 99, and NFPA 110 for the facility occupancy classification established in the project Building Code analysis.
+- the alternate source redundancy, the transfer type and neutral treatment across the system, and the integrated acceptance test under NFPA 110 Chapter 7 ([[sync/emergency-and-standby-power]])
+- the engine-generator set, its fuel system on the skid, its controller, and its remote annunciator ([[sync/generators]])
+- the assembly that synchronizes multiple machines onto one bus and its load add and load shed tables ([[sync/generator-paralleling-switchgear]])
+- the switch itself, with its mechanism, its ratings, its time delays, and its enclosure ([[sync/automatic-transfer-switches]])
+- the panelboard as a product ([[sync/panelboards]]) and the raceway products and their installation ([[sync/raceways-and-conduit]])
+- the device as a product, with its grade, its configuration, and its color ([[sync/wiring-devices]])
+- the redundant grounding of each patient care space and the grounding test NFPA 99 requires there ([[sync/grounding-and-bonding]])
+- the short-circuit study that establishes the available fault current at the system ([[sync/short-circuit-study]]) and the coordination study itself and the settings it recommends ([[sync/protective-coordination-study]])
+- the egress lighting itself ([[sync/emergency-and-egress-lighting]])
+- the fire alarm system ([[sync/fire-alarm-systems]]), the nurse call system ([[sync/nurse-call-systems]]), and the medical gas source equipment and alarms ([[sync/medical-gas-systems]]) that this system supplies
−## The applicable NEC 517 sub-article (517.30 hospitals, 517.42 nursing homes, 517.45 limited care facilities, 517.80 ambulatory health care) shall be confirmed against the occupancy classification before branch loads are assigned.
+## The Contractor shall coordinate the branch assignment of every load, the transfer switch arrangement, the alternate source performance, and the ground-fault protection scheme with the standards named in this section before any transfer switch, distribution equipment, or isolated power panel is released for manufacture.
−## Generator set sizing and fuel systems are specified in [[sync/generators]], paralleling switchgear in [[sync/generator-paralleling-switchgear]], and both are outside this scope; this standard treats the on-site alternate power source as an interface and states only the performance it must deliver to the EES.
−
−## Transfer switch hardware ratings and construction are specified in [[sync/automatic-transfer-switches]]; this standard states only the topology, branch assignment, and bypass requirements for switches serving the EES. {note}
−
# Referenced Standards {toc}
−## Equipment, materials, and installation shall comply with the latest adopted edition of each of the following unless a specific edition is cited or a more recent edition is adopted by the Authority Having Jurisdiction.
+## Design, equipment, and installation shall comply with the latest edition of each of the following that the Authority Having Jurisdiction has adopted, unless a specific edition is cited.
−## Where referenced standards conflict, the more stringent requirement shall govern unless the Engineer of Record directs otherwise in writing.
+## Where the adopted editions of NFPA 70 and NFPA 99 differ on a requirement of the essential electrical system, the more stringent requirement shall govern unless the Authority Having Jurisdiction accepts the less stringent one in writing.
−## The adopted NEC edition shall be verified with the Authority Having Jurisdiction before branch loads are assigned.
+## The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services adopt NFPA 99 and NFPA 101 by edition in the Conditions of Participation, and the edition they adopt is routinely older than the one the state has adopted, so a facility that bills Medicare answers to two editions at once; the more stringent of the two is the one a surveyor can cite. {note}
−## Many states enforce the 2020 NEC, and Article 517 requirements differ between editions. {note}
−
| Standard | Title |
|----------|-------|
−| NFPA 70 (NEC) Article 517 | Health Care Facilities — Essential Electrical Systems |
+| NFPA 70 | National Electrical Code (Article 517, with Articles 700 and 701 as Article 517 applies them) |
| NFPA 99 | Health Care Facilities Code |
| NFPA 110 | Standard for Emergency and Standby Power Systems |
| NFPA 101 | Life Safety Code |
| UL 1008 | Transfer Switch Equipment |
−| IEEE Std 602 | Recommended Practice for Electric Systems in Health Care Facilities (White Book) |
−| IEEE Std 446 | Recommended Practice for Emergency and Standby Power Systems (Orange Book) |
−| ANSI/ASHRAE/ASHE Standard 170 | Ventilation of Health Care Facilities |
−| IBC Chapter 27 | International Building Code — Electrical (adopts NEC by reference) |
−| 42 CFR 482.41 | CMS Conditions of Participation — Physical Environment |
+| UL 1047 | Isolated Power Systems Equipment |
+| UL 1022 | Line Isolation Monitors |
+| UL 2200 | Stationary Engine Generator Assemblies |
+| IEEE 602 | Recommended Practice for Electric Systems in Health Care Facilities |
+| ANSI/ASHRAE/ASHE 170 | Ventilation of Health Care Facilities |
+| FGI Guidelines | Guidelines for Design and Construction of Hospitals |
+| ASCE/SEI 7 | Minimum Design Loads and Associated Criteria for Buildings and Other Structures |
+| ANSI/NETA ATS | Standard for Acceptance Testing Specifications for Electrical Power Equipment and Systems |
+| 42 CFR Part 482 | Conditions of Participation for Hospitals |
+| 42 CFR Part 483 | Requirements for Long Term Care Facilities |
−# System Classification {toc}
+# Submittals {toc}
−## Type 1 EES is required whenever the facility contains any Category 1 patient care space — critical care areas, intensive care units, and operating rooms — per NFPA 99.
+## Action Submittals {toc}
−## Type 2 EES is permitted for facilities whose patient care spaces are limited to Category 2 — general care — such as some medical office buildings, nursing homes, and limited-care facilities. {note}
+### The Contractor shall submit the following for review before any transfer switch, branch distribution equipment, or isolated power panel is released for manufacture:
−## The EES type shall be selected from the facility's highest patient-care-space risk category as established by the NFPA 99 risk assessment.
+- a one-line diagram of the complete essential electrical system showing the normal source, each alternate source, every transfer switch with the branch it serves, every branch panelboard and distribution board, and the feeders between them
+- a branch load schedule assigning every load the system serves to the life safety, critical, or equipment branch, citing the NFPA 70 517.32, 517.33, or 517.34 provision that places it there, and stating for each equipment branch load whether it is connected automatically, by delayed automatic connection, or manually
+- a classification statement giving the risk category of each patient care space the system serves as the governing body determined it, the essential electrical system type that follows, and the NFPA 110 level, type, and class of the alternate source
+- the demand calculation for the essential electrical system on the basis the datasheet selects, carried to each transfer switch and each branch
+- a transfer switch schedule giving, for each switch, the branch served, the bypass-isolation selection, and the connection delay, consistent with the product data submitted under [[sync/automatic-transfer-switches]]
+- the wiring plan for the life safety and critical branches, showing the wiring method of each feeder and branch circuit and every point where the branch wiring enters an enclosure that another system also enters
+- the ground-fault protection arrangement, showing each level of protection, the device that provides it, and the pickup and time delay the coordination study assigns to it
+- product data for each isolated power panel, its line isolation monitor, its remote indicator, and its receptacles, with the UL 1047 and UL 1022 listings
+- the receptacle identification schedule for the life safety and critical branches, consistent with the device color schedule submitted under [[sync/wiring-devices]]
```datasheet
−label: EES Type
−type: radio
+label: Action Submittals
+type: checkbox
options:
− - Type 1 (Category 1 spaces present — three branches)
− - Type 2 (Category 2 only — two branches)
−default: Type 1 (Category 1 spaces present — three branches)
+ - "Essential electrical system one-line diagram"
+ - "Branch load schedule with the code basis of each assignment"
+ - "Classification statement of risk categories, system type, and NFPA 110 level, type, and class"
+ - "Essential electrical system demand calculation"
+ - "Transfer switch schedule with branch, bypass-isolation, and delay"
+ - "Life safety and critical branch wiring plan"
+ - "Ground-fault protection arrangement with study settings"
+ - "Isolated power system product data"
+ - "Receptacle identification schedule"
+default:
+ - "Essential electrical system one-line diagram"
+ - "Branch load schedule with the code basis of each assignment"
+ - "Classification statement of risk categories, system type, and NFPA 110 level, type, and class"
+ - "Essential electrical system demand calculation"
+ - "Transfer switch schedule with branch, bypass-isolation, and delay"
+ - "Life safety and critical branch wiring plan"
+ - "Ground-fault protection arrangement with study settings"
+constraint: all_of
```
−## A Type 1 EES shall provide three branches: a Life Safety Branch, a Critical Branch, and an Equipment Branch.
+### No transfer switch, branch distribution equipment, or isolated power panel shall be released for manufacture until the one-line diagram, the branch load schedule, and the classification statement have been reviewed and returned.
−## A Type 2 EES shall provide a Life Safety Branch and a Critical Branch; a separate Equipment Branch is not required.
+### The branch load schedule is the submittal that decides whether the system passes its first survey, because a load on the wrong branch is a finding regardless of how well the equipment performs, and the schedule is the only document in which every load and its branch appear side by side with the provision that put it there. {note}
−## A facility containing a single Category 1 space cannot be downgraded to Type 2 by load count; the presence of the space, not its size, governs the classification. {note}
+## Informational Submittals {toc}
−## The facility's occupancy classification shall be specified so that the applicable NEC 517 sub-article governing the essential electrical system design is established.
