NFPA 101 Life Safety Code for Electricians

"Life Safety and ADA" is 4–6 questions. The ADA lesson covers reach ranges and controls; this lesson is the NFPA 101-2018 half — the sections an electrician installs: egress lighting, emergency lighting, exit signs, electrically locked egress doors, and the Section 9.6 fire alarm rules that NFPA 101 layers on top of NFPA 72. Numbers: 1 fc / 0.2 fc / 10 fc, 1½ hours, 1 fc avg / 0.1 fc min → 0.6 / 0.06, 40:1, 10 s, monthly 30 s / annual 1½ h, 5 fc, 6 in. / ¾ in., 100 ft, 6 ft 8 in., 6–18 in., 15 s / 30 s / 15 lbf / 3 s, 40–48 in. / 60 in. / 30 s, 60 in. / 200 ft / 40 ft, 22,500 sq ft / 300 ft.

1. Illumination of the means of egress — 7.8

• Required where Chapters 11–43 (occupancy chapters) say so; covers designated stairs, aisles, corridors, ramps, escalators and passageways to an exit, and the exit discharge to a public way.
• Continuous whenever the occupancy requires the egress to be usable. Automatic lighting controls may turn egress lighting off only if the device is listed, turns the lights on at loss of normal power, has timers of at least 15 minutes, is activated by any occupant movement, is activated by the fire alarm (new installations), and does not turn off lights feeding photoluminescent signs or any battery-equipped emergency luminaire or exit sign.
• Levels (7.8.1.3): new stairs in use 10 fc at the walking surface; other floors and walking surfaces 1 fc at the floor; assembly occupancies during performances 0.2 fc.
• Failure of any single lighting unit may not drop any designated area below 0.2 fc (7.8.1.4) — so a corridor cannot rely on one fixture.
• Source must be reliable per the AHJ; battery-operated and portable lights are not primary egress illumination (only emergency, per 7.9).