Wow, good point, Hal. Their specs state that this PA system is not planned to be used for everyday paging; more of an emergency announcement system. I'm not sure if that falls into the category of a life safety system, but I'll surely be asking the question first thing on Monday.
This is a 100 year-old building where we have been maintaining for their ISDN system for several years. We never paid any attention to the existing PA system since that wasn't within the scope of our support contract. The building is being gutted, but since it is a historical building, they won't allow any new drilling, etc. This is why we have to re-use the existing speaker enclosures, Wiremold and conduits. Since they gutted all of the voice cabling, I'm sure that they did the same with the PA cabling too. Even if there's anything left, I'm sure that it would be cheaper to replace it all rather than to hunt through the remnants.
My plan is to use multiple 60 watt amplifiers, one in each of the three closets on each floor. It appears that CL2 wiring will be OK for this environment.
I do have to ask a question about NEC requirements on this: It states that the code does not apply to federal government installations. This building is owned by the Feds. Does this stipulation apply to installations by federal employees or to installations within federal buildings by outside contractors? Should we discuss this with Mr. Holt's people?
Geez, I'd be happy if I knew half of what you forgot.