+### The Contractor shall submit the following with or before the action submittals:
+- a copy of the governing body's risk assessment under NFPA 99 Chapter 4 for the spaces the system serves, or the written statement of the categories it assigned
+- the portion of the coordination study prepared under [[sync/protective-coordination-study]] that demonstrates the coordination NFPA 70 517.31(G) requires for the essential electrical system
+- a restoration time budget showing the time from loss of the normal source to energization of the life safety and critical branches, with the engine start, the source acceptance, and each transfer switch delay itemized
+- the qualification statement of the firm that will test the isolated power systems and the patient care receptacles
+- the acceptance test procedure for the essential electrical system, covering every test this standard requires
+
```datasheet
−label: Facility Occupancy Classification (governs applicable NEC 517 sub-article)
−type: select
+label: Informational Submittals
+type: checkbox
options:
− - Hospital (NEC 517.30)
− - Nursing home (NEC 517.42)
− - Limited care facility (NEC 517.45)
− - Ambulatory health care (NEC 517.80)
−default: Hospital (NEC 517.30)
+ - "Governing body's risk assessment or category statement"
+ - "Coordination study extract for NFPA 70 517.31(G)"
+ - "Restoration time budget"
+ - "Isolated power and receptacle testing firm qualification"
+ - "Acceptance test procedure"
+default:
+ - "Governing body's risk assessment or category statement"
+ - "Coordination study extract for NFPA 70 517.31(G)"
+ - "Restoration time budget"
+ - "Acceptance test procedure"
+constraint: all_of
```
+## Closeout Submittals {toc}
+
+### The Contractor shall submit the following before the essential electrical system is accepted:
+
+- the as-built one-line diagram and branch load schedule reflecting every field change and the branch assignment as installed
+- the acceptance test records for the system, giving the measured restoration time of each branch, the equipment branch connection sequence and delays as commissioned, the ground-fault protection performance test record NFPA 70 517.17(D) requires, every isolated power system and line isolation monitor test, and every patient care receptacle test
+- the written testing and maintenance schedule for the system, with the log forms for each test NFPA 99 and NFPA 110 require of the Owner
+- the survey documentation set: the one-line, the branch load schedule, the classification statement, and the acceptance test records, bound or filed as the Authority Having Jurisdiction and the accrediting organization survey them
+- operation and maintenance data for each isolated power panel and line isolation monitor
+- the warranty documentation for the isolated power equipment and for the installation
+- a signed receipt from the Owner for the spare parts delivered
+
```datasheet
−label: Highest NFPA 99 Patient Care Space Risk Category
−type: radio
+label: Closeout Submittals
+type: checkbox
options:
− - Category 1 (critical care — ICU, OR, cath lab)
− - Category 2 (general care — inpatient bed)
− - Category 3 (basic care)
− - Category 4 (support)
−default: Category 1 (critical care — ICU, OR, cath lab)
+ - "As-built one-line diagram and branch load schedule"
+ - "Acceptance test records"
+ - "Testing and maintenance schedule with log forms"
+ - "Survey documentation set"
+ - "Isolated power operation and maintenance data"
+ - "Warranty documentation"
+ - "Spare parts receipt"
+default:
+ - "As-built one-line diagram and branch load schedule"
+ - "Acceptance test records"
+ - "Testing and maintenance schedule with log forms"
+ - "Survey documentation set"
+ - "Isolated power operation and maintenance data"
+ - "Warranty documentation"
+constraint: all_of
```
−# Branch Definitions and Load Assignment {toc}
+### The integrated acceptance test record under NFPA 110 Chapter 7 is delivered under [[sync/emergency-and-standby-power]]; the records this standard requires are the branch-level and patient-care-level records that the integrated record does not contain. {note}
−## The EES is divided into branches so that the most life-critical loads are physically and electrically isolated from less critical loads, preventing a fault on one branch from de-energizing another. {note}
+# Quality Assurance {toc}
−## Each branch shall be served by its own transfer switch and its own feeder, and shall not share a panelboard with another branch except where NEC 517 permits separately identified sections.
+## The essential electrical system one-line diagram, the branch load schedule, the classification statement, and the demand calculation shall be prepared by or under the responsible charge of a licensed Professional Engineer who has designed the essential electrical system of at least two health care facilities of the same type.
−# Life Safety Branch {toc}
+## The risk category of each patient care space is determined by the facility's governing body under NFPA 99 Chapter 4, not by the Engineer of Record, and the engineer records it and designs to it; a category the engineer assumed without a written determination behind it is the finding a surveyor writes first. {note}
−## The Life Safety Branch (LSB) supplies only the loads required for safe egress and life safety during a power outage and is the most tightly restricted branch in the EES. {note}
+## The Contractor shall engage, for the isolated power systems and the patient care receptacles, a testing firm that is independent of the installer and whose technicians have tested isolated power systems on at least two health care projects.
−## The Life Safety Branch shall supply only the loads permitted by NEC 517.32; this is an exclusive list, and no other loads shall be connected.
+## The reviews and the witnessing required for the essential electrical system shall be as indicated in the datasheet.
−## Loads permitted on the Life Safety Branch include the following: {note}
−- Illumination of means of egress
−- Exit signs and exit directional signs
−- Alarm and alerting systems, including fire alarm
−- Communication systems used for issuing instructions during an emergency
−- Generator set and transfer switch accessories required for operation
−- Elevator cab lighting, control, communication, and signal systems
−- Automatic doors used for egress
+```datasheet
+label: Reviews and Witnessing Required
+type: checkbox
+options:
+ - "State health department plan review before construction"
+ - "California HCAI review and inspection"
+ - "Accrediting organization survey documentation set"
+ - "Authority Having Jurisdiction witness of the acceptance test"
+default:
+ - "Authority Having Jurisdiction witness of the acceptance test"
+constraint: all_of
+```
−## Convenience receptacles, nurses' stations, IT loads, and general lighting shall not be connected to the Life Safety Branch.
+## A state health department or a state construction authority reviews the essential electrical system before construction in most states and inspects it before the facility is licensed, and the accrediting organization surveys the same records after occupancy; the reviews required on a project depend on the state and on whether the facility bills Medicare, so none is assumed beyond the witness every Authority Having Jurisdiction expects. {note}
−## Adding non-qualifying loads to the Life Safety Branch is a frequent design error that overloads the branch and fails inspection; the LSB serves egress and alarm functions only. {note}
+# Environmental and Service Conditions {toc}
−## The Life Safety Branch shall be supplied by a dedicated transfer switch serving no other branch.
+## The spaces that house the alternate source, the transfer switches, and the branch distribution equipment shall be located to minimize interruption of the essential electrical system by the natural hazards of the site, including storms, flooding, earthquakes, and hazards from adjoining structures or activities, in accordance with NFPA 70 517.30 and NFPA 99 Chapter 6.
−# Critical Branch {toc}
+## No transfer switch or branch distribution equipment of the essential electrical system shall be installed below the design flood elevation of the site where the facility has space above it.
−## The Critical Branch supplies power to patient care task illumination, selected receptacles, and equipment essential to patient care and life support that must remain energized within the 10-second restoration window. {note}
+## Where [[parameter: seismic-design-category]] is C or higher, the transfer switches, the branch distribution equipment, and the isolated power panels of the essential electrical system shall be treated as designated seismic systems with a component importance factor of 1.5 under ASCE/SEI 7, and the certification and anchorage of each item shall be furnished under the standard that governs it.
−## The Critical Branch shall supply the patient care load classes listed in NEC 517.33, including critical care area task lighting and receptacles, isolated power systems for wet procedure locations, and nurse call and patient monitoring systems.
+## The alternate source shall be capable of restoring the life safety and critical branches within the time this standard requires at [[parameter: site-ambient-temperature-minimum]], with the engine readiness provisions furnished under [[sync/generators]].
−## Patient bed receptacle quantities on the Critical Branch shall meet the minimums of NEC 517.18 for general care and 517.19 for critical care.
+## Hospitals are Risk Category IV structures under the adopted building code, and the essential electrical system is the one system the building must still have when the event that cut the normal source is over, so the equipment that carries it is certified to keep working through the design earthquake rather than merely to stay anchored. {note}
+# System Classification {toc}
+
+## The health care facility type served by the system shall be as indicated in the datasheet.
+
```datasheet
−label: General Care Patient Bed Receptacles (NEC 517.18 minimum)
−type: range
−unit: duplex receptacles
−min: 8
−max: 20
−step: 1
−default: 8
+label: Health Care Facility Type
+type: select
+options:
+ - "Hospital"
+ - "Nursing home"
+ - "Limited care facility"
+ - "Ambulatory health care occupancy"
+ - "Other health care facility with patient care spaces"
```
+## The facility type decides which part of NFPA 70 Article 517 the system is built under. A hospital is built under the hospital provisions, which require the three-branch system whenever the facility has Category 1 spaces. A nursing home or a limited care facility is built under the provisions for those occupancies, which require a two-branch system, unless it admits residents who depend on electrical life support, in which case the hospital provisions apply. An ambulatory health care occupancy is built under NFPA 70 517.45, which requires an essential electrical system where the facility administers general anesthesia or uses electrical life support, and permits a battery system as the alternate source under the conditions it states. A medical office, a clinic, or an outpatient facility outside those occupancies is classified by the risk categories of its spaces alone. {note}
+
+## The highest risk category among the patient care spaces the system serves shall be as indicated in the datasheet.
+
```datasheet
−label: Critical Care Patient Bed Receptacles (NEC 517.19 minimum)
−type: range
−unit: hospital-grade duplex receptacles
−min: 14
−max: 36
−step: 2
−default: 14
+label: Highest Risk Category of the Spaces Served
+type: select
+derived: "the governing body's risk assessment under NFPA 99 Chapter 4 of every patient care space the system serves"
+options:
+ - "Category 1"
+ - "Category 2"
+ - "Category 3"
+ - "Category 4"
+default: derived
```
−## All receptacles connected to the Critical and Life Safety branches in patient care spaces shall be hospital-grade and identified by the listing mark and a distinctive color.
+## NFPA 99 categorizes a space by what a failure of the system does to the patient in it, not by the name of the room: Category 1 where failure is likely to cause major injury or death, Category 2 where it is likely to cause minor injury, Category 3 where it causes discomfort but no injury, and Category 4 where it has no effect on patient care. An operating room, an intensive care unit, and a dialysis station are Category 1 almost everywhere; a general inpatient bed is Category 2 in most facilities and Category 1 where ventilator-dependent patients are housed; an examination room in a clinic is Category 3 or 4. {note}
−## Only hospital-grade devices shall be used for receptacles in patient care spaces on Critical and Life Safety branch circuits.
+## The essential electrical system type shall be as indicated in the datasheet.
