As I do highway and land surveying work as opposed to electrical work for a living, maybe there's something I do not understand about the 42-circuit limitation spelled out in NEC 408.15 for lighting and appliance panelboards. It just seems like a totally arbitrary limit when the panelboard's load cannot exceed the ampacity of the main disconnect anyway (or at least it shouldn't be able to).
I've read other posts in this forum mentioning the limitation based on a fire investigation done many years ago, my memory ain't like it was when I was younger but I think it was a 1928 Chicago fire or something like that. Yet, our neighbors to the north apparently can obtain lighting/appliance panelboards up to 84 circuit capacity- I seriously doubt there has been an increase in fires for reasons mentioned in the first paragraph.
With all of the dedicated circuits now required by the NEC, I believe this limitation should be either substantially increased or eliminated as long as the main OCP device protecting such a panelboard is in keeping with its rated capacity.
Since I do live within a few miles from the Canadian border, maybe I could smuggle one across- then again, it may not be able to handle non-metric loads :-)
This forum is a great place indeed to learn and communicate; kudos to the hosts!!!
