Max number of circuits in a panel

**Ken Amelin** · 07-18-2023, 01:05 PM

I thought the maximum number of circuits in a panel was 40. This panel has 60??
Is this legal in a residential service?

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**Gunnar Alquist** · 07-18-2023, 04:07 PM

Originally Posted by Ken Amelin

I thought the maximum number of circuits in a panel was 40. This panel has 60??
Is this legal in a residential service?

Ken,

Did you intend to post a pic? I don't see one.

Keeping in mind that California uses the NEC rather than the electrical section of the IRC, my information may be incomplete.

42 sounds familiar to me, but it seems to me that the number of circuits would be limited by the manufacturer's listing and a referenced standard rather than code.

I have looked through several NEC code cycles from 1999 through 2010 (my library is incomplete) and the only thing that I was able to find was in the 2010. Of course, I have not yet memorized the NEC and the IRC may have a different limit:

408.54 Maximum Number of Overcurrent Devices. A panelboard shall be provided with physical means to prevent the installation of more overcurrent devices than that number for which the panelboard was designed, rated, and listed.
For the purposes of this section, a 2-pole circuit breaker or fusible switch shall be considered two overcurrent devices; a 3-pole circuit breaker or fusible switch shall be considered three overcurrent devices.

**Jerry Peck** · 07-18-2023, 05:49 PM

Depends.

Depends on the age of the panelboard and what was allowed when it was manufactured to the listing at that time.

My NECs only go to 2017, which states:

408.54 Maximum Number of Overcurrent Devices. A panelboard shall be provided with physical means to prevent the installation of more overcurrent devices than that number for which the panelboard was designed, rated, and listed.

For the purposes of this section, a 2-pole circuit breaker or fusible switch shall be considered two overcurrent devices; a 3-pole circuit breaker or fusible switch shall be considered three overcurrent devices.

I.e., you would need to read the label and see what is allowed on the label.

60 space breaker panels are available and are listed as such.

**david shapiro** · 07-20-2023, 11:21 AM

The old 42-circuit limit for lighting and appliance panelboards was in 384-15, later 408.15, 408.54. restriction last seen in the 2005 NEC.

**Gunnar Alquist** · 07-21-2023, 06:22 PM

Thank you David!

**ROBERT YOUNG** · 07-22-2023, 08:00 AM

Originally Posted by Ken Amelin

I thought the maximum number of circuits in a panel was 40. This panel has 60??
Is this legal in a residential service?

I thought the manufacturer dictates the amount of OCPD and circuits in a panel.

**david shapiro** · 07-22-2023, 01:20 PM

Robert, I don't see anything in the NEC nor in the current edition of the UL standard offering restrictions. (I'm not on the relevant NFPA CMP nor the UL TC, so this is an outsider's view.) I think this leaves it, as you suggest, to the manufacturer AND the NRTL for the last decade-plus.

**John Alex** · 07-26-2023, 10:48 PM

Originally Posted by Ken Amelin

I thought the maximum number of circuits in a panel was 40. This panel has 60??
Is this legal in a residential service?

The maximum number of circuits in a panel can vary based on regional electrical codes.

**ROBERT YOUNG** · 07-27-2023, 01:59 AM

Originally Posted by Ken Amelin

I thought the maximum number of circuits in a panel was 40. This panel has 60??
Is this legal in a residential service?

Morning, Ken.
Hope to find you well.
I wish to add something, not mentioned previosly. being able to handle and what will be used are two differant things. Hensforth, 60 slot/space panel does not equil 60 circuits, just as 40 space/slot panel does not equil 40 circuits. They are no more than a representative number single, double and triple pole breakers are cliped onto.

**david shapiro** · 07-27-2023, 06:06 AM

Originally Posted by John Alex

The maximum number of circuits in a panel can vary based on regional electrical codes.

Intriguing, John. I haven't seen this.
I will appreciate your pointing me to links for any of them that limit spaces or circuits per panel.
David

**ROBERT YOUNG** · 07-27-2023, 06:44 AM

Originally Posted by david shapiro

Intriguing, John. I haven't seen this.
I will appreciate your pointing me to links for any of them that limit spaces or circuits per panel.
David

Morning, David.
Hope to find you well and in good spirits today.

I am not answering for John but I have by this article on Wenatchee Home Inspections blog. I hope it helps.

?The National Electrical Code (NEC) 2008 edition no longer distinguishes between lighting and appliance panelboards and power panelboards.
In prior NEC editions, panelboards were required to have no more than 42 overcurrent protective devices (OCPDs) when used for lighting and appliance branch circuits (as defined in the 2008 NEC edition).
This white paper covers the following topics to assist you with future panelboard installations:
? Definition of the 42 Circuit Rule
? Application Impact
? Applications Still Requiring the 42 Circuit Rule
? 2008 NEC Panelboard Changes
? 2008 NEC Adoption and Enforcement Reminder
The 2005 NEC edition, Article 408 defines a lighting and appliance branch circuit panelboard as
?. . . having more than 10 percent of its overcurrent devices protecting lighting and appliance branch circuits. Such circuits have a connection to the neutral of the panelboard and overcurrent protection of 30 A or less in one or more conductors.?
The scope of application areas for lighting and appliance panelboards include residential, commercial, retail, and industrial (depending on the type of loads connected). The maximum number of 42 overcurrent protective devices in one lighting and appliance branch circuit panelboard is specified in NEC 408.35.
Article 408 also defined ?power panelboard? as a panelboard having 10 percent or fewer of its overcurrent devices protecting lighting and appliance branch circuits. Power panelboards are allowed more than 42 branch circuits.
The elimination of the 42 circuit rule will be reflected in the product standards for panelboards, allowing manufacturers to build 42+ circuit panelboards for lighting and appliance branch circuit applications. Installations that previously used a two section panel due to the 42 circuit rule may be able to install all of the necessary overcurrent devices in a single panel. This may benefit those applications where the number of circuits required were slightly more than the 42 circuits installed.?

**david shapiro** · 07-27-2023, 11:00 AM

Thank you, Robert. I hope you are not broiling today.

NFPA's Code Finder, https://codefinder.nfpa.org/?country...&nfpanumber=70

which does not speak to jurisdictions below state level and is not necessarily kept up to date, Indiana is the only state on the 2011 NEC, with the rest on the 2014 or more recent.

I will have to wait to hear from John whether he's worked in counties (or parishes) or cities or what-all that enforce earlier editions, or whether there are local amendments with this requirement. I find it a little hard to imagine why those would exist.

When Phil Simmons proposed the move for 2008 (proposal 9-127), he wanted the 42-breaker restriction carried forward. The CMP ignored that on the ground that the listing agency should be investigating panelboards to ensure that they could pass all tests, having adequate bus, wiring gutters, etc. with however many breaker (pole)s the manufacturer designed them to hold. The Report on Comments (A2007) shows no protest.

According to Creighton's chapter on the rule in Behind the Code, it was originated in response to a fire in Type R wiring at the Waldorf-Astoria about a century ago.