−## Specifying standard commercial-grade receptacles on Critical or Life Safety branch circuits is a common coordination miss between the electrical and medical-equipment specifications. {note}
+```datasheet
+label: Essential Electrical System Type
+type: select
+derived: "the highest risk category of the spaces served, with Type 1 for Category 1, Type 2 for Category 2, Type 3 for Category 3, and no essential electrical system under NFPA 99 where every space is Category 4"
+options:
+ - "Type 1"
+ - "Type 2"
+ - "Type 3"
+ - "No essential electrical system under NFPA 99"
+default: derived
+```
−## The Critical Branch shall be supplied by a dedicated transfer switch serving no other branch.
+## A Type 1 system shall be divided into a life safety branch, a critical branch, and an equipment branch.
−# Isolated Power Systems for Wet Procedure Locations {toc}
+## A Type 2 system shall be divided into a life safety branch and an equipment branch.
−## Wet procedure locations — operating rooms, cardiac catheterization labs, cystoscopy suites, and hydrotherapy rooms — require either an isolated power system (IPS) or ground-fault circuit-interruption protection per NFPA 99; an IPS is specified where interruption of a circuit on a single ground fault is unacceptable. {note}
+## A Type 3 system shall have an alternate source, a battery system or a generator, capable of supplying the egress illumination and the alarm systems of the facility for not less than 1.5 hours.
−## All wet procedure locations — including cath labs, cystoscopy suites, and hydrotherapy rooms — shall be evaluated for isolated power system requirements; IPS is not limited to operating rooms.
+## The presence of one Category 1 space makes the system Type 1; the type is set by the most demanding space the system serves and not by how much of the facility that space represents. {note}
−## Designers frequently apply IPS only to operating rooms and miss cath labs, cystoscopy suites, and hydrotherapy rooms. {note}
+## Where every space the system serves is Category 4, the facility still needs the emergency illumination and the alarm power the adopted building code and NFPA 101 require, and those are specified under [[sync/emergency-and-standby-power]] and [[sync/emergency-and-egress-lighting]] without the provisions of this standard. {note}
−## Each isolated power system panel shall be supplied from the Critical Branch.
+# Alternate Source of Power {toc}
−## Each isolated power system shall include a line isolation monitor (LIM) providing continuous audible and visual indication of the hazard current.
+## The essential electrical system shall have at least two independent sources of power: the normal source that supplies the facility, and one or more alternate sources that supply the system when the normal source fails.
−## The line isolation monitor alarm shall be set to operate at a hazard current not exceeding 5 mA per NFPA 99.
+## The alternate source type shall be as indicated in the datasheet.
−## The line-to-ground impedance of a new isolated power system shall be at least 50 kΩ per NFPA 99.
−
```datasheet
−label: Wet Procedure Location Protection Method
+label: Alternate Source Type
type: radio
options:
− - Isolated power system with line isolation monitor
− - GFCI protection (where momentary interruption is acceptable)
−default: Isolated power system with line isolation monitor
+ - "Engine-generator set on the premises"
+ - "Second generating unit where the normal source is on-site generation"
+ - "External utility service where the normal source is on-site generation"
+ - "Battery system"
+ - "Fuel cell system"
+default: "Engine-generator set on the premises"
```
+## An engine-generator set on the premises is the alternate source of nearly every health care facility, because it is the one source that carries the whole system for the runtime the facility plans for and that NFPA 110 classifies directly, which is why it is the default. The second generating unit and the external utility service are the alternate sources of a facility whose normal source is its own generation, a cogeneration plant or a remote campus, and each is accepted only because the normal source is already a generator. A battery system is limited to the facility types and the loads the adopted edition of NFPA 70 permits it for, and its runtime is set by its capacity rather than by a fuel delivery. A fuel cell system is a recent addition to the permitted sources and is accepted where the adopted edition includes it and the Authority Having Jurisdiction accepts the fuel supply arrangement. {note}
+
+## A battery system or a fuel cell system shall be the alternate source only where the adopted edition of NFPA 70 and NFPA 99 permit it for the facility type and the system type, and only where the Authority Having Jurisdiction has accepted it in writing before the classification statement is submitted.
+
+## A generator set serving the essential electrical system shall be classified Level 1, Type 10, Class X under NFPA 110, in accordance with NFPA 99 6.7, and shall be furnished under [[sync/generators]] to that classification.
+
+## The runtime of the alternate source at the demand of the essential electrical system, which is the Class X duration, shall be as indicated in the datasheet.
+
```datasheet
−label: Line Isolation Monitor Alarm Set Point (maximum)
+label: Alternate Source Runtime at System Demand
type: range
−unit: mA
−min: 2
−max: 5
−step: 0.5
−default: 5
+unit: hours
+derived: "the runtime the facility's emergency management plan under NFPA 99 Chapter 12 establishes for the essential electrical system, and not less than the Authority Having Jurisdiction requires"
+options:
+ min: 2
+ max: 168
+ setpoints: [2, 4, 6, 8, 24, 48, 72, 96, 120, 168]
+default: derived
+constraint: min
```
−# Equipment Branch {toc}
+## NFPA 99 assigns Class X rather than a fixed class because the runtime is a planning decision of the facility: hospitals that plan to shelter in place through a regional event provision for 96 hours, which is the self-sufficiency period accrediting organizations ask a hospital to assess, while a facility that evacuates under its plan provisions for the time the evacuation takes. The runtime drives the fuel stored at the generator under [[sync/generators]] and the fuel system beyond the skid under [[sync/fuel-oil-systems]]. {note}
−## The Equipment Branch supplies major electrical equipment necessary for patient care and basic hospital operation that can tolerate a short, sequenced interruption — and is required only in a Type 1 EES. {note}
+## The alternate source shall restore power to the life safety branch and the critical branch within 10 seconds of loss of the normal source, measured from the loss to the energization of the branch panelboards, with the engine start, the source acceptance, and the transfer switch delays all inside that time.
−## The Equipment Branch shall supply the loads listed in NEC 517.34, organized into delayed-automatic and manually-connected load classes to manage generator step loading. {note}
+## The 10 seconds is a system figure and not a per-component allowance: a generator that reaches voltage in 8 seconds behind a transfer switch with a 3 second transfer delay restores the branch in 11, so the restoration time budget submitted under this standard is the document in which the allowances are reconciled. {note}
−## Loads connected to the Equipment Branch shall be assigned to a connection class so that the generator does not see the full equipment load as a single step at restoration.
+## The demand of the essential electrical system shall be computed on the basis indicated in the datasheet, in accordance with NFPA 70 517.31(D).
−## Equipment Branch Class 1 loads shall be connected automatically within 10 seconds of restoration of the alternate power source.
+```datasheet
+label: Essential Electrical System Demand Basis
+type: select
+options:
+ - "Connected load"
+ - "Feeder calculation under NFPA 70 Article 220"
+ - "Prudent demand factors with the facility's historical data"
+ - "Combination of the methods NFPA 70 517.31(D) permits"
+```
−## Equipment Branch Class 2 loads shall be connected by automatic delayed connection within 10 seconds of restoration of the alternate power source.
+## The connected load is the largest figure and the one a facility with no history uses when it would rather buy a larger set than defend a demand factor; the Article 220 feeder calculation applies the demand factors the code already grants and is the basis most new facilities use; prudent demand factors with historical data produce the smallest alternate source and are available only to an existing facility whose metered essential load over at least a year is in hand; and the combination lets each branch be calculated on the basis its data supports. The basis selected drives the alternate source capacity under [[sync/emergency-and-standby-power]] and the set rating under [[sync/generators]]. {note}
−## Equipment Branch Class 3 loads shall be connected as needed, with no maximum connection time.
+## Where the facility has more than one alternate source, the sources shall be arranged so that the life safety and critical branches remain supplied on the loss of any one source, with the redundancy and the paralleling scheme selected under [[sync/emergency-and-standby-power]] and furnished under [[sync/generator-paralleling-switchgear]].
−## The Equipment Branch load-shedding and reconnection logic shall be coordinated with the generator controls specified in [[sync/generators]].
+# Branch Structure and Load Assignment {toc}
−## Omitting the delayed-automatic and sequenced reconnection scheme causes voltage dips and generator overload at restoration. {note}
+## The branch assignment of each load shall be as indicated on [[drawing: the panel schedules and the essential electrical system branch load schedule]].
−## HVAC loads serving infection-control and other ventilation-critical areas shall be assigned to the Equipment Branch per ANSI/ASHRAE/ASHE Standard 170 and NEC 517.34.
+## The branches exist so that the loads a patient's life depends on in the next ten seconds, the loads the clinical staff need to keep treating, and the building equipment that keeps the facility habitable are supplied through separate transfer switches and separate wiring, so that a fault, an overload, or a maintenance outage on one of them leaves the others energized. {note}
−```datasheet
−label: Equipment Branch Provided
−type: radio
−options:
− - Yes (Type 1 EES)
− - No (Type 2 EES — branch not required)
−default: Yes (Type 1 EES)
−```
+## Life Safety Branch {toc}
−```datasheet
−label: Equipment Branch Connection Scheme
−type: select
−options:
− - Sequenced delayed-automatic (Class 1 / Class 2 / Class 3)
− - Single delayed-automatic step
−default: Sequenced delayed-automatic (Class 1 / Class 2 / Class 3)
−```
+### The life safety branch shall supply only the loads NFPA 70 517.32 lists for it: the illumination of the means of egress, the exit signs, the fire alarm and the medical gas alarms, the communication systems used to issue instructions in an emergency, the task illumination, the battery charger, and the selected receptacles at the generator set and the transfer switch locations, the elevator cab lighting, control, communication, and signal systems, and the automatic doors used for egress.
−# Alternate Power Source Interface {toc}
+### No load other than those NFPA 70 517.32 lists shall be connected to the life safety branch.
−## The EES alternate power source is an on-site generator set specified under [[sync/generators]]; this section states only the performance the source must deliver to the EES branches and the interfaces both standards must agree on. {note}
+### The life safety branch shall meet NFPA 70 Article 700 as NFPA 70 517.26 applies it, with the amendments Article 517 makes to it.
