Electrical

Electric Room Protection

Fire Protection and Enclosure Requirements for Electrical Rooms

Reprinted with permission from NFPA Journal® (Vol. 102, #5) copyright© 2008, National Fire Protection Association, Quincy, MI.  All rights reserved.

There seems to be much confusion concerning the fire protection and enclosure requirements for electrical rooms. Do rooms containing circuit breaker panels or transformers need to be enclosed in fire-resistive enclosures? Do these rooms require sprinklers, or should sprinklers be eliminated in these rooms?

Electrical rooms are not listed as hazardous areas in Chapter 8 of NFPA 101®, Life Safety Code®, or in Sections 3.2, “Protection from Hazards,” in each occupancy chapter. Rather, the requirements for enclosures in electrical rooms are found in NFPA 70®, National Electrical Code®  (NEC®).

NEC Article 450.21 “Dry-Type Transformers Installed Indoors,” requires that dry-type transformers rated larger than 112-1/2 kVA be installed in a transformer room of fire-resistive construction. In this Article, the term “fire-resistive” means a one-hour fire resistance. The door to this room would be [click to continue…]

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