When I first spotted these circuit breakers that were spray-painted yellow, my first thought was, “Well, that must be a violation.” But then I needed to substantiate that thought, so I started looking in the Code to find which Section or Sections would contain the wording needed to back up my suspicions. That is where I ran into a few dead ends.

Section 240.83(A) requires the ampere rating of circuit breakers to be marked in a manner that will be visible after installation. I’m sure these circuit breakers were originally marked that way by the manufacturer, but what about all the other manufacturer markings on the front of these circuit breakers?

Section 240.83(A) only requires the ampere rating to be visible. Section 240.81 requires the circuit breaker to clearly indicate whether it is “on” or “off.” I can still see those markings, but these yellow-painted breakers have a lot of markings other than the ampere rating or the “on” and “off” that are obscured by paint. Are those markings required to be visible too? Several of the other circuit breakers in this panel have similar manufacturer markings that are not obscured and are clearly visible.

For air conditioning or refrigeration equipment, Sec. 440.14 contains language that prohibits a disconnecting means from being installed on air conditioning or refrigeration equipment where it would obscure the equipment’s nameplate. What if the manufacturer’s nameplate for a motor, a luminaire, a heater, or some other appliance was covered with spray paint or other material so that the information was obscured? Would that be a violation? If so, which Code Section?

Sections 760.41(B) and 760.121(B)(4) both have requirements prohibiting any field-applied markings or identifiers from damaging the equipment and obscuring the manufacturer’s markings as applicable to branch circuits supplying power for fire alarm circuits. But these yellow-painted breakers are not for fire alarm circuits, so Art. 760 does not apply.

Personally, I feel the language in Art. 760 is a great idea and should be applied to circuits other than those for fire alarm circuits. This should probably be a general requirement for all equipment.

Section 110.21(A) has requirements for markings that must be applied or affixed to all electrical equipment but does not contain wording like 
Sec. 760.41(B) or Sec. 760.121(B), making it a violation to obscure any manufacturer’s markings after the initial installation.

I feel that equipment markings should never be obscured. But when it comes to your specific installation, you may want to have a discussion with the AHJ if your equipment markings are obscured, such as the circuit breakers in this photo.