−## The alternate power source shall restore power to the Life Safety and Critical branches within 10 seconds of loss of normal power, measured across the complete transfer path including generator start, transfer switch operation, and breaker closure, per NEC 517.31 and NFPA 99.
+### The life safety branch is the branch most often overloaded by design rather than by use, because a nurse station, a security desk, or a data closet reads as life safety to the people who work there and none of them is on the list; the list is exclusive, and a load that is not on it belongs on the critical or the equipment branch. {note}
−## Where generator start, ATS transfer, and breaker closure are specified independently, their combined elapsed time shall be verified against the 10-second restoration limit; no single step may be treated as compliant in isolation.
+### The egress illumination and the exit signs the life safety branch supplies shall be specified under [[sync/emergency-and-egress-lighting]], the fire alarm system under [[sync/fire-alarm-systems]], and the medical gas alarm panels under [[sync/medical-gas-systems]], each with its branch circuit assigned to the life safety branch.
−## The 10-second restoration time is a system-level requirement, not a per-component budget. {note}
+## Critical Branch {toc}
−## The on-site fuel supply for a Medicare- or Medicaid-certified hospital shall provide a minimum of 96 hours of operation at the EES full-load demand, per the CMS Conditions of Participation, regardless of the NFPA 110 baseline.
+### The critical branch shall supply the task illumination, the fixed equipment, the selected receptacles, and the selected power circuits of the patient care spaces and the clinical support functions NFPA 70 517.33 lists, and the isolated power systems this standard requires.
−## CMS Conditions of Participation operate in parallel with NFPA 99 and NFPA 110 and impose the 96-hour fuel requirement independently of the adopted code edition; designs meeting only the NFPA 110 72-hour default fail the CMS requirement. {note}
+### The nurse call system specified under [[sync/nurse-call-systems]] shall be supplied from the critical branch.
−## Generator neutral grounding (solid vs. high-resistance) shall be reconciled with the EES ground-fault protection scheme between this standard and [[sync/generators]] before the design is finalized.
+### The critical branch shall be permitted to be subdivided into two or more branches, each served by its own transfer switch, in accordance with NFPA 70 517.33.
−```datasheet
−label: Restoration Time to Life Safety and Critical Branches (maximum)
−type: range
−unit: s
−min: 6
−max: 10
−step: 1
−default: 10
−```
+### The critical branch of a large hospital is routinely split by floor, by wing, or by service into several branches on separate transfer switches, because a single critical branch transfer switch becomes the one device whose failure darkens every patient care space at once, and because a split lets a floor be taken down for maintenance without touching the others. {note}
−```datasheet
−label: On-Site Fuel Supply Duration (minimum at full-load demand)
−type: select
−options:
− - 96 hours (CMS-certified hospital)
− - 72 hours (other healthcare facility)
−default: 96 hours (CMS-certified hospital)
−```
+### Each patient bed location, each operating room, and each procedure room shall be supplied from the critical branch in the manner the Patient Care Space Circuits and Receptacles section of this standard requires.
+## Equipment Branch {toc}
+
+### The equipment branch shall supply the three-phase and the building equipment NFPA 70 517.34 lists: the central suction and the medical air compressors, the sump pumps, the smoke control and stair pressurization fans, the kitchen hood fans required to run during a fire, the supply, return, and exhaust systems of airborne infection isolation rooms, protective environment rooms, operating rooms, and the other spaces 517.34 names, the heating of the patient care spaces it names, the elevators selected to serve patient, surgical, obstetrical, and ground floors, the sterilizers, and the controls of that equipment.
+
+### The equipment NFPA 70 517.34(A) lists shall be connected to the alternate source by delayed automatic connection.
+
+### The equipment NFPA 70 517.34(B) lists shall be connected to the alternate source in the manner indicated in the datasheet.
+
```datasheet
−label: Number of On-Site Alternate Power Sources
−type: select
+label: Connection of NFPA 70 517.34(B) Equipment
+type: radio
options:
− - Single generator
− - Two paralleled generators
− - Three or more paralleled generators
−default: Single generator
+ - "Delayed automatic connection"
+ - "Manual connection by the operator"
+default: "Delayed automatic connection"
```
−# Transfer Switches {toc}
+### Delayed automatic connection is the manner nearly every facility selects for the heating, the ventilation, and the elevators 517.34(B) permits to be connected manually, because an operator who must walk to a transfer switch during an outage is an operator the clinical staff do not have, which is why it is the default; manual connection is selected where the equipment would overload the alternate source unless the operator first confirms the load it carries. {note}
−## Each EES branch is served by its own listed automatic transfer switch so that a fault or maintenance action on one branch does not affect the others; hardware ratings and construction are specified in [[sync/automatic-transfer-switches]]. {note}
+### The generator accessories that the alternate source needs to run, including the fuel transfer pumps, the electrically operated louvers, and the ventilation of the generator room, shall be connected to the alternate source without delay, in accordance with NFPA 70 517.34.
−## Each branch transfer switch shall be listed to UL 1008 for emergency system use and rated for the available short-circuit current at its location.
+### The heating of general patient rooms shall be supplied from the equipment branch unless [[parameter: site-ambient-temperature-minimum]] is above -6.7°C (20°F) or another condition of the exception to NFPA 70 517.34(B)(1) is met and documented in the branch load schedule.
−## Each EES branch shall be served by a dedicated transfer switch; a common transfer switch with downstream branch distribution shall not be used where NEC 517 requires separate branch transfer equipment.
+### The supply, return, and exhaust systems of airborne infection isolation rooms and protective environment rooms shall be supplied from the equipment branch by delayed automatic connection, with the air systems themselves specified under [[sync/air-handling-units]] and [[sync/hvac-fans]] and the ventilation requirement under ANSI/ASHRAE/ASHE 170.
−## Branch transfer switches in a Type 1 EES shall be provided with bypass-isolation construction so the switch can be maintained or replaced without de-energizing the branch.
+### The smoke control and stair pressurization fans specified under [[sync/smoke-control-systems]] and the kitchen hood fans specified under [[sync/kitchen-exhaust-systems]] that the adopted building code requires to operate during a fire shall be supplied from the equipment branch by delayed automatic connection.
−## Specifying a non-bypass transfer switch for a hospital branch means the branch must be de-energized for switch maintenance, which can require patient relocation; bypass-isolation is the default for Type 1 EES branches.
+### The equipment branch wiring shall be permitted to occupy the same raceways, boxes, and cabinets as wiring that is not part of the essential electrical system, in accordance with NFPA 70 517.31(C)(1).
−## A closed-transition (make-before-break) transfer switch should be specified for the Equipment Branch where momentary interruption of motor-driven loads such as sterilizers or large air handlers is unacceptable.
+### The equipment branch is where the alternate source is sized and where it is overloaded: the chillers, the air handlers, and the elevators it carries are the large motors of the building, and the delay before they connect exists so that the life safety and critical branches are energized and the set is stable before the first of them starts. {note}
+# Transfer Switches of the Essential Electrical System {toc}
+
+## Each branch of the essential electrical system shall be served by one or more transfer switches, in accordance with NFPA 70 517.31(B), with the switches themselves furnished under [[sync/automatic-transfer-switches]].
+
+## The transfer switch arrangement shall be as indicated in the datasheet.
+
```datasheet
−label: Branch Transfer Switch Construction
+label: Transfer Switch Arrangement
type: radio
options:
− - Bypass-isolation
− - Standard (non-bypass)
−default: Bypass-isolation
+ - "One transfer switch per branch"
+ - "Several transfer switches per branch"
+ - "One transfer switch for the whole essential electrical system"
```
+## One transfer switch per branch is the arrangement NFPA 70 517.31(B) describes and the one a facility of moderate size builds; several transfer switches per branch is the arrangement of a hospital whose critical branch is split by floor or by service and whose equipment branch is sequenced across several switches with staggered delays; and one transfer switch for the whole system is permitted only to a facility whose essential electrical system demand does not exceed 150 kVA, which is a small nursing home or an ambulatory facility, and it buys one switch at the cost of every branch sharing one point of failure. {note}
+
+## One transfer switch shall serve more than one branch only where the maximum demand of the essential electrical system does not exceed 150 kVA (120 kW).
+
+## The bypass-isolation provision of the transfer switches serving the essential electrical system shall be as indicated in the datasheet, and shall be furnished on each switch under [[sync/automatic-transfer-switches]].
+
```datasheet
−label: Branch Transfer Switch Continuous Rating
−type: select
−unit: A
+label: Bypass-Isolation on Essential Electrical System Transfer Switches
+type: radio
options:
− - 100
− - 150
− - 200
− - 260
− - 400
− - 600
− - 800
− - 1000
− - 1200
− - 1600
− - 2000
− - 3000
− - 4000
−default: 400
+ - "Bypass-isolation on every transfer switch of the system"
+ - "Bypass-isolation on the life safety and critical branch transfer switches"
+ - "No bypass-isolation"
```
+## Bypass-isolation on every switch lets any switch be inspected, tested, or replaced with its branch energized, which in a hospital is the difference between a maintenance task and a patient relocation, and it is the arrangement of most acute care facilities; bypass-isolation on the life safety and critical branch switches alone keeps that capability where an outage reaches the patient and accepts a scheduled outage of the building equipment; and no bypass-isolation is the arrangement of a facility that can take each branch down on a schedule, which a nursing home or an outpatient facility often can. Neither NFPA 70 nor NFPA 99 requires bypass-isolation, so the selection is the facility's, and the cost of every switch roughly doubles with it. {note}
+
+## The connection sequence of the equipment branch shall be as indicated in the datasheet.
