Our Life Safety educational resource hub is full of healthcare knowledge to help you be better informed of the changing world around you.
Rather than sit back and act on decisions made by others, we are leading the charge as it relates to identifying best practices for Life Safety Code® and compliance. We have real people that give our clients real information that can be put into practice.
Interested in reading our experts' take on Life Safety? Then subscribe to our free blog below! We discuss readers' questions, share interesting observations from the field, and more.
Q: Who can do the annual and monthly checks on a generator in an Ambulatory Surgery Center? A: Well, those are not checks, but actual load tests. According to NFPA …
Q: In looking over NFPA 110, edition 2010, it does not make any distinction to the emergency generator prime mover being anything but diesel powered. Because of the equipment section …
Q: We recently took a webinar that informed us that accreditation organizations have cited hospitals for not having "emergency eye/shower stations" at the generator for the lead-acid batteries (this could …
Q: I was reviewing the various regulatory requirements and came across the need for weekly visual inspections of the generators. At one campus, we have changed the batteries to the …
Q: I have two questions regarding spark-ignited emergency power generators: What maintenance tests are required for natural or propane Generators? Are load bank test required for Natural gas or Propane …
Q: I'm getting conflicting answers as to when generator batteries need to be replaced. Some say in a hospital they need to be replaced every 5 years unless the hospital …
Q: My client installed a generator in a Phase 1 project that does not and will not for some time be able to meet the requirements for the 30% load during …
Q: Does our hospital have to test the generator for 30 minutes every week, and then 1-hour once a month? We have programmed our generators to operate every Wednesday at …
Q: What are the guidelines on the diesel fuel test for the generator as far as having it treated or a sample sent off for testing? A: The new 2012 …
Q: We have a generator that doesn’t meet the 30% load for the monthly run so we have to do an annual run with the load at 50% for 30 …
Q: In a business occupancy and an ambulatory occupancy do we need to test our generator on load each month or can we do a load bank test once per …
Q: Does a diesel generator that is located in a business occupancy require the same testing frequencies as the one at our hospital requires? A: It depends if the generator …
Q: In regards to emergency generator backup lights, I seek clarity how long does the battery have to last? I'm assuming that the battery should be able to be tested …
Q: Recently I attended a meeting with our State Fire Marshall Department. One item which became a HOT topic of discussion was the monthly Specific gravity testing of the battery …
Q: A consultant told me that emergency generator rooms are required to be maintained at least 40 degrees F. Do I need to maintain that temperature if I have block …
Q: Which edition of NFPA 110 are we expected to follow? I read that we’re expected to comply with the 1999 edition, the 2005 edition and now the 2010 edition …
Q: I cannot find a code reference that prohibits storage in the generator enclosure. Is there a specific reference for this in the 2000 edition of the Life Safety Code? …
NFPA 110 (1999 edition) requires generators to be located in a dedicated room, separated from all other areas and spaces by 2-hour fire rated barriers. NFPA 110 is very clear …
Q: What is the fire rating supposed to be in the walls of the hospital equipment rooms, such as the generator room, boiler room, chiller rooms, and electrical rooms? We …
Does your fire alarm system monitor the emergency power generator? It may have to. Section 1-5.8.7 of NFPA 72 (1999) requires the fire alarm system to monitor the primary and …
Q: Do emergency power generators have to be located in a room by themselves? We have a generator that is located in a mechanical room which is shared with an …
As mentioned in last week's posting, The Joint Commission announced changes to their standards that takes affect January 1, 2014. We discussed already the change they are making with time …
Q: Is it allowed to combine the 3-year 4-hour generator load test along with the annual 2-hour load test? Our generator test company plans on running the generator at 50% …
Q: During a recent survey, the inspector cited us for not exercising our circuit breakers downstream of our generator. Does the LSC require annual exercising of all circuit breakers between …
Q: The AHJs who inspect my hospital require that I conduct a three-year, four-hour load test, which we do simultaneously with our annual load bank test. One AHJ says this …
Q: Are we required to replace the batteries that start our emergency generators every two years? Our generator service contractor told us that the code requires us to replace the …
Q: We are completing a project that includes a new generator for our hospital. The installing contractor will conduct a 2-hour load test as part of his commissioning. My question …
We help you be better informed of the changing world around you. Our life safety blog answers your real world questions!
600 E. Michigan Avenue
Kalamazoo, MI 49007
Call us: 1-866-779-3235
info@complianceonegroup.com