ELECTRICAL REGULATIONS

4. WITCH BOARDS (For lighting switch boards, reference may be made to

Section 9.4)
4.1 Switchboards shall be erected in easily accessible location away from
combustible materials.
4.2 No article of clothing or any stores shall be kept at the back of the
switchboard.
4.3 Where switchboards or distribution boards or group of distribution
boards are erected in a room of a building isolated from the source of
supply or at a distance from it, adequate means of control and
isolation shall be provided both near the board and at the origin of
supply.
4.4 HRC Fuses in Electric Circuit 4.4.1Each out-going circuit from switchboard
(excepting fuse
distribution boards) shall be separately controlled by a suitable
automatic circuit breaker or linked switch and cutouts.
4.4.2 In power circuits fuses shall be throughout of H.R.C type
irrespective of current rating of the circuit.
NB The above rule is however not applicable to installation with
transformer having a capacity of 150 KVA and less.
4.5 All switches and circuit breakers shall preferably be operated from the
front of the switchboard. Where circuit breaker handles, on
switchboards or in panel boards are operated vertically rather than
rotationally or horizontally, the `up' position of the handle shall be the
`on' position.
4.6 Equipment intended to protect current at fault level, shall have an
interrupting rating sufficient for system voltage and the current, which
is available on the line terminal of the equipment. Equipment
intended to protect current at levels other than fault levels shall have
an interrupting rate at system voltage sufficient for the current that
must be interrupted.
4.7 All wires and cables shall be provided with soldered or approved lugs
or crimped joints.
4.8 Woodwork shall not be used in the construction of a switchboard.
4.9 Every switchboard shall comply with the following provisions, viz.
a) Clear space of not less than 1 m in width shall be provided in front
of the switchboard.
b) If there are any attachments or bare connections at the back of
the switch board, the distance shall be either less than 200 mm

or more than
750mm
in width measured from the farthest
outstanding part of any attachment or conductor.
c) If the space behind the switch board exceeds 750 mm in width,
there shall be a passage way from either end of the switchboard
clear to a height of 1.8 m
4.10All circuits shall be clearly and indelibly labelled for identification in
English and vernacular.
4.11Where circuits of different voltages and/or AC and DC circuits are
installed on the same supports, they shall be so arranged and
protected that they shall not come into
contact with each other
when live.
4.12
The neutral of each main and branch main circuit shall be
provided with a suitable removable link placed in an easily accessible
position, preferably on the front, for the purpose of testing. The
neutral shall not be bunched in inconvenient and inaccessible
positions at the back of the board.