Boat Storage

[SBRADEN]

Working on a large, industrial 247"X129"X50' metal building to be used a boat storage facility. The boats are stacked on racks 5 high so that there are literally boats from floor to ceiling - the facility has storage capacity for 250 boats. The building requires minimal electrical work - a few high bay fixtures and a few interior receptacles for battery chargers.

Question #1: Will these receptacles need to be GFCI protected per NEC 555.19 (the building is upon dry land well away from the ocean).

Question #2: Is this area classified per Article 500? Would this be considered a bulk storage facility for gasoline since the stored boats will have varying degrees of gasoline in the tanks? It is safe to assume that none of the boats will be operating in this room - they are simply positioned in their dry slips by large forklifts.

The commentary in the 2002 NEC Handbook says that storage facilities for cars are unclassified but still require mechanical ventilation of 1 cfm per sqf per NFPA 88A - STANDARD FOR PARKING STRUCTURES - but does this correspond to my situation?

Thanks

 

[Tori]

Interesting question , I would err on the side of safety

 

[petersonra]

IMO it is no more necessary to classify such an area than it is to classify a parking garage.

I seem to recall that many such facilities require the boats to have their fuel tanks drained anyway to reduce their insurance costs.

 

[Bea]

1-555 would apply as a boat yard by definition
2- GFCI protection as per 555.19 (B)(1) and 210.8 (B)
3-I agree with Bob about class as hazard or not