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The subject of Short Circuit Current Ratings, otherwise known as the SCCR
rating, has been gaining increasing International awareness since the
publication of the 2005 Edition of ANSI/NFPA 70 by the National Fire
Protection Association (NFPA) in the United States. In this revision, Article
409 – Industrial Control Panels was released to provide Inspectors a single
source for requirements and to assist with verification of compliance to Article
110.10 – Circuit Impedance and Other Characteristics. Widely recognized as
the National Electrical Code®, or NEC®, the NFPA 70 standard identifies safe
practices for the installation and wiring of electrical equipment in the United
States. Although the NEC® itself is not United States Law, conformance to
the requirements of the NEC® is generally mandated by State or Local Law
and is enforced by Electrical Inspectors and Authorities Having Jurisdiction
(AHJs) throughout the country.
The Short Circuit Current Rating of an assembly or component represents the maximum symmetrical fault
current, at rated voltage, that the assembly or component can withstand without sustaining damage that
exceeds acceptance criteria or creating a hazardous operating condition. It is important that the SCCR
rating not be confused with Interrupting Rating of a component. Interrupting Ratings apply only to
equipment that is intended to interrupt current and not to the assembly in which the equipment is installed
or the components it may be intended to protect. A common mistake, for example, is to assume that the
Interrupting Rating of a primary overcurrent protective device such as a fuse or circuit breaker may be
used as the SCCR rating of the panel in which it is installed.
SCCR ratings have long existed in the United States for certain components such as fuseholders, but
were generally referred to as the Short Circuit Withstand Rating of the device and defined within the
relevant product standard (e.g. UL 512 Standard for Fuseholders). The SCCR requirement was
expanded with the release of the 2005 NEC® where Marking of the SCCR rating became required for:
For the purpose of this Application Guide, the focus will be directed to Industrial Control Panels and
Industrial Machinery, for which the requirements for SCCR marking are very similar as demonstrated by
Figure 1, summarized from the 2005 NEC®. Primary reference will be made to Article 409 – Industrial
Control Panels, newly published in the 2005 edition of the NEC®,
Subsequently, in April 2006, the requirement for Marking the assembly SCCR rating of an Industrial
Control Panel became mandated by Underwriters Laboratories for all equipment Listed to the revised UL
508A Standard for Industrial Control Panels. The modification of UL 508A by Underwriters Laboratories
was made to bring the Standard into compliance with the new requirements of the 2005 NEC®.
NEC® 2005 Article 409 – Industrial Control Panels NEC® 2005 Article 670.3 – Industrial Machinery
409.110 Marking. An industrial control panel shall be 670.3 Machine Nameplate Data.
marked with the following information that is plainly visible (A) Permanent Nameplate. A permanent nameplate shall
after installation: be attached to the control equipment enclosure of machine
(3) Short circuit current rating of the industrial control and shall be plainly visible after installation. The name
panel based on one of the following: plate shall include the following information:
a. Short circuit current rating of a listed and labeled (4) Short circuit current rating of the machine industrial
assembly control panel based on one of the following:
b. Short circuit current rating established utilizing an a. Short circuit current rating of a listed and labeled
approved method. machine control enclosure or assembly
b. Short circuit current rating established utilizing an
FPN: UL 508A-2001, Supplement SB, is an example of an approved method.
approved method.
FPN: UL 508A-2001, Supplement SB, is an example of an
Exception to (3): Short-circuit current rating markings are approved method.
not required for industrial control panels containing only
control circuit components. (Exception added for
clarification in the 2008 NEC®).
First, it is important to note that SCCR ratings are determined based upon Power Circuit components in
the assembly. For panel assemblies containing only Control Circuits, SCCR rating markings are not
required for the assembly. An exception to Article 409.110(3) was added for clarification in the 2008
NEC®. Of course, the final decision as to whether a panel assembly exclusively contains Control Circuits
is up to the AHJ in the locality of installation. For reference, the following definitions are provided from the
National Electrical Code®:
Control Circuit. The circuit of a control apparatus or system that carries the electric signals
directing the performance of the controller but does not carry the main power current. (A control
circuit is, in most cases, limited to 15 amps).
Power Circuit. Components and conductors of branch and feeder circuits (e.g. the main power
circuit)
Industrial Control Panel. An assembly of two or more components consisting of one of the
following:
1. Power circuit components only, such as motor controllers, overload relays, fused
disconnect switches, and circuit breakers.
2. Control circuit components only, such as pushbuttons, pilot lights, selector switches,
timers, switches, control relays.
3. A combination of power and control circuit components.
These components, with associated wiring and terminals, are mounted on or contained
within an enclosure or mounted on a subpanel. The industrial control panel does not include
the controlled equipment.
1. SCCR rating of a Listed and Labeled Assembly. Article 100, Definitions, of the NEC® defines
Listed and Labeled as follows:
• Listed. Equipment, materials, or services included in a list published by an organization that
is acceptable to the authority having jurisdiction and concerned with the evaluation of
products or services, that maintains periodic inspection of production of listed equipment or
materials or periodic evaluation of services, and whose listing states that the equipment,
material, or services either meets appropriate designated standards or has been tested and
found suitable for a specified purpose.
