The NFPA 99, Health Care Facilities Code: Technical Committee on Electrical Systems (HEA-ELS), met on August 12–13, 2025, at NFPA Headquarters in Quincy, Massachusetts, to discuss new information and actions under consideration for the next edition, planned for 2027.
NFPA 99 establishes criteria for levels of health care services or systems based on risk to patients, staff, or visitors in health care facilities to minimize the hazards and ensure power reliability.
This committee is important to NETA because many NETA Accredited Companiesprovide testing and engineering services to hospitals and other health care facilities. Patient and worker safety requires electrical equipment and systems to be available and functional, and acceptance and maintenance testing are critical to ensure all equipment and systems function as intended.
The biggest topic, by far, in this meeting was cyber security. Since many electrical devices and systems use software for functionality and communication, this directly touches us in the electrical testing business.
In the future, data and system security, the increasing use of supplemental/alternate power sources instead of or in combination with utility power, and the impact of NFPA 70B on maintenance procedures and intervals in health care facilities are items likely to impact NETA member companies.
No follow-up actions are necessary at this time, other than the required familiarization with the new code once published.
Leif Hoegberg is Director, Engineering & Technical Support at Electrical Reliability Services. In addition to his role as a Principal on the NFPA 99 Technical Committee, he serves on the NETA Board of Directors, the Standards Review Council, and the Training and Finance committees.