+
```datasheet
−label: Equipment Branch Transfer Mode
+label: Equipment Branch Connection Sequence
type: radio
options:
− - Open transition
− - Closed transition (make-before-break)
−default: Open transition
+ - "One delayed step for the whole equipment branch"
+ - "Sequenced steps on separate transfer switches with staggered delays"
+ - "Load added by the paralleling switchgear priority table"
```
−# Wiring Methods and Branch Separation {toc}
+## One delayed step connects the whole equipment branch at one transfer switch after one delay, which suits a facility whose equipment branch is small relative to the set; sequenced steps on separate transfer switches, each with its own delay, bring the equipment branch on in increments the set can accept and are the arrangement of a hospital with a single set or a few sets on individual switches; and load added by the paralleling switchgear priority table hands the sequence to the lineup furnished under [[sync/generator-paralleling-switchgear]], which adds each block as capacity comes on line and sheds it in reverse when a set is lost. The sequence and the delays are the inputs to the step-load analysis the set manufacturer performs under [[sync/generators]]. {note}
−## The Life Safety and Critical branch wiring is required to be mechanically protected and electrically separated from other wiring so that physical damage or a fault elsewhere cannot disable the branch.
+## The time delay of each equipment branch transfer switch shall be set so that the life safety and critical branches are energized before the first equipment branch step connects, and the delays as commissioned shall be recorded in the acceptance test records.
−## Life Safety and Critical branch conductors shall be installed in a metallic raceway — EMT, RMC, IMC, or listed metal wireway — or as Type MI cable, per NEC 517.30(C)(3).
+## The transition type, the neutral treatment, and the time delays of each transfer switch shall be selected under [[sync/emergency-and-standby-power]] and [[sync/automatic-transfer-switches]], and no transfer switch of the essential electrical system shall carry a transition type or a neutral treatment that differs from the one those standards select for the system.
−## Non-metallic conduit (PVC, ENT) shall not be used for Life Safety or Critical branch wiring except within listed prefabricated wiring assemblies or where a specific NEC 517 exception applies.
+# Wiring of the Essential Electrical System {toc}
−## The NEC 517.30(C)(3) metallic-raceway restriction shall be explicitly stated on the branch circuit specifications.
+## The wiring of the life safety branch and of the critical branch shall be kept entirely independent of all other wiring and equipment, and shall not enter the same raceway, box, or cabinet as each other or as any other wiring, except at the points NFPA 70 517.31(C)(1) permits: inside transfer switch enclosures, inside an exit or emergency luminaire supplied from two sources and the junction box attached to it, and where two or more circuits are supplied from the same branch and the same transfer switch.
−## Specifying standard EMT-permitted wiring without noting the healthcare metallic-raceway requirement generates field RFIs and rework. {note}
+## The wiring of the life safety branch and of the critical branch shall be mechanically protected by installation in one of the wiring methods indicated in the datasheet, in accordance with NFPA 70 517.31(C)(3), with the raceway products furnished under [[sync/raceways-and-conduit]] and the cable under [[sync/conductors-and-cables]].
−## EMT is acceptable for concealed Life Safety and Critical branch runs; RMC or IMC shall be used where the raceway is exposed and subject to physical damage.
−
```datasheet
−label: Concealed Life Safety / Critical Branch Raceway
−type: radio
+label: Life Safety and Critical Branch Wiring Methods Permitted
+type: checkbox
options:
− - EMT
− - IMC
− - RMC
−default: EMT
+ - "Nonflexible metal raceway"
+ - "Type MI cable"
+ - "Schedule 80 PVC conduit for feeders"
+ - "Schedule 40 PVC conduit or other listed raceway encased in 50 mm of concrete"
+default:
+ - "Nonflexible metal raceway"
+constraint: any_of
```
+## Nonflexible metal raceway, meaning rigid metal conduit, intermediate metal conduit, or electrical metallic tubing, is the method of nearly every life safety and critical branch run inside the building, because it is the one method that satisfies the mechanical protection rule and the redundant grounding rule of patient care spaces at once, which is why it is the only method selected by default; Type MI cable is selected where a feeder must survive fire exposure or where a raceway cannot be run; Schedule 80 PVC conduit is permitted for feeders and is the method of an exposed exterior run, and it is never permitted for a branch circuit that supplies a patient care space; and Schedule 40 PVC conduit encased in concrete is the method of the underground feeders between a generator building and the facility. {note}
+
+## No nonmetallic raceway shall be used for a branch circuit that supplies a patient care space.
+
+## Listed flexible metal raceway and listed metal-sheathed cable shall be used for the life safety and critical branches only inside listed prefabricated medical headwalls, inside listed office furnishings, where fished into an existing wall or ceiling that is not otherwise accessible and not subject to physical damage, and where a flexible connection to equipment is necessary, in accordance with NFPA 70 517.31(C)(3).
+
+## Each isolated power system shall be supplied by an individual circuit from the critical branch that serves no other load, in accordance with NFPA 70 517.31(C)(2).
+
+## The feeders of the life safety branch and of the critical branch shall be routed so that no single fire, flood, or physical event in one space can disable more than one branch, with the routing as indicated on [[drawing: the essential electrical system riser diagram]].
+
+## The separation rule is the reason the branches survive: a critical branch feeder that shares a pull box with the normal feeder it parallels is a feeder that burns with it, and the inspector who opens the box after the fire is the one who finds the shared enclosure. {note}
+
+# Patient Care Space Circuits and Receptacles {toc}
+
+## Each patient bed location in a Category 1 or a Category 2 space shall be supplied by at least two branch circuits arranged as indicated in the datasheet, in accordance with NFPA 70 517.18(A) and 517.19(A).
+
```datasheet
−label: Exposed (Subject to Physical Damage) Branch Raceway
+label: Patient Bed Location Branch Circuit Sources
type: radio
options:
− - RMC
− - IMC
−default: RMC
+ - "At least one normal system circuit and at least one critical branch circuit"
+ - "Critical branch circuits from two separate transfer switches"
+default: "At least one normal system circuit and at least one critical branch circuit"
```
−## Life Safety and Critical branch wiring shall be kept independent of all other wiring and equipment, and shall not occupy the same raceway, box, or cabinet as normal-service wiring except as permitted by NEC 517.30(C).
+## One normal system circuit and one critical branch circuit at each bed is the arrangement NFPA 70 Article 517 states and the one nearly every facility builds, because the normal circuit stays energized through a failure of the essential electrical system itself, which is why it is the default; critical branch circuits from two separate transfer switches is the exception the article permits where the facility would rather have every bed on the essential system, and it is selected only where the two transfer switches are fed by separate feeders so that neither failure darkens the bed. {note}
−## EES branch feeders shall be physically separated from each other and from normal-service feeders along their routing so that a single event cannot disable more than one branch.
+## Each patient bed location in a Category 1 space shall be supplied by at least one critical branch circuit that serves no other bed location.
−## Sharing a feeder or combined panelboard between two EES branches without separately identified sections is a code violation often missed on design-build projects; each branch requires separate transfer equipment, feeder, and panelboard identification. {note}
+## The number of receptacles at each patient bed location in a Category 2 general care space shall be as indicated in the datasheet, in accordance with NFPA 70 517.18(B).
−# Panelboards and Feeders {toc}
+```datasheet
+label: Receptacles at a General Care Patient Bed Location
+type: range
+unit: receptacles
+options:
+ min: 8
+ max: 24
+ step: 1
+default: 8
+constraint: min
+```
−## Each EES branch shall be served by a separate panelboard, or by a separately identified section of a panelboard, per NEC 517.30(E).
+## The number of receptacles at each patient bed location in a Category 1 critical care space shall be as indicated in the datasheet, in accordance with NFPA 70 517.19(B).
```datasheet
−label: Branch Panelboard Arrangement
−type: radio
+label: Receptacles at a Critical Care Patient Bed Location
+type: range
+unit: receptacles
options:
− - Separate panelboard per branch
− - Separately identified sections within a common enclosure
−default: Separate panelboard per branch
+ min: 14
+ max: 48
+ step: 1
+default: 14
+constraint: min
```
−## Each branch panelboard and feeder shall be permanently marked to identify the branch it serves and that it is part of the Essential Electrical System.
+## At least one receptacle at each critical care patient bed location shall be supplied from the normal system or from a critical branch circuit on a different transfer switch from the others at that bed.
−## Life Safety and Critical branch feeders shall be sized for 100% of the connected load; no demand-factor reduction is permitted on these feeders per NEC 517.30(D).
+## The number of receptacles in each operating room shall be as indicated in the datasheet, in accordance with NFPA 70 517.19(C).
```datasheet
−label: Life Safety / Critical Feeder Demand Factor
−type: radio
+label: Receptacles in an Operating Room
+type: range
+unit: receptacles
options:
− - None (100% of connected load — NEC 517.30(D))
−default: None (100% of connected load — NEC 517.30(D))
+ min: 36
+ max: 72
+ step: 1
+default: 36
+constraint: min
```
−## The EES feeder demand-factor prohibition is unique to the Life Safety and Critical branches; applying normal-service demand factors to these feeders undersizes them and is a frequent calculation error. {note}
+## At least 12 of the receptacles in each operating room shall be supplied from the normal system or from a critical branch circuit on a different transfer switch from the others in the room.
+## The counts the datasheet defaults to are the floors NFPA 70 Article 517 sets, and a receptacle counts toward them whether it is a single, a duplex counted as two, or a quadruplex counted as four; a headwall or a boom in an intensive care room and an equipment-dense operating room both run well above the floor, and the count the facility wants is settled with the clinical planner against the equipment list, not against the code. {note}
+
+## Every receptacle at a patient bed location and in an operating room shall be a listed hospital-grade receptacle furnished under [[sync/wiring-devices]], with the count this standard requires and the grade that standard requires for the space.
+
+## Receptacles in the patient care spaces of a pediatric location shall be listed tamper-resistant receptacles or shall be installed behind a listed tamper-resistant cover, in accordance with NFPA 70 517.18(C), with the device furnished under [[sync/wiring-devices]].
+
+## No isolated-ground receptacle shall be installed within the patient care vicinity of a patient care space, in accordance with NFPA 70 517.16.
+
+## The receptacles and the cover plates of the life safety branch and of the critical branch shall be identified in the manner indicated in the datasheet so that they are readily distinguishable from the receptacles of the normal system, in accordance with NFPA 70 517.31(E).
