13.7 WAC 296-46B Amendments: Special Occupancies, Special Equipment, Emergency Systems & Communications (NEC Chapters 5-8)

Special occupancies (NEC Chapter 5)

Hazardous locations (-500, -501, -505, -513, -514)

• Who classifies: only the AHJ or a professional engineer registered in Washington, using the appropriate NFPA standards. The AHJ decides conflicts (-500). For Zone classification under NEC 505.7, the "qualified person" is a Washington-registered PE (-505).
• Septic and effluent pumping chambers (-501): considered unclassified when no more than five residential units are connected (or the system has residential loading) and all of these conditions are met:
  • the chamber is vented, through approved plumbing vents or a 2-inch direct vent;
  • no arcing equipment is inside;
  • floats are hermetically sealed;
  • boxes and raceways are noncorrosive and sealed against gases;
  • an accessible seal is installed between the chamber and the control panel;
  • splices are rated for wet locations.
• A system that receives floor drains is Class I, Division 1. Pump systems need audible and visual alarms on a circuit independent of the pump circuit. Tanks must be inspected before they receive sewage.
• Aircraft hangars (-513): Article 513 applies only when the property is classified or zoned as a hangar by the AHJ.
• Motor fuel dispensing (-514):
  • Article 514 also applies to all liquefied flammable gas storage and transfer facilities.
  • An emergency disconnect must open all conductors, including the grounded conductor, to all dispensers simultaneously. It must be substantially red with an identification plate in 1-inch letters.
  • If a push-button contactor is used, the reset must be at least 15 ft away or out of sight, behind a guard, with a substantially black plate.
  • Each dispenser must be able to be isolated individually for maintenance, including the grounded conductor.

Health care (-517)

• New essential electrical systems have three branches: life safety, critical, and equipment.
  • Life safety branch feeders are sized from the full connected load with no diversity, with 125 percent applied to continuous loads.
  • Critical and equipment branches follow Article 220 demand factors.
• Generators must carry the sum of those loads with no added demand factors. Momentary X-ray loads may be ignored if the generator is rated at least 300 percent of the largest one.
• Washington modifies NEC 517.13(A): the raceway, armor, or sheath must qualify as an equipment grounding conductor under 250.118, except 250.118(10)(a). That item is MC cable that relies on an internal grounding conductor.
• Ground-fault protection of equipment required for the life safety branch also applies to the critical and equipment branches.

Agricultural buildings (-547)

NEC 547 applies only when the agricultural building is greater than 1,000 square feet and is used as part of a business or commercial farming activity.

Mobile and manufactured homes (-550)

• All alterations to a mobile or manufactured home's electrical system need a permit and inspection. Factory-assembled-structure (FAS) permits cover circuits leaving the home's own panel.
• A service may be mounted on the home only per the manufacturer's written instructions (available at the first inspection), or when installed by the manufacturer at the plant.
• With a permanent feeder wiring method, the equipment grounding conductor may be bare. Bare conductors underground must be copper. A portable cord is not a permanent wiring method.

Marinas, docks, and floating buildings (-555)

Temporary installations (-590)

Any circuit used for construction purposes is temporary. A temporary construction service may be used only for construction and must be disconnected when the permanent service is connected, unless L&I grants an extension. Every splice or junction in temporary wiring must be in a box.

Special equipment (NEC Chapter 6)

• Signs (-600):
  • All signs and outline lighting, regardless of voltage, must be listed or field evaluated.
  • Awning luminaires must be suitable for wet locations. Fluorescent luminaires must be at least 6 inches from awning fabric and incandescent ones at least 18 inches.
  • LED retrofits of listed signs may be done in place by an 01 or 04 contractor using listed kits. The retrofit label is in Arial 16-point bold.
  • Portable outdoor signs need a weatherproof GFCI receptacle within 6 ft, and extension cords are prohibited.
• Elevators (-620): the main-line disconnect is inside the machine room door on the strike side, with the handle not more than 24 inches from the door and 36 to 66 inches above the floor.
• Pools and spas (-680):
  • Equipment within 5 ft of a spa or hot tub must be listed as a package with it.
  • The maintenance disconnect and field-installed equipment must be at least 5 ft away. The distance is measured along the shortest cord path, and a permanent barrier can reduce it.
  • Field assembly of recognized components is not permitted.
  • Hydromassage tubs must be listed as a unit. Their GFCI may not be in the tub cavity, crawl space, or attic, and their equipment must be reachable at the tub's grade level without a ladder.
• PV, fuel cells, and wind (-690, -692, -694):
  • A system design review must be on site from the first inspection until inspection is complete.
  • For PV maximum voltage, use the listed module temperature coefficients, or NEC Table 690.7 with a 1.25 correction factor unless another factor is justified and approved.
  • Purely mechanical supports may be built without an electrical permit.

Special conditions (NEC Chapter 7)

• Emergency systems (-700):
  • Exit and emergency lights in health or personal care, educational, and institutional facilities, hotels, motels, and places of assembly for 100 or more people must meet Article 700 and building code locations.
  • All exit and emergency lights must be installed per Article 700, whether or not the NEC requires them.
  • Boxes and enclosures larger than 6 by 6 inches (transfer switches, generators, panels) need a substantially orange identification plate. All other emergency device and junction boxes must be orange inside and outside.
  • The NEC 700.7 sign goes at both the service disconnect and the meter base if they are not within sight and within 5 ft of each other.
  • Selective coordination is not required for emergency systems installed before June 1, 2006, unless modified on or after April 1, 2024. Ground-fault sensing functions need coordinate only with other ground-fault sensing functions.
• Legally required and optional standby (-701, -702): similar sign placement rules. The same pre-2006 selective coordination relief applies to legally required standby systems.
• Interconnected sources (-705): conductors from a supply-side connection must use the service wiring methods of WAC 296-46B-230(7). The disconnect must meet NEC 230.82(6), need not be grouped with the service disconnects, and is bonded per NEC 250.25. Interconnected systems need a design review.
• Fire alarm (-760): device and junction boxes (other than surface raceway types) must be substantially red inside and outside. Power-limited fire alarm conductors must be marked in boxes.

Communications (NEC Chapter 8)

• WAC 296-46B-800 reverses the NEC's independence rule. NEC Chapters 1 through 7 supplement and modify Chapter 8. Where Chapter 8 states a different specific requirement or exception, Chapter 8 prevails.
• Telecommunications work beyond the demarcation point, including a service provider's own work, must meet Washington licensing, certification, permit, and inspection rules.
• The demarcation point may be no more than 12 inches inside the end user's occupied space, identified with the provider's name, the customer's name, and the policy option. Providers elect either a minimum point of entry (MPOE) or one of four cable, wire and service termination policy (CWSTP) options.