I certainly agree with Harold that the 'furnished' directories are woefully inadequate.
Yet, if you simply print up a nice, large, clear directory, someone is sure to complain that you've covered up 'essential' lables on the panel. That, I conclude, points right to the core of the problem.
The core is: everyone wants to write rules to make their particular task easier- but no one cares about the final user! As far as the consumer is concerned, all those code & listing required lables - in multiple languages and multiple orientations, no less!- are as relevant as the legendary mattress tag.
IMO, our entire approach to panels took a wrong turn right from the start- and a lot has to do with the manufacturers' influence on the code panels. Sometimes, it seems that certain manufacturers care greatly about everone EXCEPT the consumer, even want to 'load the dice' against the final uses; but I wander.
It's not that the consumer doesn't care; the box stores sell plenty of labled magnets for sticking on the panel next to the breakers! At the other end of the wire, the phone guys have had lables on their cover plates since Eisenhower was in Office.
If only breakers were the only identification issue. I worked in one office building where circuits often originated in different tenants' offices on different floors - and even the service was mis-labled, as folks took their old office numbers with them when they moved! (So the meter that read "Suite 101" could very easily be feeding an office that had "318" on the door).
Remember: it's the final customer who pays our bills; we need to serve him, rather than expecting him to serve us.
