Disconnect Switch Throw Position - NEC 404

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cdw238

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We have an existing condition at a project where disconnect switches are installed upside down at an existing busway. I have not seen this is in person yet but I am guessing it was installed this way due to field limititations. The contractor is claiming this is a "code issue" that the position of the throw switch is upside down.

In my review of section 404 of the NEC, it calls out in 404.6(A) for a single throw switch "approved for use in the inverted position, shall be provided with an integral mechanical means that ensures that the blades will remain in the open position when so set."

Does anyone know how to determine if the an existing switch was approved for this type of use or what type of mechanical means we should be looking for?
 
Would this apply?

225.52

(E) Uniform Position. Where disconnecting means handles
are operated vertically, the ?up? position of the handle shall be
the ?on? position.
Exception: A switching device having more than one ?on?
position, such as a double throw switch, shall not be required
to comply with this requirement.
 
Whose busway?

What do you mean by upside down? Horizontal busways with switches mounted flat on top? Vertical busways with side mounted switches where the blades are lower than the fuses?
I know of at least one manufacturer that has 'special' bus plugs for vertical riser applications, but only in the 200A size.
 
by "upside down", I mean they took a standard fused busway switch on a vertical busway and rotated it 180-degrees and installed it that way. When the switch is in the "closed" position, the handle is pulled downwards rather than being pushed upwards.

I do not think Article 225 would apply since that addresses "outside feeders."
 
cdw238 said:
by "upside down", I mean they took a standard fused busway switch on a vertical busway and rotated it 180-degrees and installed it that way. When the switch is in the "closed" position, the handle is pulled downwards rather than being pushed upwards.
Click to expand...

Most fused switches, I have seen, have their handles move 'sideways' when mounted on vertical runs.
 
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