Change Summary

• Exception No. 1 to 408.36 was deleted as the exception was rendered obsolete with the 2020 NEC revision of 230.71(B) which allows up to six means of disconnect for a service, but the multiple disconnecting means must now be located in separate enclosures (no longer permitted to be located in the same enclosure).

Expert Analysis

Panelboards are typically required to be protected by an overcurrent protective device having a rating not greater than that of the panelboard. By general rule, this overcurrent protective device is required to be located within or at any point on the supply side of the panelboard. There were three exceptions to this rule with the first exception saying individual protection was not required for a panelboard used as service equipment with multiple disconnecting means in accordance with 230.71. Section 230.71 is where we get the “six means of disconnect” rule for service equipment. This rule has historically stated that a service disconnecting means can “consist of not more than six switches or sets of circuit breakers, or a combination of not more than six switches and sets of circuit breakers, mounted in a single enclosure, or in a group of separate enclosures." Revisions occurred at 230.71 this Code cycle. These up to six means of disconnect can no longer be mounted in a single enclosure. The service disconnecting means for each service is still permitted to consist of not more than six switches or sets of circuit breakers, or a combination of not more than six switches and sets of circuit breakers, but they now have to be located in a group of separate enclosures, or in or on a switchboard or in switchgear.