So the panel had a legend on the inside door like normal, but the home owner made a duplicate with painters tape and added notes at the bottom like sprinkler notes and things like that. I have seen stickers and what not on the inside door with a legend, is it okay for painters tape? Just curious.
Here’s what the NEC says about it:
Someone recently asked me if a new service would pass inspection if the directory were solely in Spanish. :shock:
Not in my America. English 1st…then what ever dribble they want 2nd.
Where is that written as an enforceable code?
Just a point for consideration.
I always understood that to mean you cannot label a circuit as “Jim’s Bedroom”, the description would need to tell you what the circuit supplied even if you had no idea where Jim sleeps.
I could try to apply the same logic to use of a different language. Once the current resident moves out the legend means nothing to me since I cannot understand what is written.
Robert…Please don’t turn this into a Mike Holt Forum !
I will just point to Jim’s post and AGREE. Secondly as the AHJ (if I was) I would not accept it as again hard for me to inspect something I can’t read. If it’s written in Spanish and I don’t read Spanish then it might as well be scribble from a 5 year old and is not " clear, evident, and specific purpose or use". If it was in Mexico maybe…this is America so I expect English (90.4)
Although I find your comment somewhat insolent I’ll stick with the OP. :roll:
I saw a breaker labeled
“sella” , the home was vacant, I flipped it, apparently the Rhode Island accent spilled over to the written word as well, because it went to the cellar, you know the basement.
Interesting questions about what language should the legend be in. Is the NEC written in any other language? If so I would suspect that the legend could also be in those languages.
@Robert- was not stated with the intent to be rude or arrogant. Just to remind the difference in code guys and home inspection guys. Take it as you wish, it was not the intent.
I figured that, I apologize for the testy response. In the future I will try to leave those types of discussions over there. 
Did an inspection where the panel was labeled beautifully in very well written Japanese, except for one word, “basement”. I guess they don’t have those over there so they don’t have a word for it.
Being bilingual, I respectfully take umbrage at other languages being called a “dribble”. In OUR America, there is no official language, although English is a de-facto STANDARD. Point taken though, also through the comments of other posters: Non-English speaking occupants/owners can be considered a “transient condition”.
Paul, I deeply respect you, but it is a touchy subject 
You’re kidding, right?
You’re in Rhode Island.
The “sella” is the “seller”, with his home on the real estate “mocket”…:mrgreen:
Just post in your report “No tengo ni idea de lo que son para los martillos”
There are a little more than half the states which have adopted English as the official language, but I have to admit I did not know there was no official stance at the federal level. What do we chalk that one up to? American ideals of being a melting pot or the result of the official language being sent to a Senate committee in the late 1700s? 
The Founding Fathers had an amazing gift of foresight, and this may be a part of their design
“No official language” or “English as the official language” is definitely better than having two or more languages set forth as a law…
Imagine the mess of the paperwork (NEC, for one!) that will now have to be published not only in English but also (let’s say) Spanish!
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The NFPA has actually published the NEC in Spanish.