IEC TS 62966-3:2021

IEC TS 62966-3 ®
Edition 1.0 2021-01
TECHNICAL
SPECIFICATION
colour
inside
Mechanical structures for electrical and electronic equipment – Aisle
containment for it cabinets –
Part 3: Aspects of operational and personal safety
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IEC TS 62966-3 ®
Edition 1.0 2021-01
TECHNICAL
SPECIFICATION
colour
inside
Mechanical structures for electrical and electronic equipment – Aisle

containment for it cabinets –
Part 3: Aspects of operational and personal safety

INTERNATIONAL
ELECTROTECHNICAL
COMMISSION
ICS 31.240 ISBN 978-2-8322-9318-8

– 2 – IEC TS 62966-3:2021 © IEC 2021
CONTENTS
FOREWORD . 3
INTRODUCTION . 5
1 Scope . 6
2 Normative references . 7
3 Terms and definitions . 7
4 Safety requirements of an aisle containment. 8
4.1 General safety requirements . 8
4.2 Escape routes, emergency exits, escape doors, escape and evacuation plan . 8
4.2.1 Recommended dimensions of escape routes and escape
doors/emergency exits . 8
4.2.2 Functional aspects of escape doors . 11
4.2.3 Lighting and signposting of escape routes . 11
4.2.4 Escape and evacuation plan . 12
4.3 General – Fire protection in an aisle containment . 12
4.3.1 Overview . 12
4.3.2 Fire prevention . 13
4.3.3 Fire and smoke detection . 13
4.3.4 Fire fighting device . 16
4.3.5 Arrangement of extinguishing nozzles . 17
4.4 Lighting conditions . 19
Bibliography . 20

Figure 1 – Minimum width of escape routes in an aisle containment . 10
Figure 2 – Minimum height of escape routes in an aisle containment . 10
Figure 3 – Typical arrangement of an aisle containment representing a walk-in-
equipment solution . 13
Figure 4 – Cold and hot aisle containment (showing air flow and temperature areas) . 14
Figure 5 – Arrangement of aspirating smoke detectors (ASDs) in a cold aisle
containment with or without raised floor . 15
Figure 6 – Arrangement of aspirating smoke detectors (ASDs) in a hot aisle
containment . 16
Figure 7 – Arrangement of extinguishing nozzles in a cold aisle containment with or
without raised floor (showing flow-direction of extinguishing gas) . 18

Table 1 – Minimum width of escape routes and maximum reduction of clearance . 9

INTERNATIONAL ELECTROTECHNICAL COMMISSION
____________
MECHANICAL STRUCTURES FOR ELECTRICAL
AND ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT –
AISLE CONTAINMENT FOR IT CABINETS –

Part 3: Aspects of operational and personal safety

FOREWORD
1) The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) is a worldwide organization for standardization comprising
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patent rights. IEC shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.
The main task of IEC technical committees is to prepare International Standards. In
exceptional circumstances, a technical committee may propose the publication of a Technical
Specification when
• the required support cannot be obtained for the publication of an International Standard,
despite repeated efforts, or
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Technical Specifications are subject to review within three years of publication to decide
whether they can be transformed into International Standards.

– 4 – IEC TS 62966-3:2021 © IEC 2021
IEC TS 62966-3, which is a Technical Specification, has been prepared by subcommittee
48D: Mechanical structures for electrical and electronic equipment, of IEC technical
committee 48: Electrical connectors and mechanical structures for electrical and electronic
equipment.
The text of this Technical Specification is based on the following documents:
DTS Report on voting
48D/725/DTS 48D/731/RVDTS
Full information on the voting for the approval of this Technical Specification can be found in
the report on voting indicated in the above table.
This document has been drafted in accordance with the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2.
A list of all parts in the IEC 62966 series, published under the general title Mechanical
structures for electrical and electronic equipment – Aisle containment for IT cabinets, can be
found on the IEC website.
The committee has decided that the contents of this document will remain unchanged until the
stability date indicated on the IEC website under "http://webstore.iec.ch" in the data related to
the specific document. At this date, the document will be
• reconfirmed,
• withdrawn,
• replaced by a revised edition, or
• amended.
IMPORTANT – The 'colour inside' logo on the cover page of this publication indicates
that it contains colours which are considered to be useful for the correct
understanding of its contents. Users should therefore print this document using a
colour printer.
INTRODUCTION
This Part 3 of IEC 62966 serves as a guide for a consideration from a safety viewpoint of the
dimensional and air conditioning aspects of cold and hot aisle containments in data centres
described in IEC 62966-1 and IEC 62966-2.
Where aspects of this Technical specification conflict with national regulations and laws of the
member states concerned, the provisions of these national regulations shall apply.
Consideration is given to safety-related aspects, such as:
a) escape and evacuation plans;
b) escape routes;
c) emergency exits;
d) functional aspects of escape doors;
e) lighting conditions;
f) lighting and signposting of escape routes;
g) fire protection;
taking into account the existing stringent requirements placed on the protection of IT
equipment and the availability of the data the equipment contains.

– 6 – IEC TS 62966-3:2021 © IEC 2021
MECHANICAL STRUCTURES FOR ELECTRICAL
AND ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT –
AISLE CONTAINMENT FOR IT CABINETS –

Part 3: Aspects of operational and personal safety

1 Scope
This part of IEC 62966 defines the requirements for operational and personal safety of aisle
containments for IT cabinets.
The aim is to provide physical security for the IT equipment installed in the containment using
the criteria “availability” and “safety”.
The requirements apply to all operational, working and maintenance procedures.
This document does not apply to ordinary persons, when using installations and equipment.
The requirements described herein are also intended to ensure that it is possible for
authorized personnel to enter and remain in the containment (as accessible equipment) and
to maintain or upgrade the systems installed in the containment without risk. It should also be
possible to evacuate the containment quickly and safely at any time, especially in the event of
a fire or any other hazardous situation, whilst reducing the h
...