Emergency Disconnects

The 2020 230.85 NEC requires an exterior emergency disconnect for one- and two-family dwelling units

• For one- and two-family homes, service conductors must end at disconnects with a short-circuit rating equal to or higher than the available fault current. These disconnects must be easily accessible outdoors. If there is more than one disconnect, they should be grouped together. Each disconnect should be marked as:

  1. Service disconnects labeled as:
     EMERGENCY DISCONNECT, SERVICE DISCONNECT

  2. Meter disconnects (per 230.82(3)) labeled as:
     EMERGENCY DISCONNECT, METER DISCONNECT, NOT SERVICE EQUIPMENT

  3. Other listed disconnects (before the service disconnect) labeled as:
     EMERGENCY DISCONNECT, NOT SERVICE EQUIPMENT

230.85 Emergency Disconnects