• Labeled. Equipment or materials to which has been attached a label, symbol, or other
identifying mark of an organization that is acceptable to the authority having jurisdiction and
concerned with product evaluation, that maintains periodic inspection of production of labeled
equipment or materials, and by whose labeling the manufacturer indicates compliance with
appropriate standards or performance in a specified manner.
The Listed and Labeled method may be the preferred process to verify the SCCR rating for
Manufacturers who produce large quantities of only a few variants of completed Assemblies. However, it
is likely to be impractical for those Manufacturers who produce only a few pieces of a large variety of
products due to the submittal costs and associated time for compliance testing. In addition, the list of
component parts, Bill of Materials, for an Assembly qualified using this method may be difficult to change
in the future without re-evaluation of the Assembly under short circuit test conditions. This is because the
Power Circuit components that were evaluated and found to be compliant during initial testing may be
limited to the specific Manufacturer and Type or Series of component that was used in the Assembly at
the time of test; limiting the future ability to substitute a similar component from another Manufacturer
without resubmitting the Assembly for SCCR testing.
Branch Circuit. The circuit conductors between the final overcurrent device protecting the circuit
and the outlet(s) [or utilization equipment]
Feeder. All circuit conductors between the service equipment, the source of a separately derived
system, or other power supply source and the final branch-circuit overcurrent device.
According to Table SB4.1 in Supplement SB of UL 508A, a Receptacle (other than GFCI type) has a
default SCCR rating of 10kA when unmarked and not documented in instructions from the Manufacturer.
Assuming this to be the weakest Power Circuit element for this example, the
Industrial Control Panel SCCR rating would be limited to a maximum of 10kA. Phoenix Contact
However, by installing a Power Transformer, current limiting Circuit Breaker, or offers UL Listed
UL Listed Fuse in the Feeder of the Panel, it may be possible to achieve an Class CC and Class
increased assembly SCCR rating. According to the UL 508A Supplement SB J fuseholders with
Table SB4.2 Peak Let-through Currents, Ip, and Clearing, I2t, for Fuses, the SCCR ratings of
peak let-through current of a UL Listed Class J 60-amp fuse is 10kA when 200kA that may be
supplied by a 600Vac source with an available short circuit of 100kA. By used in Feeder
installing the Class J 60-amp fuse in the Panel Feeder, you are able to claim applications to
benefit of the current limiting nature of the device to reduce the available short benefit from the
circuit current to downstream Power Circuit components. In the case of this effect of current
example, since the Receptacle SCCR rating is 10kA and the peak let-through limitation when
current of the Class J 60-amp fuse is 10kA, you may be able to achieve an determining the
assembly SCCR rating of up to 100kA for the Industrial Control Panel based SCCR rating of an
upon the benefit of current limitation. The actual value, of course, would Industrial Control
depend upon the ratings of other Power Circuit components that may be used Panel.
in the assembly.
Step 3: Determine the Overall SCCR Rating of the Industrial Control Panel
Now that the component SCCR ratings have been identified for all Power Circuit components and Feeder
Circuit components have been reviewed for potential current limitation benefits to downstream Power
Circuit Components, you are ready to determine the overall SCCR rating for the Industrial Control Panel.
This last step begins by separating the Power Circuit of the Industrial Control Panel into its individual
Branch Circuits. For each Branch Circuit, an SCCR rating is established based upon the lesser of (e.g.
weakest element SCCR rating):
a. The short circuit current rating (Interrupting Rating) of the Branch Circuit protective device; or
b. The smallest SCCR rating of all Power Circuit components on the load side of the branch circuit
protective device in (a) above.
A Branch Circuit that supplies a Power Transformer with an isolated secondary, and complies with
the requirements of UL 508A Supplement SB4.3.1, is assigned an SCCR rating at the line side (input)
of the power transformer circuit equal to the short circuit current rating (Interrupting Rating) of the
primary branch circuit protective device.
Finally, the Feeder Circuit is now examined using a similar weakest element method as used for Branch
Circuits above. For the Feeder Circuit, the SCCR rating is established based upon the lesser of (e.g.
weakest element SCCR rating):
a. The smallest SCCR rating of all Branch Circuits connected to the source voltage; or
b. The SCCR rating of any Feeder Circuit components, such as disconnecting switches, bus bars,
terminal blocks, and Feeder overcurrent protective devices.
The SCCR rating of the Industrial Control Panel may now be assigned, but shall not exceed the minimum
SCCR value of any Feeder Circuit component or Branch Circuit connected to the source voltage.
Summary
The determination of Short Circuit Current Ratings can at first appear to be a formidable task to complete
if you are not familiar with the National Electrical Code® or the UL 508A Standard for Industrial Control
Panels in the United States. However, by breaking the task down into systematic steps, the process can
be much simpler to follow. Through up-front planning, an understanding of the Weakest Element SCCR
rating determination method, and the careful selection of Power Circuit components, a suitable Assembly
Short Circuit Current Rating can be achieved.
Phoenix Contact creates progress through inspiring and innovative solutions. For more information
regarding innovative products from Phoenix Contact, please visit us on the Web at
www.phoenixcontact.com. For an updated list of SCCR rated Terminal Blocks from Phoenix Contact, visit
www.ul.com/database under File number E60425.