Hospitals are Group I occupancies and covered in NEC^® Article 517.

Other Group I occupancies such as jails or prisons may require specialized wiring methods or extra measures of protection to ensure wiring methods and branch circuits are not able to be tampered with.

Although the NEC^® doesn’t address all the different types of Group I occupancies, the building code and fire code have requirements that will affect the electrical installation in Group I occupancies such as additional emergency lighting/exit signs, delayed egress locking mechanisms on egress doors, command stations, remote control and signaling circuits, and security systems.

Even though NEC^® Article 700 address emergency illumination, IBC 1008.2.2 additionally requires the following:

"In Group I-2 occupancies where two or more exits are required, on the exterior landings required by Section 1010.1.5, means of egress illumination levels for the exit discharge shall be provided such that failure of a single lamp in a luminaire shall not reduce the illumination level on that landing to less than 1 footcandle (11 lux).”

The above may be a Building Code requirement but it’s the electrician who will need to ensure compliance and it’s the electrician who will be getting the green tag or the red tag in the end when the inspector is enforcing IBC 1008.2.2.

According to IBC Section 308, an Institutional Group I occupancy includes, among others, the use of a building or structure, or a portion thereof, in which care or supervision is provided to persons who are or are incapable of self-preservation without physical assistance or in which persons are detained for penal or correctional purposes or in which the liberty of the occupants is restricted. Institutional occupancies shall be classified as Group I-1, I-2, I-3 or I-4.

Group I occupancies include:

• Alcohol and drug centers
• Assisted living facilities
• Congregate care facilities
• Group homes
• Halfway houses
• Residential board and care facilities
• Social rehabilitation facilities
• Foster care facilities
• Detoxification facilities
• Hospitals
• Nursing homes
• Psychiatric hospitals
• Correctional centers
• Detention centers
• Jails
• Prerelease centers
• Prisons
• Reformatories
• Adult day care (custodial)
• Child day care (custodial)