ECN Forum Forums Code Related Discussion Building Codes for Electricians Emergancy lighting

Once we've determined that emergancy lights are required in an area, how much light are they required to provide?

NFPA 101 7.8.1.3
At least 1 fc measured along the floor at the path of discharge. Under normal circumstances you would want it to provide the same as your normal lighting.

How do others decided to provide emergency egress lighting in different areas. Some areas are obvious, like a main corridor. How about a corridor serving a single one person office with no exit on the office end of the corridor? How about a bathroom with one door?

Ron: emergancy lighting is required when two exits are required.

The office scenario you describe would need to be 5,000 square feet before two exits are required. (50 occupants X 100 square feet).

One of our local AHJ requires emergency lighting in any commercial occupancy where the door is in exces of 20 feet from any accessable point in the room.

Emergency lighting is also required to provide light for at least two hours. Never really figured this one out, but its an OSHA requirement.

What OSHA requirement is that. Can you provide chapter and verse.
--
Tom Horne

Ryan,
Just a small question.
In the US, is there different "types" of Emergency Lighting?.
What I mean, is, over here in NZ, which is more or less based on UK practice, you have different grades of systems, pertaining to where they are installed.
If I may post these examples:

• Stand-by Lighting:Is fed from a seperate source from the Mains.
  Comes into operation, during failure of the normal supply.
  Is normally fed from the Output of an Alternator, with a change-over switch, to automatically switch the circuit from Mains to Emergency supply.
• Sustained supply:Consists of 2 lamps, one of which is Mains fed, the other being fed from Secondary cells (Batteries).
• Self-Contained Luminaires:Is a light fitting or sign, that holds all of the associated control equipment and the Secondary cell, used to supply the fitting and only requires to be connected to the Mains supply.
• Slave Luminaire:Is a fitting, that contains only a lamp, the control equipment is housed remote to the fitting and also supplies other slave luminaires.
• Maintained Lighting Systems:In a Maintained lighting system, the lamps remain alight, regardless of the status of the Mains supply.
  May be supplied from a floating Battery system, which means that the charging equipment is connected in parallel with the batteries and the lighting load.

Hope that this is of some use.
[Message edited to fix HTML error]

[This message has been edited by Trumpy (edited 01-05-2004).]

Trumpy it sounds like we all use the same methods.

One thing for us is there is a large difference between an emergency generator and standby or optional generators.

If a generator is classified as a buildings emergency generator all equipment connected to it must be for emergency's.

"Emergency systems are those systems legally required and classed as emergency by municipal, state, federal, or other codes, or by any governmental agency having jurisdiction."

This means entirely separate raceways, panels, electric rooms etc.

No adding a circuit for someones PC so they can check out ECN. (Sorry Bill

In my area they will let us order a genset with two or more main breakers on it one for the separated emergency loads and the others for optional loads.

Bob