Business end of 404.6,C;
shall be connected such that their blades are de-energized when the switch is in the open position
Yes, it should be uniformly mandated that all disconnects, whether labelled line/load or not, be wired line on top -load on bottom - and dead blades when open.
How about circuit breakers in a seperate enclosue? 404.6.C does not go into specifically "Hot to the Top", can a circuit breaker be fed from the bottom with the load out the top? I know it can be, and will most likely function properly (if list as a reverse feed), but would it violate the code?