+
+```datasheet
+label: Life Safety and Critical Branch Receptacle Identification
+type: checkbox
+options:
+ - "Distinctive color of the receptacle face"
+ - "Distinctive color of the cover plate"
+ - "Branch name on the cover plate"
+ - "Panelboard designation and circuit number on the cover plate"
+default:
+ - "Distinctive color of the receptacle face"
+ - "Panelboard designation and circuit number on the cover plate"
+constraint: all_of
+```
+
+## Where the datasheet selects a distinctive color, the color shall be red unless [[sync/electrical-identification]] assigns the essential electrical system another color, and the same color shall identify the branch receptacles throughout the facility.
+
+## Where the datasheet selects the panelboard designation and circuit number, each receptacle of the life safety and critical branches in a patient care space shall carry them on its cover plate in characters legible from the bed.
+
+## A red face is the identification a clinician recognizes without reading, and it is the convention of nearly every facility in the country, which is why it is the default; a red cover plate on a general-color device is selected where the facility has standardized on one device color; the branch name on the plate tells the clinician which branch the outlet is on, which matters where both branches serve one room; and the panelboard and circuit number on the plate is what lets the staff and the electrician find the breaker for the outlet a device is plugged into without leaving the room, which is why it is in the default alongside the color. {note}
+
+## The grounding of every patient care space shall be the redundant grounding NFPA 70 517.13 requires, and the grounding test NFPA 99 requires of the space shall be performed, both under [[sync/grounding-and-bonding]].
+
# Ground-Fault Protection {toc}
−## Healthcare facilities require a second level of ground-fault protection of equipment (GFPE) on the EES service or feeder, coordinated with the main service GFPE, so that a ground fault is cleared at the lowest level without tripping the entire service — a requirement unique to NEC 517.17. {note}
+## Where ground-fault protection of equipment is provided on the service disconnecting means or on a feeder disconnecting means of a facility that NFPA 70 517.17(A) applies to, an additional level of ground-fault protection shall be provided in the next level of feeder disconnecting means downstream toward the load, in accordance with NFPA 70 517.17(B), and the provision shall be as indicated in the datasheet.
−## A second level of ground-fault protection shall be provided on the EES service disconnect or feeder, coordinated to operate before the main service GFPE per NEC 517.17.
+```datasheet
+label: Second Level of Ground-Fault Protection of Equipment
+type: select
+derived: "whether the service disconnecting means or a feeder disconnecting means of the facility carries ground-fault protection of equipment under NFPA 70 230.95 or 215.10"
+options:
+ - "Second level of ground-fault protection provided"
+ - "Not applicable, no ground-fault protection on the service or feeder disconnecting means"
+default: derived
+```
−## The two levels of GFPE shall be selectively coordinated such that the feeder-level device operates faster than the service-level device, with a time separation of at least one full pickup band per NEC 517.17.
+## The second level exists so that a ground fault on one feeder opens that feeder and not the service: a hospital with a single level of ground-fault protection on a 2000 A service loses the whole building, essential system included until the transfer switches see the loss, to a fault in one panelboard. The requirement is triggered by the first level, which NFPA 70 230.95 requires on a solidly grounded wye service of 1000 A and more at more than 150 V to ground, so a facility served at 480Y/277 V above that size has it and a facility served at 208Y/120 V does not. {note}
−## A second level of GFPE coordinated with the service-level device is required on the EES; omitting it is a code violation that results in failed inspection.
+## No ground-fault protection of equipment shall be installed on the load side of a transfer switch of the essential electrical system.
−## Many engineers apply only the standard NEC 230.95 service GFPE rules and omit the second-level coordination required for healthcare facilities. {note}
+## The two levels of ground-fault protection shall be fully selective, so that a ground fault on the load side of a feeder device opens that device and not the service device, with a separation of not less than six cycles between the time-current characteristics of the two levels, in accordance with NFPA 70 517.17(C).
−## The GFPE pickup and time-delay settings shall be specified as selectable values and verified against the [[sync/protective-coordination-study]] for the project.
+## The pickup of the second level of ground-fault protection shall be as indicated in the datasheet, and no level shall be set in the field to a value the coordination study does not record.
```datasheet
−label: EES Feeder GFPE Pickup
+label: Second-Level Ground-Fault Pickup
type: range
−unit: mA
−min: 150
−max: 1200
−step: 50
−default: 300
+unit: A
+derived: "the pickup the coordination study under [[sync/protective-coordination-study]] assigns to the feeder level, below the service level pickup and above the leakage and unbalance current of the feeder"
+options:
+ min: 100
+ max: 1200
+ setpoints: [100, 200, 300, 400, 500, 600, 800, 1000, 1200]
+default: derived
+constraint: exact
```
+## The time delay of the second level of ground-fault protection shall be as indicated in the datasheet.
+
```datasheet
−label: EES Feeder GFPE Time Delay
+label: Second-Level Ground-Fault Time Delay
type: range
unit: s
−min: 0.1
−max: 0.3
−step: 0.05
−default: 0.2
+derived: "the time delay the coordination study under [[sync/protective-coordination-study]] assigns to the feeder level, not less than six cycles below the service level delay"
+options:
+ min: 0
+ max: 0.5
+ setpoints: [0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, 0.5]
+default: derived
+constraint: exact
```
+## Each level of ground-fault protection shall be performance tested when first installed, by primary current injection or by the method the study and the equipment manufacturer accept, and a written record of the test shall be delivered under the closeout submittals, in accordance with NFPA 70 517.17(D).
+
+# Isolated Power Systems {toc}
+
+## The governing body shall designate the wet procedure locations of the facility under NFPA 99 Chapter 6, and the protection of the circuits in each wet procedure location shall be as indicated in the datasheet, in accordance with NFPA 70 517.20.
+
```datasheet
−label: Service-Level GFPE Time Delay (coordinated, slower than feeder)
+label: Wet Procedure Location Protection
+type: radio
+derived: "the governing body's determination under NFPA 99 Chapter 6 of whether interruption of power on a first ground fault is tolerable in each wet procedure location"
+options:
+ - "Isolated power system"
+ - "Ground-fault circuit-interrupter protection"
+default: derived
+```
+
+## NFPA 99 treats an operating room as a wet procedure location unless the governing body's risk assessment finds otherwise, and the two protections it allows answer different questions: ground-fault circuit-interrupter protection opens the circuit on the first fault, which protects the patient by de-energizing the equipment, and an isolated power system alarms on the first fault and keeps the circuit energized, which protects the patient by keeping the equipment running. The isolated power system is selected where the interruption would be worse than the fault, which is the case in a room where a device is keeping the patient alive, and ground-fault protection is selected where the interruption is tolerable. {note}
+
+## Each isolated power system shall be a listed assembly under UL 1047 comprising an isolation transformer, a line isolation monitor listed under UL 1022, the secondary overcurrent devices, and the receptacles and their wiring, installed in accordance with NFPA 70 517.160.
+
+## The isolation transformer of each isolated power system shall be a dry-type transformer built for the isolated power panel, with an ungrounded secondary, an electrostatic shield between the primary and secondary windings connected to the reference grounding point, and a leakage current from the secondary to ground, with the monitor disconnected, low enough that the total hazard current of the installed system at no load does not exceed the monitor's margin, and it shall be furnished as part of the UL 1047 assembly rather than under [[sync/low-voltage-dry-type-transformers]].
+
+## The transformer rating of each isolated power panel shall be as indicated in the datasheet.
+
+```datasheet
+label: Isolated Power Panel Transformer Rating
type: range
−unit: s
−min: 0.3
−max: 0.6
−step: 0.05
−default: 0.4
+unit: kVA
+drawing_ref: "the isolated power panel schedule"
+options:
+ min: 3
+ max: 25
+ setpoints: [3, 5, 7.5, 10, 15, 25]
+default: deferred
+constraint: exact
```
−# Submittals {toc}
+## The secondary voltage of each isolated power panel shall be as indicated in the datasheet.
−## Action Submittals {toc}
+```datasheet
+label: Isolated Power Panel Secondary Voltage
+type: select
+options:
+ - "120 V, 1Φ"
+ - "208 V, 1Φ"
+ - "240 V, 1Φ"
+ - "208 V, 3Φ"
+default: "120 V, 1Φ"
+```
−### The Contractor shall submit the following action submittals for review before fabrication or installation:
−- Single-line diagram of the complete EES showing all branches, transfer switches, panelboards, and feeders
−- Branch load assignment schedule keyed to NEC 517.32 / 517.33 / 517.34
−- Transfer switch shop drawings, ratings, and UL 1008 listing
−- Panelboard shop drawings with branch identification
−- Feeder and conductor schedule showing 100% sizing for Life Safety and Critical branches
−- Ground-fault protection coordination settings for the two GFPE levels
−- Isolated power system panel and line isolation monitor data for wet procedure locations
+## A 120 V single-phase secondary serves the receptacles and the equipment of nearly every operating room and procedure room, which is why it is the default; a 208 V or a 240 V single-phase secondary serves a specific device, an imaging unit, a laser, or a hyperbaric chamber, that needs it, and is furnished as a second isolated system rather than by converting the receptacle system; and a 208 V three-phase secondary serves a three-phase device, and its third conductor takes the third identification color. {note}
+## The conductors of each isolated system shall be identified by the colors NFPA 70 517.160(A) assigns: orange for the first isolated conductor, brown for the second, and yellow for the third of a three-phase system, each with the distinctive stripe the adopted edition requires.
+
+## The conductors of each isolated system shall have insulation with a dielectric constant not greater than 3.5, and the wiring between the panel and its receptacles shall be the shortest practicable length, so that the capacitive leakage of the wiring leaves the monitor its hazard current margin.
+
+## The line isolation monitor of each isolated power system shall indicate a total hazard current that does not exceed 5 mA by a green signal and shall alarm by a red signal and an audible signal when the total hazard current reaches 5 mA, and shall not alarm at a fault hazard current below 3.7 mA, in accordance with NFPA 70 517.160(B).
+
+## The line isolation monitor shall have an ammeter reading the total hazard current, mounted where it is visible from the procedure room, and a test switch that produces an alarm without introducing a fault into the system.
+
+## The indication furnished for each line isolation monitor shall be as indicated in the datasheet.
