Domestic Wiring Chapter 7

 Distribution Boards

Distribution board is a part of an electrical system that takes electricity from a main source and feeds it through one or more circuits to distribute the electricity throughout a facility. 

This is often called an electrical panel, panelboard, or even a fuse box. Virtually all homes and businesses will have at least one distribution board built in, which is located where the main electrical line enters the structure. 

The size of the board will depend on the amount of electricity coming in and how many different circuits need to be installed.

Distribution boards allow all your electrical equipment to operate safely throughout the entire area. You can, for example, install a small 15-amp circuit breaker into the distribution board to supply one area of the facility with the power it needs. 

This will only allow up to 15 amps of electricity to pass from the main electrical line into the area where it is used, which means that area can be serviced with smaller and less expensive wire. It will also prevent a surge (of greater than 15 amps) from entering equipment and potentially causing damage.

For areas that need more electricity, you would install circuit breakers that allow more electricity through. Having the ability to take one main circuit that provides 100 or more amps of power and distributing it throughout the facility based on how much power is needed in a given place is not only far safer than just having full access to the full amperage at all times, but it is also much more convenient. 

If, for example, there is a surge in one area, it will only trip the breaker on the distribution board for that one circuit. This prevents an electrical outage to other areas of the home or business.

Requirements for Labeling Circuit Breakers

When thinking about labeling circuit breakers, most people assume that the only reason to do it is to make sure you can tell what breakers go to what part of the facility. The reality is, however, that there are quite a few regulatory requirements in place regarding what labels need to be there and how they need to be placed. 

OSHA, for example, covers a number of these types of requirements because it is an important part of overall workplace safety. Learning about the various types of requirements that will apply to your specific facility is important for ensuring you are always in compliance.

One of the most often overlooked requirements when it comes to circuit breaker labeling is missing breakers. If you remove a breaker because it is no longer being used, you need to update the labeling to reflect that. You should not have an empty breaker slot with a label to the side. 

Instead, that label should be removed or a blank label put over it. Another similar issue is when there is an opening in the box that no longer has wires going through it. This hole should be blocked in order to be made safe.

There are many other labeling requirements for circuit breakers in most commercial environments. For example, in addition to having labels in place to indicate where each breaker provides power, it must be clear how much power is going through the breaker. 

This is so that you can easily tell exactly how much power it would take before the circuit trips and shuts it down. This is also important for when someone is working on the wires and they need to know what safety precautions to take. In addition to OSHA requirements, there may be regulations from local governments, industry agencies, and more so make sure to be aware of all of them.