Reference · CEC C22.1:24

What the code actually says

Two sections of the Code put labels on a solar job — about a dozen plates on a straightforward grid-tied house. Neither one tells you what to make them out of.

What the Code sets, and what it leaves to you

01 — Wording and material

The labels are required. The Code doesn’t set the wording.

Rules 2-100 and 84-024 say a solar install has to be labelled. Neither rule says what the labels must say, or what they must be made of. That surprises most people, so here is the source.

ESA Bulletin 64-5-4 (May 2025). Q6 asks whether the Code specifies the wording. A6: it does not. Q7 asks about the exterior labels Section 84 calls for. A7: the Code sets no specific requirement for those either.

What the Code does ask is that a label survive outdoors and stay permanent and legible. It names three ways to do that: “lamacoid, engraved metal plate, or equivalent.”

So a lamacoid is one accepted answer — not the only one. We make them because they last twenty-five years on a south-facing wall. That is a durability argument, not a compliance one.

So who does set the wording? Your province.

Some suppliers sell label sets “verbatim per CEC Appendix B.” But Appendix B is explanatory: it explains the Code, it does not set binding text. ESA 64-5-4 A6 says the same thing.

The wording that is fixed comes from utility documents rather than the Code itself: NSPI B-64-200 in Nova Scotia, Manitoba Hydro IB 64-0, ESA-SPEC-004 in Ontario and Hydro-Québec E.12-01. In those territories the text is set, and it has to be reproduced exactly.

That is why our kit follows your province instead of one national template. The rule can be identical on both sides of a border while the wording is not.

Informative Bulletin 64-0

All solar photovoltaic labels are required to be engraved lamacoids, red background with white lettering.

Manitoba Hydro — Informative Bulletin 64-0

Manitoba Hydro's published bulletin uses this wording. Check the current utility and inspection requirements for your project before ordering. Nova Scotia Power also publishes requirements for engraved plates in B-64-200.

Where the 9.5 mm letter height comes from

02 — Letter height
PV
Capital height. Drawn to proportion, not to size.

It comes from the Code. CEC Rule 64-200(3): “A warning sign for a photovoltaic system shall be in capital letters with a minimum height of 9.5 mm, in white on a red background.” That is the 2018 and 2021 text, and TSASK reproduces it word for word in the Saskatchewan Interpretations, Appendix M. We have not been able to check the 2024 wording against the CSA text itself.

TSASK’s 2024 interpretations apply the 9.5 mm to the word WARNING. ESA Bulletin 64-5-4 A7, which is often quoted against it, covers the exterior labels Section 84 calls for — not this sign. Nova Scotia Power accepts reduced lettering where the equipment is too small for it, as long as it stays legible. The inspector decides.

Our Saskatchewan set engraves WARNING at 9.5 mm. Plates for other provinces are laid out to each plate’s published letter height. If your inspector wants 9.5 mm headings, tell us and we will cut them larger.

How to tell if a supplier’s list is out of date

03 — What changed

Rules get renumbered and documents get replaced. If a label set still quotes anything in the left-hand column below, it has not been checked since those documents changed.

Nine rules renumbered

C22.1:21 → C22.1:24

The rule itself did not change — only the number it is filed under. This is the quickest way to date a supplier’s list.

  1. Was 64-112(4)(b)(iii), now 64-112(4)(c)Do-not-relocate overcurrent device marking
  2. Was 64-218(6), now 64-218(7)Rapid shutdown / first-responder placard
  3. Was 64-218(5), now 64-218(6)Rapid shutdown device locations on the diagram
  4. Was 64-066(1)(b), now 64-066(7) & 64-068(1)(b)Ungrounded conductor warnings
  5. Was 64-060(10), now 64-060(1)(h)Terminals energized in the open position
  6. Was 64-060(12)–(13), now 64-222Combiner / recombiner disconnect
  7. Was 64-072, now 64-074Disconnecting means identification
  8. Was 64-074(3), now 64-076(3) & 64-902(1)Building supplied from other sources — site plan
  9. Was 64-074(4), now 64-076(3)Energy storage warning

Four documents superseded

Bulletins & utility standards

Four of the documents behind a Canadian solar kit changed in the last two years. A list still citing the left-hand column is quoting a document that has been withdrawn.

  1. Was ESA 64-1-4, now ESA 64-1-5Revised May 2025
  2. Was ESA 64-6-1, now ESA 64-6-5Superseded
  3. Was NSPI B-64-200, now B-64-200 eff. 2024-07-02Its DC conductor warning now reads “DC CONDUCTORS MAY BE ENERGIZED” — the words “Ungrounded and” were removed
  4. Was HQ E.12-05 / E.12-06, now E.12-01 Annexe EWithdrawn and folded in, 2025-11-17

Rules that put a plate on the wall

04 — The base set

This is the base set, before your province and your local utility add to it. How many of each you need depends on the job: the number of inverters, points of interconnection, combiners, disconnecting means and transformers, plus any field-assembled equipment that has no manufacturer’s nameplate.

15 rules across 6 places on the job

Build a kit → What your province adds