Question: To facilitate testing of emergency lighting unit equipment required by Sec. 700.3, is it permissible to place all emergency lighting unit equipment on a separate dedicated circuit?
See the answer below.
Answer: No.
Explanation: Section 700.12(F) specifically forbids placing unit equipment on a separate circuit. The unit equipment is intended to provide lighting in the event of failure of the normal source. One common failure of the normal source would be tripping of the branch circuit feeding the lights. In this case, if the unit equipment is on a circuit by itself it will not come on when the lights go out.
Lupacchino is a senior design engineer with Gaylor Electric, Inc. in Noblesville, Ind. and serves as an alternate on NEC Code-Making Panel No. 3. He is currently licensed in more than 80 jurisdictions. He can be reached at [email protected].