+
```datasheet
−label: Action Submittals
+label: Line Isolation Monitor Indication
type: checkbox
options:
− - EES single-line diagram
− - Branch load assignment schedule
− - Transfer switch shop drawings and UL 1008 listing
− - Panelboard shop drawings with branch identification
− - Feeder and conductor schedule (100% sizing)
− - GFPE coordination settings
− - Isolated power system and LIM data
+ - "Indicator on the isolated power panel"
+ - "Remote indicator in the procedure room"
+ - "Alarm contact to the nurse call or clinical alarm system"
+ - "Status point to the building management system"
default:
− - EES single-line diagram
− - Branch load assignment schedule
− - Transfer switch shop drawings and UL 1008 listing
− - Panelboard shop drawings with branch identification
− - Feeder and conductor schedule (100% sizing)
− - GFPE coordination settings
+ - "Indicator on the isolated power panel"
+ - "Remote indicator in the procedure room"
+constraint: all_of
```
−## Informational Submittals {toc}
+## The indicator on the panel is integral to the monitor and the remote indicator is what the staff in the room actually see, because the panel is usually in the corridor or behind the control desk, which is why both are in the default; the alarm contact carries the alarm to the staff station through [[sync/nurse-call-systems]] where the facility wants the alarm answered by someone outside the room; and the status point lets the facility trend hazard current and log alarms, at the cost of a controls interface at each panel. {note}
−### The Contractor shall submit the following informational submittals:
−- Manufacturer installation instructions for transfer switches and panelboards
−- Generator-to-EES interface coordination memo confirming neutral grounding and restoration timing
−- Load-step study confirming Equipment Branch sequenced reconnection
+## The enclosure type of each isolated power panel shall be as indicated in the datasheet.
```datasheet
−label: Informational Submittals
−type: checkbox
+label: Isolated Power Panel Enclosure Type
+type: select
options:
− - Manufacturer installation instructions
− - Generator-to-EES interface coordination memo
− - Load-step study for Equipment Branch sequencing
−default:
− - Manufacturer installation instructions
− - Generator-to-EES interface coordination memo
− - Load-step study for Equipment Branch sequencing
+ - "Type 1"
+ - "Type 12"
+ - "Type 4X"
+default: "Type 1"
```
−## Closeout Submittals {toc}
+## Type 1 is the enclosure of a panel installed in a finished procedure room, a corridor, or an equipment room, which is where nearly every panel is installed, which is why it is the default; Type 12 is selected in a sterile processing or a laboratory space where dust and dripping liquid reach the panel; and Type 4X in stainless steel is selected where the panel is in a space that is washed down. {note}
−### The Contractor shall submit the following closeout submittals before final acceptance:
−- As-built single-line diagram of the installed EES
−- Acceptance test reports for the alternate power source and each branch transfer switch
−- Line isolation monitor calibration records for each wet procedure location
−- Operation and maintenance manuals including required testing schedule
+## Where an isolated power panel is installed in a space that is washed down or exposed to a corrosive atmosphere, its enclosure shall be Type 4X.
+## The mounting of each isolated power panel shall be as indicated in the datasheet.
+
```datasheet
−label: Closeout Submittals
−type: checkbox
+label: Isolated Power Panel Mounting
+type: radio
options:
− - As-built single-line diagram
− - Acceptance test reports
− - Line isolation monitor calibration records
− - Operation and maintenance manuals
−default:
− - As-built single-line diagram
− - Acceptance test reports
− - Line isolation monitor calibration records
− - Operation and maintenance manuals
+ - "Flush"
+ - "Surface"
+default: "Flush"
```
−# Quality Assurance {toc}
+## A flush panel sits in the wall of the operating room with its face in the finish, which is the installation of nearly every new operating room because the room is cleaned to the wall, which is why it is the default; a surface panel is selected in an existing wall that cannot be opened, in an equipment room, or where the room design places the panel outside the sterile field. {note}
−## EES design and installation shall be performed by personnel qualified in healthcare electrical work.
+## The receptacles of each isolated power system shall be listed hospital-grade receptacles furnished under [[sync/wiring-devices]], identified as isolated power receptacles, and supplied by no circuit other than the isolated system that serves the room.
−## The completed EES installation shall be verified against NEC 517 and NFPA 99 before energization.
+# Selective Coordination {toc}
−## The EES is a life-safety system whose failure modes endanger patients. {note}
+## The overcurrent protective devices serving the essential electrical system shall be coordinated for the period of time that a fault's duration extends beyond 0.1 second, in accordance with NFPA 70 517.31(G), with the exceptions that section states for the devices between a transformer primary and secondary and for devices of the same size in series.
−## The EES design shall be prepared under the responsible charge of a licensed professional engineer experienced in healthcare facility electrical systems.
+## The coordination shall be demonstrated by the study prepared under [[sync/protective-coordination-study]], which governs the method, the devices and settings it recommends, and the deliverables, and the study shall be completed before any overcurrent device of the essential electrical system is procured.
−## Branch load assignments shall be reviewed against the exclusive NEC 517.32 Life Safety Branch list and the NEC 517.33 Critical Branch list before installation to confirm no non-qualifying loads are connected.
+## NFPA 70 Article 517 amends the full-range coordination Article 700 requires of an emergency system to coordination beyond 0.1 second for the whole essential electrical system, so a pair of molded-case breakers that overlap in the instantaneous region, which would fail under Article 700, coordinates under Article 517; a project whose Authority Having Jurisdiction applies a different boundary records that boundary in the study under [[sync/emergency-and-standby-power]]. {note}
−## EES distribution panelboards shall be included in the scope of the arc-flash and coordination study performed under [[sync/protective-coordination-study]] and the labeling performed under [[sync/electrical-safety-program]].
+# Identification and Documentation {toc}
−## EES panelboards shall be explicitly listed in the arc-flash study scope so that incident-energy labels are produced for all branch distribution equipment.
+## Each transfer switch, each branch panelboard and distribution board, and each feeder raceway and junction box of the essential electrical system shall be identified by the branch it serves, with the nameplate and the marking furnished under [[sync/equipment-labeling]].
−## EES panelboards are commonly omitted from the arc-flash study scope. {note}
+## The boxes and enclosures of the life safety branch shall be permanently marked as components of the emergency system, in accordance with NFPA 70 700.10(A) as Article 517 applies it.
+## The Contractor shall maintain, through construction and into the closeout submittals, a single branch load schedule in which every change of branch assignment is entered with its date and the provision that supports it.
+
+## The survey documentation set delivered under the closeout submittals shall be organized so that a surveyor can trace any patient care space from its risk category to its branch, its transfer switch, its alternate source, and the acceptance test record that proves its restoration time.
+
+## The documents a state surveyor and an accrediting organization ask for at every survey are the same four: the one-line, the branch load schedule, the classification statement, and the test records; a facility that hands them over in one binder, or one folder, finishes the electrical portion of the survey in an hour, and a facility that has to assemble them from shop drawings does not. {note}
+
# Testing {toc}
−## The EES shall be tested at installation and on a continuing periodic basis per NFPA 110 and NFPA 99.
+## Acceptance Testing {toc}
−## Acceptance and periodic testing demonstrate that the EES actually transfers and restores within the required time and carries its designated loads. {note}
+### The Contractor shall perform the acceptance tests indicated in the datasheet on the essential electrical system before it is placed in service, with each test witnessed as the Quality Assurance section requires and recorded as the closeout submittals require.
−## The alternate power source shall pass a full-load bank test at rated kW for a minimum of 2 hours at installation, per NFPA 110.
+```datasheet
+label: Essential Electrical System Acceptance Tests
+type: checkbox
+options:
+ - "Restoration time of each branch measured from loss of the normal source"
+ - "Equipment branch connection sequence and time delays"
+ - "Ground-fault protection performance test under NFPA 70 517.17(D)"
+ - "Isolated power system and line isolation monitor tests"
+ - "Patient care receptacle tests under NFPA 99"
+ - "Integrated system test under NFPA 110 Chapter 7"
+default:
+ - "Restoration time of each branch measured from loss of the normal source"
+ - "Equipment branch connection sequence and time delays"
+ - "Ground-fault protection performance test under NFPA 70 517.17(D)"
+ - "Isolated power system and line isolation monitor tests"
+ - "Patient care receptacle tests under NFPA 99"
+ - "Integrated system test under NFPA 110 Chapter 7"
+constraint: all_of
+```
−## At acceptance, a complete transfer test shall verify branch-by-branch restoration of the Life Safety, Critical, and Equipment branches within the 10-second requirement.
+### The restoration time of the life safety branch and of the critical branch shall be measured at the branch panelboards on a loss of the normal source simulated at the service, and no branch shall be accepted whose measured restoration time exceeds 10 seconds.
−## The installed EES shall be exercised by a no-load transfer test monthly and a full-load transfer test annually, with branch-by-branch restoration verified and documented.
+### The connection sequence and the time delay of each equipment branch transfer switch shall be verified against the sequence the datasheet selects and the delays the acceptance test records state.
−## Each line isolation monitor shall be tested at acceptance and periodically to confirm it alarms at the specified hazard-current set point.
+### Each isolated power system shall be tested after installation and before it is placed in service by measuring the impedance to ground of each isolated conductor, which shall exceed 200 kΩ, by verifying that the line isolation monitor alarms at the hazard current this standard requires and not below 3.7 mA, and by operating the test switch and each remote indicator and alarm contact, in accordance with NFPA 99 6.3.
+### Each receptacle in a patient care space shall be tested after installation for physical integrity, for correct polarity, for continuity of the grounding contact, and for a retention force on the grounding blade of not less than 115 g (4 oz), in accordance with NFPA 99 6.3, and each receptacle that fails shall be replaced and retested at the Contractor's cost.
+
+### The integrated system test under NFPA 110 Chapter 7 shall be performed under [[sync/emergency-and-standby-power]] and scheduled so that the branch restoration tests of this standard are performed during it.
+
+### The patient care grounding test NFPA 99 requires shall be performed under [[sync/grounding-and-bonding]] before the receptacle tests of this standard, so that a receptacle is tested against a grounding path that has already been proven.
