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National Electrical Code Top Ten Tips: Article 409 -- Industrial Control Panels
by Mark Lamendola
Based on the 2023 NEC
Please note, we do quote from copyrighted material. While the NFPA
does allow such quotes, it does so only for the purposes of education
regarding the National Electrical Code. This article is not a substitute
for the NEC.
These are the 10 NEC Article 409 items we deem most important, based
on the pervasiveness of confusion and the potential costs of same.
- Any control panel operating at 1000V or less must comply with Article 409 [409.1].
- An industrial control panel can have control circuits, power circuits,
or both.
- Quite a few other Articles apply to these panels, in addition to the
specific requirements of Article 409. Prior to the 2023 revision, these were listed in Table 409.3. Now there is no Table 409.3. Now there's just a blurb in 409.3 stating that if control panels contain branch circuits for specific loads or components or are for specific types of equipment addressed in other articles, those control panels must be constructed and installed per those other articles.
- Base the ampacity of the supply conductor on the sum of three items [409.20]:
A. 125% of the full-load current rating of all resistance heating loads
(combined).
B. 125% of the full-load current rating of the highest rated motor.
C. Sum of the full-load current rating of all the other motors (and
apparatus) that may be operating at the same time.
- Provide overcurrent protection per Article 240, Parts I and II [409.21]. Prior to the 2023 revision, Part IX was also included. Now it's not.
- You can put overcurrent protection ahead of the panel or inside it [409.21(B)].
- You do not ground an industrial control panel. You bond it
[409.60]. Grounding means a path to the earth, which is fine for lightning protection. It does nothing for reducing dangerous differences of potential because it is not a low-impedance path between metallic objects or to the equipment grounding conductor or back to the source.
- Don't use industrial control panels as junction boxes or as any kind of
feed-through system. Circuits that are not part of the panel must be routed
around it, not through it. While this is not explicitly stated in Article 409, it is implicitly stated. In addition to the fact it is a control panel (read that name again), the marking requirements in 409.110 make this fairly obvious.
- Control cabinets have wire bending and spacing requirements. Those nice 90 degree
bends for 5V systems do not belong inside a typical industrial control
panel. And if wiring is voluminous, simply dumping it in a gutter or routing
it inside plastic wrap isn't the solution. See 409.104 for requirements.
- Spacing requirements are critical. See Table 430.97(D) [409.106].