Confirm the risk category the design assigns to each space, then trace medical gas outlets, essential electrical system branches, and related services through the room plans, schedules, and engineering drawings. AI can flag conflicts; the design team and authority confirm compliance.
What does NFPA 99 cover?
NFPA 99 is the Health Care Facilities Code. NFPA describes NFPA 99 as establishing criteria for levels of health care services or systems based on risk to patients, staff, or visitors, to minimize the hazards of fire, explosion, and electricity.
NFPA’s official NFPA 99 page identifies the 2027 edition as current when checked on October 1, 2026. Confirm the edition, local amendments, and project scope that actually govern the work. The publisher’s newest edition does not establish local adoption.
Health care projects are often reviewed by more than one authority, and federal, state, and local adoption of NFPA 99 editions can differ. Record the edition each reviewing authority applies and the risk category the design team assigned to each space. The NFPA 101 guide covers the life safety side of the same building.
Bring the room program and the systems that serve it
Collect the room program or room data sheets, architectural floor plans, medical gas plans and outlet schedules, the electrical one-line showing essential electrical system branches, panel schedules, receptacle plans for patient care spaces, mechanical plans for spaces with special requirements, and the specifications.
Room renumbering and use changes during design are common. Check that the room program, architectural plans, and engineering schedules use the same room numbers and uses.
Connect room uses to the systems that serve them
| Review question | Sources to compare | Decision to record |
|---|---|---|
| Risk categories | Room program, code summary, design narrative | Ask the design team to confirm the category for spaces whose use changed. |
| Room identity | Room program, architectural plans, engineering schedules | Identify room numbers or uses that differ between documents. |
| Medical gas | Medical gas plans, outlet schedule, room data sheets | Match outlets, zone valves, and alarms to the rooms they serve. |
| Essential electrical system | One-line, panel schedules, receptacle plans | Trace branch assignments for patient care spaces across documents. |
| Mechanical services | Mechanical plans and schedules, room requirements | Reconcile spaces with special ventilation or pressure needs. |
| Emergency power interface | Generator and transfer documents, one-line | Follow the essential system to its sources and transfer equipment. |
Emergency sources follow the NFPA 110 guide. The hospital project page shows how a full health care package is reviewed across disciplines.
Example: a renamed room keeps its old electrical branch
Hypothetical example. The room program converts an exam room into a procedure room, while the receptacle plan and panel schedule still assign its receptacles to the branch the design used for the earlier use.
The room program changes this room’s use, and the receptacle plan and panel schedule reflect the earlier use. Please confirm the room’s risk category and coordinate its essential electrical system assignment and medical gas outlets.
The design team confirms the room’s category and requirements and updates the electrical and medical gas documents. The conflict is a coordination question, not a compliance determination.
Review health care systems with Groundbook
Upload the current project PDFs and relevant specifications to Groundbook. Identify the governing issues and add the applicable NFPA 99 reference from a copy you are licensed to use, where the license permits uploading it. State the edition, amendments, review area, and known exclusions in your instructions.
Compare the room program and risk categories with architectural plans, medical gas plans and schedules, essential electrical system one-line and panel schedules, receptacle plans, and mechanical documents. Flag room uses and system assignments that disagree. Use the supplied NFPA 99 reference where applicable and cite both sources.
Groundbook links each potential finding to the room and sheets involved. Verify the room number and revision first, then route medical gas, electrical, and mechanical questions to their designers.
Document review does not assign risk categories, certify medical gas or electrical systems, or replace verification testing and authority review. Those remain with the design team, the verifier, and the authorities having jurisdiction.