Disconnect required on residential feeder panelboard?

[kenjsil]

A 240/120 feeder panelboard within a residence which supplies only 120 2-wire and 240/120 3-wire branch circuits at 20 or 30 amps meets the requirements of a "Lighting and Appliance Branch Circuit Panelboard" under 384-14(a). Under Exception No. 1 to 384-16, such a panelboard does not require a main CB if the feeder has an OCPD not greater than the panelboard rating.

Am I correct that this exception allows such a panelboard to not have a main disconnect (as opposed to CB), or is there another code section I've missed that addresses this?

 

[bphgravity]

Re: Disconnect required on residential feeder panelboard?

The basic rule states that each panelboard requires overcurrent protection at the point of supply. This would mean each panelboard is required to have a "main" OCD that the feeder conductors terminate at.

The exception permits you to eliminate the "main" OVD at the panelboard if the feeder has an OCD at the point it's supply and if the rating does not exceed the panelboard the feeder is terminating at. So basically, this means you can have a "main lug" panelboard if you meet those conditions.

The term being used are "protection" and not "disconnect". The allowance that the protection can be fuses leads me to wonder if a main disconnect is not required but only some sort of overcurrent protection