Are ESS rooms subject to "dedicated electrical space" ceiling requirements?

[Yikes]

An ESS (battery storage) room is located on the first floor of a 3B apartment building with an apartment unit above it. The floor/ceiling assembly is 2-hour rated per 2022 Calif Fire Code 1207.7.4.2. The apartment will have plumbing waste lines going across the underside of this floor/ceiling assembly.

Q1: Do I need a second dropped ceiling to separate the pipes from the ESS space? CEC 100.26(E) says that "dedicated electrical space" separation applies specifically as follows: "All switchboards, switchgear, panelboards and motor control devices shall be located in dedicated spaces to protect from damage." Batteries are not any of those devices.

Q2: If the answer to Q1 is "yes", then does the dropped ceiling - - which creates an interstitial space / area for the drainpipes - - need to have the 2 hour rating? 2022 CFC 1207.7.4.2 says"...rooms and areas containing ESS shall be separated from other areas in the building". Is the soffited interstitial plumbing space between the ESS room and the apartment floor assembly considered "other area" requiring 2-hour separation?

 

[wwhitney]

Q1: The ESS room may contain "switchboards, switchgear, panelboards and motor control devices," such as combiner panels, and those would be subject to 110.26(E). Other equipment, like the batteries, and inverters without internal panelboards, would not.

Q2: Is your dropped ceiling going to be "structural," or just a suspended ceiling? The latter would not change the extent of the 110.26(E) dedicated electrical space, and so it wouldn't help if you have foreign systems passing directly above the footprint of a "switchboard, switchgear, panelboard or motor control device."

Cheers, Wayne

 

[steveray]

Not sure that a battery is covered there, but it depends on what is with it...

(E) Dedicated Equipment Space.

All switchboards, switchgear, panelboards, and motor control centers shall be located in dedicated spaces and protected from damage.