What exactly does "Hospital Grade" mean?

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Chapter 4 of NFPA 99 (2005 edition) addresses the electrical systems in health care facilities. It requires the electrical installation to be in accordance with NFPA 70, National Electrical Code (4.3.2.1). Following are some of the commonly referenced requirements:

Receptacle Testing


Receptacle testing in the patient care area includes confirming the physical integrity of each receptacle through visual inspection (4.3.3.2.1), confirming the continuity of grounding circuit (4.3.3.2.2), and verifying correct polarity of hot and neutral connections (4.3.3.2.3). In each receptacle, the retention force of the grounding blade should not be less than 4 ounces (4.3.3.2.4).

The testing of hospital-grade receptacles at patient bed locations and in anesthetizing locations shall be performed after initial installation, replacement, or servicing of the receptacle. Additional periodic testing in patient care areas should be performed at intervals determined by performance data.

Receptacles used at a patient bed and in anesthetizing locations that are not listed as hospital grade should be tested at intervals not exceeding 12 months (4.3.4.1). It must be noted that not all nonhospital-grade receptacles are required to be tested at intervals of 12 months. This requirement of annual testing applies only to those nonhospital-grade receptacles that are installed where hospital-grade receptacles are required for new construction.

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Cheap basic Receptacle tension tester.

I just wanted to add, in addition to the robustness of the connection and overall build quality, hospital grade receptacles are built to be wired with a redundant ground conductor (required by NEC Article 517, Health Care Facilities). It will NOT do this on it's own however. You need to wire back to the panel with hospital grade AC (aka hospital grade BX) or hospital grade MC (not as common). With the AC/BX cable you have the metal armor w/ drain wire as your first ground path (which is how regular AC/BX works) and an additional insulated conductor for a second redundant ground (unique to hospital grade BX). With hospital grade MC (uncommon), you have two insulated grounding conductors (instead of one, which regular MC has). Note the metal armor on MC cable is not listed as a ground.

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