NFPA Journal - July/August 2017 - 38

In Compliance
would be equipped with panic hardware that could not be locked against
egress.
The story illustrates a common deficiency in the system by which fire and
life safety hazards are identified. The
system relies on the AHJ to visit each
venue on a recurring basis, ideally
during times of peak occupancy. This
does not happen, to the degree needed,
as AHJ resources are spread thinly. I
addressed this problem as part of my
May/June "In Compliance" article,
where I looked at the recent "Ghost
Ship" warehouse fire in Oakland, California, in which 36 occupants died. In
that example, the building was used
as an occupancy different than what
it was permitted for, and authorities
having jurisdiction were not aware of
the new, unpermitted assembly use.
Additionally, the occupants who
frequented the Ghost Ship would
not have been expected to recognize
the hazards that made the building
unsuitable for use as an assembly
occupancy-at least not to the degree
that an AHJ would have noted.
Occupants may have questioned the
unconventional ingress and egress
provided by a staircase comprised
of stacked wooden pallets, but most
didn't know what to do with their
instinctive concerns. In the days of pay
phones, people referred to "dropping
a dime" when they notified authorities
of anything of concern, but in this case
it appears that no one dropped a dime
on the Ghost Ship to tip off the AHJ.
As part of NFPA's move from a codes
and standards publisher to an information services organization, staff
members receive (or develop) and
evaluate ideas for new products and
services. One idea under initial consideration is for hazard identification
training for persons who are not fire
marshals or building officials but who
get into buildings on a regular basis as
part of their job duties. For example,
health inspectors or staff from the
department of youth services could
be trained to identify and report critical fire and life safety hazards. The
training would provide individuals
with a framework for making quick

38 | NFPA JOURNAL * J U L Y /A U G U S T 2 0 1 7

assessments of key hazards as well as
propose approaches for escalation and
remediation at the local level. A similar
awareness and training program could
be established for company firefighters
who would then be tasked with conducting low-risk inspections.
It takes a village to identify, report,
and remediate fire and life safety hazards. Your input on hazard identification
training and any other needed products
or services is welcome. Please correspond with us via NFPA Xchange at
https://community.nfpa.org/welcome.
Ron Coté is NFPA technical services lead for life
safety. NFPA members and AHJs can use the
Technical Questions tab to post queries on NFPA 101
at nfpa.org/101.

NFPA 70 + 70E

Electrical Safety

Why the latest NEC
includes requirements
for receptacles
in meeting rooms
By Derek Vigstol

orking and traveling
for NFPA allows me the
opportunity to see the
inside of way too many
hotel and conference
center meeting rooms. And no matter
where the meeting room happens to be,
one thing remains the same: meeting
attendees need electricity.
Every once in a while, we might
encounter a state-of-the-art meeting
room, complete with receptacles in the
tables, but too often the song remains
the same: daisy-chained plug strip after
plug strip, or relocatable power taps
to all my fellow code junkies, often
finding 10 or more of these devices connected throughout the meeting room.
Extension cords taped to the floor are
also a common sight in many meeting
rooms. All of these are clear violations
of the intended uses of these products,
and could lead to overloading and
overheating.

W

The 2017 NEC® contains a new section that is aimed at providing points
of access to electrical power in meeting
rooms. Section 210.71 now requires
that meeting rooms of 1,000 square
feet or less, in other than dwelling
units, have a minimum number of
receptacles. The square footage of the
room is determined with any movable
partitions placed in the position resulting in the smallest size rooms. The
1,000-square-foot threshold allows this
new requirement to apply to reasonably
sized meeting rooms while not including the typical large convention halls.
Once it is determined that a meeting room is indeed under the size
threshold, the second half of the new
requirement comes into play. The
number of receptacle outlets required
and where to put them is determined
by 210.71(B). There is also some freedom for the designer or building owner
to determine the location of receptacles
that would best suit the needs of the
intended use of the room. Due to movable partitions being commonplace for
meeting rooms, there are two parts to
this requirement. One covers receptacle placement in fixed walls, while
the other provides guidance for floor
receptacles that are intended to provide
power along movable partitions and
in open floor space where occupants
might need electricity.
The number of receptacles in fixed
walls is determined in the same
manner as the receptacles in our bedrooms at home. The minimum number
required would be the same as determined by 210.52(A)(1)-(4), and the
designer or building owner is allowed
to determine the location of the receptacles in order to best serve the space.
Guidance on what constitutes a wall
space and how to handle countertops
and similar work surfaces can also be
found in 210.52(A)(1)-(4).
Providing power where the occupants need it the most presents unique
challenges when the room configuration might not be known at the time
of installation. For that reason, there is
more freedom on placement of required
floor receptacle outlets. The NEC now
requires floor receptacle outlets, based


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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of NFPA Journal - July/August 2017

Contents
NFPA Journal - July/August 2017 - Cover1
NFPA Journal - July/August 2017 - Cover2
NFPA Journal - July/August 2017 - 1
NFPA Journal - July/August 2017 - Contents
NFPA Journal - July/August 2017 - 3
NFPA Journal - July/August 2017 - 4
NFPA Journal - July/August 2017 - 5
NFPA Journal - July/August 2017 - 6
NFPA Journal - July/August 2017 - 7
NFPA Journal - July/August 2017 - 8
NFPA Journal - July/August 2017 - 9
NFPA Journal - July/August 2017 - 10
NFPA Journal - July/August 2017 - 11
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NFPA Journal - July/August 2017 - 18
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NFPA Journal - July/August 2017 - 21
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NFPA Journal - July/August 2017 - Cover3
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