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Article 645

  1. Information Technology EquipmentInformational Note: Text that is followed by a reference in brackets has been extracted from NFPA 75-2013, Standard for the Fire Protection of Information Technology Equipment. Only editorial changes were made to the extracted text to make it consistent with this Code.645.1 Scope. This article covers equipment, power-supply wiring, equipment interconnecting wiring, and grounding of information technology equipment and systems in an informa‐ tion technology equipment room.Informational Note: For further information, see NFPA 75 -2017, Standard for the Fire Protection of Information Technology Equipment, which covers the requirements for the protection of•image
    1. Wiring methods: 300.22(C)(1)
    2. Class 2, Class 3, and PLTC cables: 725.135(C) and Table 725.154
    (3) Fire alarm systems: 760.53(B)(2), 760.135(C), and Table 760.154
    1. Optical fiber cables: 770.113(C), and Table 770.154(a)
    2. Communications circuits: 800.113(C) and Table 800.154(a), (b), and (c)
    3. CATV and radio distribution systems: 820.113(C) and Table 820.154(a)
  2. Bonding and Grounding. The non–current-carryingconductive members of optical fiber cables in an information technology equipment room shall be bonded and grounded in accordance with 770.114.
  3. Electrical Classification of Data Circuits. Section 725.121(A)(4) shall apply to the electrical classification of listed information technology equipment signaling circuits. Sections 725.139(D)(1) and 800.133(A)(1) (c) shall apply to the electrical classification of Class 2 and Class 3 circuits in the same cable with communications circuits.
  4. Fire Alarm Cables and Equipment. Parts I, II, and III of Article 760 shall apply to fire alarm systems cables and equip‐ ment installed in an information technology equipment room. Only fire alarm cables listed in accordance with Part IV of Arti‐ cle 760 and listed fire alarm equipment shall be permitted to be installed in an information technology equipment room.
    1. ARTICLE 645 — INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY EQUIPMENT
  5. Cable Routing Assemblies, Communications Wires, Cables, Raceways, and Equipment. Parts I, II, III, IV, and V of Arti‐ cle 800 shall apply to cable routing assemblies, communica‐ tions wires, cables, raceways, and equipment installed in an information technology equipment room. Only communica‐ tions wires and cables listed in accordance with 800.179, cable routing assemblies and communications raceways listed in accordance with 800.182, and communications equipment listed in accordance with 800.170 shall be permitted to be installed in an information technology equipment room. Arti‐ cle 645 shall apply to the powering of communications equip‐ ment in an information technology equipment room.Informational Note: See Part I of Article 100, Definitions, for a definition of communications equipment.
  6. Community Antenna Television and Radio Distribution Systems Cables and Equipment. Parts I, II, III, IV, and V of Article 820 shall apply to community antenna television and radio distribution systems cables and equipment installed in an information technology equipment room. Only community antenna television and radio distribution cables listed in accordance with 820.179 and listed CATV equipment shall be permitted to be installed in an information technology equip‐ ment room. Article 645 shall apply to the powering of community antenna television and radio distribution systems equipment installed in an information technology equipment room.imageN
  7. Optical Fiber Cables. Only optical fiber cables listed in accordance with 770.179 shall be permitted to be installed in an information technology equipment room.
  8. Cables Not in Information Technology Equipment Room. Cables extending beyond the information technology equip‐ ment room shall be subject to the applicable requirements of this Code.
  1. Special Requirements for Information Technology Equipment Room. The alternative wiring methods to Chap‐ ter 3 and Parts I and III of Article 725 for signaling wiring and Parts I and V of Article 770 for optical fiber cabling shall be permitted where all of the following conditions are met:
    1. Disconnecting means complying with 645.10 are provi‐ ded.
    2. A heating/ventilating/air-conditioning (HVAC) system is provided in one of the methods identified in 645.4(2) a or b.
      1. A separate HVAC system that is dedicated for informa‐ tion technology equipment use and is separated from other areas of occupancy; or
      2. An HVAC system that serves other occupancies and meets all of the following:
        1. Also serves the information technology equipment room
        2. Provides fire/smoke dampers at the point of pene‐ tration of the room boundary
        3. Activates the damper operation upon initiation by smoke detector alarms, by operation of the discon‐ necting means required by 645.10, or by bothInformational Note: For further information, see NFPA 75 -2017, Standard for the Fire Protection of Information Tech‐ nology Equipment, Chapter 10, 10.1, 10.1.1, 10.1.2, and10.1.3.
    3. All information technology and communications equip‐ ment installed in the room is listed.
    4. The room is occupied by, and accessible to, only those personnel needed for the maintenance and functional operation of the installed information technology equip‐ ment.
    5. The room is separated from other occupancies by fire- resistant-rated walls, floors, and ceilings with protected openings.Informational Note: For further information on room construction requirements, see NFPA 75 -2017, Standard for the Fire Protection of Information Technology Equipment, Chapter 5.
    6. Only electrical equipment and wiring associated with the operation of the information technology room is installed in the room.
