Upside down furnace switch

[jgromkoski (John Gromkoski, License No. 16000020183)]

Inspected a home with a forced air heat/cool unit which had a service shut off switch installed “upside down” - ON in down position, Off in up position. The toggle switch itself had labeling which said ON and OFF respectively and was accurate. I found it confusing and called it out as a defect, as I wasn’t sure whether power to the units was on or off. Wondering what others think about this.

[rmeier2 (Robert Meier)]

The NEC seems to agree with your assessment that it’s a problem:

404.7 Indicating.
General-use and motor-circuit switches, circuit breakers, and molded case switches, where mounted in an enclosure as described in 404.3, shall clearly indicate whether they are in the open (off) or closed (on) position.
Where these switch or circuit breaker handles are operated vertically rather than rotationally or horizontally, the up position of the handle shall be the (on) position.

[jgromkoski (John Gromkoski, License No. 16000020183)]

The NEC seems to agree with your assessment that it’s a problem:

Thanks Robert. I knew I could count on you to provide the back up!