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Friday, February 14, 2020
Question:
NECA Team, are isolated ground rec receptacles and circuits permitted to be installed in patient care locations of health care facilities? An engineering firm we are working with says we can't install them in these locations. We were hoping you could provide some Code-based clarification? Thanks for this online NEC service. We are on the 2017 NEC. Monica Hill
A
Answer:
Hi Monica, thanks for the question and comments about Code Question of the Day. The response presumes that the health care facility in question is required to comply with the rules in Part II of Article 517. The answer is Yes. This is supported by the provisions in Section 517.16(B) of the NEC. That said, there is a prohibition of installing any isolated ground receptacles in within a patient care vicinity of a heath care facility. This is a defined (in 517.2) and dimension space extending 6 feet beyond the normal location of the patient bed, chair, table, treadmill, or other device that supports the patient during examination and treatment and extending vertically to 7.5 feet above the floor. See Section 517.16 (A) and the definition of the term, patient care vicinity in 517.2 section.