    Informational Note: HVAC systems, communications systems, and monitoring systems such as telephone, fire alarm systems, security systems, water detection systems, and other related protective equipment are examples of equipment associated with the operation of the informa‐ tion technology room.
  2. Supply Circuits and Interconnecting Cables.
  1. Branch-Circuit Conductors. The branch-circuit conduc‐ tors supplying one or more units of information technology equipment shall have an ampacity not less than 125 percent of the total connected load.
  2. Power-Supply Cords. Information technology equipment shall be permitted to be connected to a branch circuit by a power-supply cord.
    1. Power-supply cords shall not exceed 4.5 m (15 ft).
    2. Power cords shall be listed and a type permitted for use on listed information technology equipment or shall be constructed of listed flexible cord and listed attachment plugs and cord connectors of a type permitted for infor‐ mation technology equipment.
    Informational Note: One method of determining if cords are of a type permitted for the purpose is found in UL 60950-1-2007, Safety of Information Technology Equipment — Safety — Part 1: General Requirements; or UL 62368-1-2012, Audio/Video, Informa‐ tion and Communication Technology Equipment — Part 1: Safety Requirements.
  3. Interconnecting Cables. Separate information technology equipment units shall be permitted to be interconnected by means of listed cables and cable assemblies. The 4.5 m (15 ft) limitation in 645.5(B)(1) shall not apply to interconnecting cables.
  4. Physical Protection. Where exposed to physical damage, supply circuits and interconnecting cables shall be protected.
  5. Under Raised Floors. Where the area under the floor is accessible and openings minimize the entrance of debris beneath the floor, power cables, communication cables, connecting cables, interconnecting cables, cord-and-plug connections, and receptacles associated with the information technology equipment shall be permitted under a raised floor of approved construction. The installation requirement shall comply with 645.5(E)(1) through (3).imageN•
    1. Installation Requirements for Branch Circuit SupplyConductors Under a Raised Floor.
      1. The supply conductors shall be installed in accord‐ ance with the requirements of 300.11.
      2. In addition to the wiring methods of 300.22(C), the following wiring methods shall also be permitted:
        1. Rigid metal conduit
        2. Rigid nonmetallic conduit
        3. Intermediate metal conduit
        4. Electrical metallic tubing
        5. Electrical nonmetallic tubing
        6. Metal wireway
        7. Nonmetallic wireway
        8. Surface metal raceway with metal cover
        9. Surface nonmetallic raceway
        10. Flexible metal conduit
        11. Liquidtight flexible metal conduit
        12. Liquidtight flexible nonmetallic conduit
        13. Type MI cable
        14. Type MC cable
        15. Type AC cable
        16. Associated metallic and nonmetallic boxes or enclosures
        17. Type TC power and control tray cable
        imageN(2) Installation Requirements for Electrical Supply Cords, Data Cables, Interconnecting Cables, and Grounding Conduc‐ tors Under a Raised Floor. The following cords, cables, and conductors shall be permitted to be installed under a raised floor:
        1. Supply cords of listed information technology equipment in accordance with 645.5(B)
        2. Interconnecting cables enclosed in a raceway
        3. Equipment grounding conductors
        4. In addition to wiring installed in compliance with 725.135(C), Types CL2R, CL3R, CL2, and CL3 and substi‐ tute cables including CMP, CMR, CM, and CMG installed in accordance with 725.154(A), shall be permitted under raised floors.Informational Note: Figure 725.154(A) illustrates the cable substitution hierarchy for Class 2 and Class 3 cables.
        5. Listed Type DP cable having adequate fire-resistant char‐ acteristics suitable for use under raised floors of an infor‐ mation technology equipment room
        Informational Note: One method of defining fire resistance is by establishing that the cables do not spread fire to the top of the tray in the “UL Flame Exposure, Vertical Tray Flame Test” in UL 1685-2011, Standard for Safety for Vertical-Tray Fire-Propagation and Smoke-Release Test for Electrical and Optical-Fiber Cables. The smoke measurements in the test method are not applicable.Another method of defining fire resistance is for the damage (char length) not to exceed 1.5 m (4 ft 11 in.) when performing the CSA “Vertical Flame Test — Cables in Cable Trays,” as described in CSA C22.2 No. 0.3-09, Test Methods for Electrical Wires and Cables.imageN(3) Installation Requirements for Optical Fiber Cables Under a Raised Floor. In addition to optical fiber cables installed in accordance with 770.113(C), Types OFNR, OFCR, OFN, and OFC shall be permitted under raised floors.•
  6. Securing in Place. Power cables; communications cables,connecting cables, interconnecting cables, and associated boxes, connectors, plugs, and receptacles that are listed as part of, or for, information technology equipment shall not be required to be secured in place where installed under raised floors.
    Informational Note: Securement requirements for raceways andcables not listed as part of, or for, information technology equip‐ ment are found in 300.11.
  7. Abandoned Supply Circuits and Interconnecting Cables. The accessible portion of abandoned supply circuits and inter‐ connecting cables shall be removed unless contained in a race‐ way.
  8. Installed Supply Circuits and Interconnecting Cables Iden‐ tified for Future Use.
    1. Supply circuits and interconnecting cables identified for future use shall be marked with a tag of sufficient durability to withstand the environment involved.
    2. Supply circuit tags and interconnecting cable tags shall have the following information:
  1. Date identified for future use
  2. Date of intended use
  3. Information relating to the intended future use