+
+### The retention force test is the one that fails most often, because a receptacle that has had a construction cord pulled from it a few hundred times no longer holds a plug, and a plug that falls out of a receptacle on the critical branch is the failure the branch cannot protect against. {note}
+
+## Supplemental Load for Testing {toc}
+
+### The supplemental load provision for testing the alternate source of the essential electrical system shall be as indicated in the datasheet.
+
```datasheet
−label: Acceptance Full-Load Bank Test Duration (minimum)
+label: Supplemental Load Provision for Testing
+type: radio
+options:
+ - "Permanently installed load bank"
+ - "Load bank connection for a portable load bank"
+ - "No supplemental load provision"
+```
+
+### A permanently installed load bank lets the facility reach the loading NFPA 110 requires of every monthly test without bringing anything to the site, and it is selected where the building load on the essential system is a small fraction of the set rating, which is the case at a facility whose equipment branch is small or whose sets are redundant; a load bank connection accepts a rented load bank for the annual and the 36-month tests and costs a cabinet and a feeder, and it is the provision of most facilities whose monthly building load is adequate; and no provision is selected where the building load on the system reaches the required loading every month, which the facility proves from its own logs rather than assumes. The load bank, where permanent, is furnished under [[sync/generators]] with the set it tests. {note}
+
+### The rating of the permanently installed load bank, where the datasheet selects one, shall be as indicated in the datasheet.
+
+```datasheet
+label: Permanent Load Bank Rating
type: range
−unit: hours
−min: 2
−max: 4
−step: 0.5
−default: 2
+unit: kW
+drawing_ref: "the one-line diagram"
+options:
+ min: 50
+ max: 3000
+ setpoints: [50, 100, 150, 200, 300, 400, 500, 750, 1000, 1500, 2000, 2500, 3000]
+default: deferred
+constraint: exact
```
+### Where a permanently installed load bank is furnished, it shall be connected so that it is shed automatically when the normal source fails during a test, so that no test ever reduces the capacity available to the branches.
+
+## Periodic Testing Program {toc}
+
+### The Contractor shall deliver to the Owner, as a closeout submittal, a written testing and maintenance program for the essential electrical system that documents the elements indicated in the datasheet, with the interval, the acceptance criterion, and the log form for each, in accordance with NFPA 99 Chapter 6 and NFPA 110 Chapter 8.
+
```datasheet
−label: Periodic Transfer Test Schedule
+label: Periodic Testing Program Elements Documented
type: checkbox
options:
− - Monthly no-load transfer exercise
− - Annual full-load transfer test with branch restoration verification
+ - "Generator test twelve times a year at intervals of 20 to 40 days for 30 minutes under load"
+ - "Annual supplemental load test where the monthly loading is not reached"
+ - "Four-hour load test once in every 36 months"
+ - "Monthly operation of every transfer switch"
+ - "Monthly line isolation monitor test and annual hazard current verification"
+ - "Patient care receptacle testing at the intervals NFPA 99 sets"
+ - "Weekly inspection of the alternate source and its starting batteries"
default:
− - Monthly no-load transfer exercise
− - Annual full-load transfer test with branch restoration verification
+ - "Generator test twelve times a year at intervals of 20 to 40 days for 30 minutes under load"
+ - "Annual supplemental load test where the monthly loading is not reached"
+ - "Four-hour load test once in every 36 months"
+ - "Monthly operation of every transfer switch"
+ - "Monthly line isolation monitor test and annual hazard current verification"
+ - "Patient care receptacle testing at the intervals NFPA 99 sets"
+ - "Weekly inspection of the alternate source and its starting batteries"
+constraint: all_of
```
−# Installation {toc}
+### The program shall state that the monthly generator test is performed at not less than 30 percent of the nameplate rating of the set or at a loading that reaches the exhaust gas temperature the engine manufacturer recommends, and that where neither is reached, the annual supplemental load test is performed at the loadings and for the durations NFPA 110 Chapter 8 states.
−## EES branch routing, panelboard locations, and equipment arrangement are project-specific and shall be coordinated on the drawings; the requirements below apply regardless of layout. {note}
+### The program shall state the receptacle testing intervals NFPA 99 sets for the facility, which are shorter for receptacles in Category 1 spaces and for receptacles that are not hospital-grade, and shall identify every receptacle on the program by room and by branch.
−## EES feeders and branch conductors shall be installed to maintain the physical separation between branches shown on the drawings [[drawing: EES riser diagram]].
+### The Owner performs the periodic tests, and the program the Contractor delivers is what the Owner's staff and the surveyor both read: a surveyor asks for the log of the last twelve generator tests and the last twelve transfer switch operations, and a facility whose program names the interval, the loading, and the form has a log to show. {note}
−## Transfer switch and EES panelboard locations shall be installed as shown on the drawings [[drawing: electrical equipment room plan]].
+# Installation {toc}
−## Branch panelboards and transfer switches shall be permanently labeled to identify the branch served before the system is placed in service.
+## The transfer switches, the branch panelboards and distribution boards, and the isolated power panels of the essential electrical system shall be installed where indicated on [[drawing: the electrical plans]], in the spaces the Environmental and Service Conditions section of this standard requires.
−## Isolated power system panels and line isolation monitors shall be installed at the wet procedure locations indicated [[drawing: procedure room power plan]].
+## The isolated power panel of each wet procedure location shall be installed where indicated on [[drawing: the procedure room power plans]], with its remote indicator in the line of sight of the staff at the procedure table.
−## Where exposed Life Safety or Critical branch raceway passes through areas subject to physical damage, it shall be RMC or IMC as established in the wiring-method section.
+## Where the work is performed in an operating health care facility, the existing essential electrical system shall remain in service throughout, and every planned interruption of a branch shall be scheduled with the facility in writing not less than 14 days before it occurs, with the interim measures the facility's life safety and infection control procedures require in place before the interruption begins.
−# Delivery, Storage, and Handling {toc}
+## No branch of an existing essential electrical system shall be interrupted for connection of new work until the facility has confirmed in writing that every patient care space the branch serves has been provided for during the interruption.
−## Transfer switches and panelboards shall be delivered in the manufacturer's packaging and stored indoors in a clean, dry, protected location until installation.
+## The branch assignment of every circuit shall be verified against the branch load schedule at the panelboard before the circuit is energized, and a circuit found on a branch the schedule does not assign it to shall be moved before energization.
−## EES equipment shall be protected from moisture, dust, and construction debris; energizing equipment that has been exposed to construction contamination shall not be permitted until the equipment is inspected and cleaned.
+## The feeders of the life safety and critical branches shall be installed in the separate routes the riser diagram shows, and no feeder of either branch shall be rerouted through an enclosure or a chase that another branch or the normal system occupies without the Engineer of Record's written acceptance.
+## The interruption a renovation causes is the most common way an operating hospital loses its essential electrical system: not a utility failure, but an electrician opening a critical branch panelboard to add a circuit without knowing which beds it served. The schedule, the notice, and the written confirmation exist to make that impossible. {note}
+
# Warranty {toc}
−## The Contractor shall warrant the EES installation against defects in materials and workmanship for a minimum of one year from the date of substantial completion.
+## The manufacturer shall warrant each isolated power panel and line isolation monitor against defects in materials and workmanship for the period indicated in the datasheet, measured from the date of substantial completion.
−## Transfer switches and panelboards shall carry the manufacturer's standard warranty, and warranty documentation shall be included in the closeout submittals.
−
```datasheet
−label: Installation Warranty Period (minimum)
+label: Isolated Power Equipment Warranty Period
type: range
unit: years
−min: 1
−max: 5
−step: 1
+options:
+ min: 1
+ max: 5
+ setpoints: [1, 2, 3, 5]
default: 1
+constraint: min
```
+## Where the contract documents state a longer warranty period than the datasheet, the longer period shall govern.
+
+## The Contractor shall warrant the installation of the essential electrical system, including the branch separation, the branch assignment of every circuit, the receptacle identification, and the commissioned restoration time of each branch, for the project warranty period.
+
+## A repair or replacement performed under this warranty shall itself be warranted for a full new term equal to the original period from the date the repair is completed, or for the remainder of the original period, whichever ends later.
+
+## The warranties of the transfer switches, the generator sets, and the paralleling switchgear are made under their own standards; this warranty covers the system work those standards do not, which is the work that decides whether the branches do what the classification statement says they do. {note}
+
# Spare Parts {toc}
−## The Contractor shall furnish spare parts as recommended by the equipment manufacturer for the transfer switches and panelboards, including control fuses and indicating lamps.
+## The Contractor shall deliver the spare parts indicated in the datasheet to the Owner before the essential electrical system is accepted, and shall obtain a signed receipt for them.
```datasheet
−label: Spare Parts Furnished
+label: Spare Parts to Be Furnished
type: checkbox
options:
− - Transfer switch control fuses
− - Indicating lamps / LED modules
− - Spare hospital-grade receptacles
− - Line isolation monitor spare module
+ - "One line isolation monitor of each type furnished"
+ - "One remote indicator of each type furnished"
+ - "One set of secondary fuses for each isolated power panel type"
+ - "One isolated power receptacle of each configuration furnished"
+ - "Keys for every lock furnished"
default:
− - Transfer switch control fuses
− - Indicating lamps / LED modules
+ - "One line isolation monitor of each type furnished"
+ - "Keys for every lock furnished"
+constraint: all_of
```
+
+## Spare parts shall be of the same manufacturer and rating as the installed items, shall be delivered in their original packaging, and shall be labeled with the designation of the panel they serve.
+
+## The Owner's facility staff shall be trained on the essential electrical system for the period indicated in the datasheet, covering the branches and the spaces each serves, the transfer switch arrangement, the equipment branch sequence, the isolated power systems and their monitors, the periodic testing program, and the records a surveyor asks for.
+
+```datasheet
+label: Facility Staff Training Period
+type: range
+unit: hours
+options:
+ min: 0
+ max: 16
+ setpoints: [0, 2, 4, 8, 16]
+default: 4
+constraint: min
+```