Name plates on electrical control boxes.

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reyamkram

Senior Member
Location
Hanover park, il
I work in a industrial manufacture, and I have found a number of electrical control boxes with no name plate, I thought it was a requirement for the manufacture to put
a name plate on there product describing the voltage and current, and any other important information that a person would need to know,

I thought it is a requirement Per NFPA 79.
Thank you for any and all information in this matter.
 

jim dungar

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Wisconsin
Occupation
PE (Retired) - Power Systems
I work in a industrial manufacture, and I have found a number of electrical control boxes with no name plate, I thought it was a requirement for the manufacture to put
a name plate on there product describing the voltage and current, and any other important information that a person would need to know,

I thought it is a requirement Per NFPA 79.
Thank you for any and all information in this matter.

NFPA79 is not a universal requirement like the NEC is. Typically compliance to NFPA79 is found only in 'customer' specifications or other contract documents.

Recent editions of the NEC have expanded on labeling requirements for electrical equipment.
 

Jraef

Moderator, OTD
Staff member
Location
San Francisco Bay Area, CA, USA
Occupation
Electrical Engineer
It is now required by the NEC in article 409, which was added in the 2005 code. So if your panels were installed prior to your area adopting the 2005 code, they would have been acceptable. If however any mods are made to them or if they are used for new equipment, they would need to be brought up to current code. Also, UL has ALWAYS required a "permanent" label on the outside, either stamped metal or engraved plastic, so if you ahve panels that are unlabeled, they would not be UL listed assemblies and may themselves be a code violation (if your area requires it, not all do).

409.110 Marking.
An industrial control panel shall be
marked with the following information that is plainly visible
after installation:
(1) Manufacturer's name, trademark, or other descriptive
marking by which the organization responsible for the
product can be identified.
(2) Supply voltage, number of phases, frequency, and full-
load current for each incoming supply circuit.
(3) Industrial control panels supplied by more than one
power source such that more than one disconnecting
means is required to disconnect all power within the
control panel shall be marked to indicate that more than
one disconnecting means is required to de-energize the
equipment.
(4) Short-circuit current rating of the industrial control
panel based on one of the following:
a. Short-circuit current rating of a listed and labeled
assembly
b. Short-circuit current rating established utilizing an
approved method
Informational Note: ANSI/UL 508, Standard for Industrial
Control Panels, Supplement SB, is an example of an
approved method.
Exception to (4): Short-circuit current rating markings are
not required for industrial control panels containing only
control circuit components.
(5) If the industrial control panel is intended as service
equipment, it shall be marked to identify it as being
suitable for use as service equipment.
(6) Electrical wiring diagram or the identification number
of a separate electrical wiring diagram or a designation
referenced in a separate wiring diagram.
(7) An enclosure type number shall be marked on the industrial
control panel enclosure.

Note the exception to (4); if there are no power devices, labeling of the SCCR is not required, but labeling of the PANEL still is. I've seen people try to interpret that to mean that if there are no power devices, it doesn't need a label, they are wrong.

But here's the thing; cheap suppliers are constantly trying to argue that their panel is not an "industrial" control panel and therefore not required to adhere to article 409. If it's for HVAC, that might be a valid argument, but HVAC equipment has it's own labeling rules anyway.
 
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