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  1. Disconnecting Means. An approved means shall beprovided to disconnect power to all electronic equipment in the information technology equipment room or in designated zones within the room. There shall also be a similar approved means to disconnect the power to all dedicated HVAC systems serving the room or designated zones and to cause all required fire/smoke dampers to close. The disconnecting means shall comply with either 645.10(A) or (B).Exception: Installations qualifying under the provisions of Article 685.
    1. Remote Disconnect Controls.
      1. Remote disconnect controls shall be located at approved locations readily accessible in case of fire to authorized person‐ nel and emergency responders.
      2. The remote disconnect means for the control of electronic equipment power and HVAC systems shall be grouped and identified. A single means to control both systems shall be permitted.
      3. Where multiple zones are created, each zone shall have an approved means to confine fire or products of combustion to within the zone.
      4. Additional means to prevent unintentional operation of remote disconnect controls shall be permitted.Informational Note: For further information, see NFPA 75 -2017, Standard for the Fire Protection of Information Technology Equipment.
    2. Critical Operations Data Systems. Remote disconnecting controls shall not be required for critical operations data systems when all of the following conditions are met:
    1. An approved procedure has been established and main‐ tained for removing power and air movement within the room or zone.advise
    2. Qualified personnel are continuously available to emergency responders and to instruct them of discon‐ necting methods.
    3. A smoke-sensing fire detection system is in place.Informational Note: For further information, see NFPA 72 -2016,National Fire Alarm and Signaling Code.
    4. An approved fire suppression system suitable for the application is in place.
    5. Cables installed under a raised floor, other than branch- circuit wiring, and power cords are installed in compli‐ ance with 645.5(E)(2) or (E)(3), or in compliance with Table 645.10(B)(5) .
  2. Uninterruptible Power Supplies (UPSs). Except for installations and constructions covered in 645.11(1)or (2), UPS systems installed within the information technology equipment room, and their supply and output circuits, shall comply with

645.10. The disconnecting means shall also disconnect the battery from its load.

  1. Installations qualifying under the provisions of Arti‐ cle 685
  2. Power sources limited to 750 volt-amperes or less derived either from UPS equipment or from battery circuits inte‐ gral to electronic equipment
  1. System Grounding. Separately derived power systems shall be installed in accordance with the provisions of Parts I and II of Article 250. Power systems derived within listed infor‐ mation technology equipment that supply information technol‐ ogy systems through receptacles or cable assemblies supplied as part of this equipment shall not be considered separately derived for the purpose of applying 250.30.
  2. Equipment Grounding and Bonding. All exposed non–current-carrying metal parts of an information technology system shall be bonded to the equipment grounding conductor in accordance with Parts I, V, VI, VII, and VIII of Article 250 or shall be double insulated. Where signal reference structures are installed, they shall be bonded to the equipment grounding conductor provided for the information technology equip‐ ment. Any auxiliary grounding electrode(s) installed for infor‐ mation technology equipment shall be installed in accordance with 250.54.Informational Note No. 1: The bonding requirements in the product standards governing this listed equipment ensure that it complies with Article 250.Informational Note No. 2: Where isolated grounding-type recep‐ tacles are used, see 250.146(D) and 406.3(D).
  3. Marking. Each unit of an information technology system supplied by a branch circuit shall be provided with a manufacturer’s nameplate, which shall also include the inputpower requirements for voltage, frequency, and maximum rated load in amperes.
  4. Power Distribution Units. Power distribution units that are used for information technology equipment shall be permitted to have multiple panelboards within a single cabinet if the power distribution unit is utilization equipment listed for information technology application.imageN
  5. Surge Protection for Critical Operations Data Systems. Surge protection shall be provided for critical operations data systems.

645.25 Engineering Supervision. As an alternative to the feeder and service load calculations required by Parts III and IV of Article 220, feeder and service load calculations for new or existing loads shall be permitted to be used if provided by qualified persons under engineering supervision.

645.27 Selective Coordination. Critical operations data system(s) overcurrent protective devices shall be selectively coordinated with all supply-side overcurrent protective devices.

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