Arseegee:
IMHO, the space above electrical equipment is dedicated to the electrical equipment up to the structural ceiling.
From your description, am I correct that there is either a "rack" or a "room" above the gear, and that area is sprinklered??
If that's the case, then the gear is "clear" to the ceiling, but you have a potential water problem above the room. This should fall back to the building inspector, as to the compliance of the "storage area" above the gear. We have a lot of high cube warehouse buildings (40-50') ceilings, and we keep the gear clear up to the roof deck.
I had a few that installed pallet racking over the gear, and had sprinklers installed in the racking, the building official had them removed. (The tenant later re-installed the racks, sans sprinklers, and had a pallet fall on the gear) 'nother story.
John
