230 – Services
230.46 – Spliced and Tapped Conductors
Change at a Glance:
Requirement for power distribution blocks installed on service conductors required to be marked “suitable for use on the line side of the service equipment” or equivalent was moved to 230.46. All devices used to splice service conductors must be listed and marked as “suitable for use on the line side of the service equipment” or equivalent by January 1, 2023.
230.46 Spliced and Tapped Conductors.
Service-entrance conductors shall be permitted to be spliced or tapped in accordance with 110.14, 300.5(E), 300.13, and 300.15. Power distribution blocks, pressure connectors, and devices for splices and taps shall be listed. Power distribution blocks installed on service conductors shall be marked “suitable for use on the line side of the service equipment” or equivalent.
Effective January 1, 2023, pressure connectors and devices for splices and taps installed on service conductors shall be marked “suitable for use on the line side of the service equipment” or equivalent.
230.62(C) – Barriers at Service Panels, Switchboards, and Switchgear
Change at a Glance:
Previous provision for barriers at service panelboards, switchboards, and switchgear has been moved to Article 230 to apply to all service equipment.
230.62 Service Equipment – Enclosed or Guarded.
Energized parts of service equipment shall be enclosed as specified in 230.62(A) or guarded as specified in 230.62(B).
(C) Barriers. Barriers shall be placed in service equipment such that no uninsulated, ungrounded service busbar or service terminal is exposed to inadvertent contact by persons or maintenance equipment while servicing load terminations.
230.67 – Surge Protection Devices in Dwelling Units
Change at a Glance:
New requirement added to require surge protection on all services at dwelling units.
230.67 Surge Protection.
(A) Surge-Protective Device. All services supplying dwelling units shall be provided with a surge-protective device (SPD).
(B) Location. The SPD shall be an integral part of the service equipment or shall be located immediately adjacent thereto.
Exception: The SPD shall not be required to be located in the service equipment as required in (B) if located at each next level distribution equipment downstream toward the load.
(C) Type. The SPD shall be a Type 1 or Type 2 SPD.
(D) Replacement. Where service equipment is replaced, all of the requirements of this section shall apply.
230.71 – Maximum Number of Disconnects in Single Enclosure
Change at a Glance:
Revision eliminates more than one service disconnecting means in the same panelboard or other enclosure. Continues to retain the six service disconnect rule for services; however, the permission for up to six service disconnects is modified to require installation in separate enclosures only.
230.71 Maximum Number of Disconnects.
Each service shall have only one disconnecting means unless the requirements of 230.71(B) are met.
(A) General.The service disconnecting means for each service permitted by 230.2, or for each set of service-entrance conductors permitted by 230.40, Exception No. 1, 3, 4, or 5, shall 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, in a group of separate enclosures, or in or on a switchboard or in switchgear. There shall be not more than six sets of disconnects per service grouped in any one location.
For the purpose of this section, disconnecting means installed as part of listed equipment and used solely for the following shall not be considered a service disconnecting means:
(1) Power monitoring equipment
(2) Surge-protective device(s)
(3) Control circuit of the ground-fault protection system
(4) Power-operable service disconnecting means
(B) Single-Pole Units Two to Six Service Disconnecting Means. Two or three single-pole switches or breakers, capable of individual operation, shall be permitted on multiwire circuits, one pole for each ungrounded conductor, as one multipole disconnect, provided they are equipped with identified handle ties or a master handle to disconnect all conductors of the service with no more than six operations of the hand. Two to six service disconnects shall be permitted for each service permitted by 230.2 or for each set of service- entrance conductors permitted by 230.40, Exception No. 1, 3, 4, or 5. The two to six service disconnecting means shall be permitted to consist of a combination of any of the following:
(1) Separate enclosures with a main service disconnecting means in each enclosure
(2) Panelboards with a main service disconnecting means in each panelboard enclosure
(3) Switchboard(s) where there is only one service disconnect in each separate vertical section where there are barriers separating each vertical section
(4) Service disconnects in switchgear or metering centers where each disconnect is located in a separate compartment
Informational Note No. 1: See 408.36, Exception No. 1 and Exception No. 3, for service equipment in certain panelboards, and see 430.95 for service equipment in motor control centers Metering centers are addressed in UL 67, Standard for Panelboards.
Informational Note No. 2: Examples of separate enclosures with a main service disconnecting means in each enclosure include but are not limited to motor control centers, fused disconnects, circuit breaker enclosures, and transfer switches that are suitable for use as service equipment.
230.85 – Emergency Disconnect at a Readily Accessible Location
Change at a Glance:
New requirement added to require an emergency disconnect at a readily accessible outdoor location for dwelling units.
230.85 Emergency Disconnects.
For one- and two-family dwelling units, all service conductors shall terminate in disconnecting means having a short-circuit current rating equal to or greater than the available fault current, installed in a readily accessible outdoor location. If more than one disconnect is provided, they shall be grouped. Each disconnect shall be one of the following:
(1) Service disconnects marked as follows: EMERGENCY DISCONNECT, SERVICE DISCONNECT
(2) Meter disconnects installed per 230.82(3) and marked as follows: MERGENCY DISCONNECT, METER DISCONNECT, NOT SERVICE EQUIPMENT
(3) Other listed disconnect switches or circuit breakers on the supply side of each service disconnect that are suitable for use as service equipment and marked as follows: EMERGENCY DISCONNECT, NOT SERVICE EQUIPMENT Markings shall comply with 110.21(B).