Separation Between Classified & Unclassified Areas

[Harry Calhoun]

I would like to build a barrier in a large room to separate a classifed from a unclassified area. What are the minimum requirements for a wall to complete the separation?

 

[pipemaster]

I would like to build a barrier in a large room to separate a classifed from a unclassified area. What are the minimum requirements for a wall to complete the separation?

Harry, this would be a building issue not an electrical issue. You would need an occupancy seperation via a minimum of a 1 hour rated wall. Classified areas are based on what type of use the room is used for and what kind of materials are stored in this area or used. Simply putting up a wall may not give you the seperation you want.

 

[petersonra]

I would like to build a barrier in a large room to separate a classifed from a unclassified area. What are the minimum requirements for a wall to complete the separation?

my question is why? is there a perceived benefit to you doing this?

 

[rbalex]

my question is why? is there a perceived benefit to you doing this?

It?s a fairly common approach to use a wall or some other permanent barrier to partition off part of a larger area to create an electrical area classification boundary (you gotta draw the line somewhere).

Pipemaster?s original reply is correct, of course. ?How do I build a wall? is a Building Code, rather than Electrical Code issue.

Conversely, the ?electrical? issue is what characteristics the wall needs in order to use it to partition an area. In this view, the fire rating is largely irrelevant in itself although a properly constructed wall is still important. Both NFPA 497 and API RP 500 essentially want the wall to be non-porous with no continuously open penetrations except those used to vent/exhaust. The exhaust ports will usually require some degree of electrical area classification too.

 

[petersonra]

I got from his orignal post that the building is already there and the hazardous area classification already determined. Unless he is hoping to reduce the amount of floor space that is classified, I don't see what benefit there is to walling it off.