What exactly does "Hospital Grade" mean?


I plan on changing my outlets since it seems like a cheap enough tweak and most here on the forum agree that it makes a difference. But what actually IS the physical difference between hospital grade and non-hospital grade outlets?
studioray

Showing 1 response by dorfma05

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.