10A NCAC 13C .1407. ELECTRICAL REQUIREMENTS

(a)  General

(1)           All material including equipment, conductors, controls and signaling devices shall be installed to provide a complete electrical system with the necessary characteristics and capacity to supply the electrical facilities shown in the specifications or indicated on the plans.  All materials shall be listed as complying with applicable standards of Underwriters' Laboratories, Inc., or other similarly established standards, where such standards have been established.

(2)           All material and equipment, including conductors, controls, and signaling devices, shall be installed in compliance with applicable sections of North Carolina State Building Code, Volume VII IV, Electrical.   A written record of performance tests on electrical systems and equipment shall show compliance with applicable codes and standards.

(3)           Lighting and appliance panelboards shall be located on the same floor as the circuits they serve.

(b)  Lighting

(1)           All spaces occupied by people and equipment shall have electric lighting.

(2)           Operating rooms shall have general lighting for the room in addition to local lighting provided by special lighting units at the surgical and obstetrical tables.  Each fixed special lighting unit at the tables, except for portable units, shall be connected to an independent circuit.

(c) Power

(1)           If non-flammable anesthetics are to be used, the facility shall meet the requirements of NFPA 99, Health Care Facilities Code. 

(2)           Procedures that create a direct electrical pathway to the heart or create conditions meeting the definition of a wet location shall be provided with an isolated power system (IPS) in the patient care area.

(3)           Procedures that require electrically powered devices that because of patient safety cannot tolerate an outage due to equipment faults shall be provided with an isolated power system (IPS) in the patient care area.

(4)           Procedures that can be safely carried out with conventional grounded power systems shall be provided with ground fault circuit interrupters on each circuit installed in the operating or procedure room serving the patient care area.

(5)           Critical care areas require a Type 1 essential electrical system.

(6)           Procedures requiring the use of electrical life support equipment require a Type 1 essential electrical system.

(7)           All facilities shall have as a minimum a Type 3 essential electrical system.

(8)           All devices, switches, receptacles connected to the essential electrical system shall be distinctively identified so that personnel can easily select which device is expected to operate during failure of normal source of power.

(9)           Fuel for the essential electrical system generator shall be stored on site in sufficient quantity to provide for not less than 24 hours of operation.

(d)  Receptacles

(1)           Each operating or procedure room shall have at least eight 120 volt duplex receptacles.

(2)           In locations where mobile X‑ray is used, an additional receptacle, distinctively marked for X‑ray use, shall be provided.

(3)           Fixed and mobile X‑ray equipment installations shall conform to Article 660 of the North Carolina State Building Code, Electrical.

 

History Note:        Authority G.S. 131E‑149;

Eff. October 14, 1978;

Amended Eff. April 1, 2003.