The Section 64 label checklist
Every plate the Canadian Electrical Code asks for on a photovoltaic install, on one sheet you can print, tick off at the panel and leave in the job file. Fifteen base rules, then what your province adds on top of them.
1 · The CEC base set
Rule numbers are the 2024 edition. Nine Section 64 numbers moved from the 2021 edition — if your specification still cites the old number, the renumbering is here.
Photovoltaic warning sign — capitals at least 9.5 mm high, white on red (64-200(3))
64-200
PV system disconnecting means
Warning that terminals stay energized with the switch open
64-060(1)(h)
84-024(1)(i)Every disconnecting means
Ungrounded conductor warnings
64-066(7)
64-068(1)(b)DC circuits — string and central inverter jobs
Identification of the disconnecting means
64-074
Each disconnect
Building supplied from other sources — site plan
64-076(3)
64-902(1)Service equipment / meter
Renewable energy system contains electrical energy storage devices
64-076(3)
2021: 64-074(4)Service disconnect and meter, where storage is present
Do-not-relocate marking on the overcurrent device
64-112(4)(c)
Panelboard with a supply-side connection
Label stating the PV system is equipped with rapid shutdown
64-218(7)
Supply-authority meter and the consumer’s service equipment
Warning that the utility disconnect's terminals stay energized with it open — the 64-060(1)(h) plate. The “DO NOT LOCK” wording is Manitoba Hydro's only: every other utility wants a disconnect it can lock open
84-024(1)(i)
Utility disconnecting means
Interconnected photovoltaic power source marking
84-030(1)
Supply-authority (utility) disconnect and meter location
Single-line diagram of the interconnected system
84-030(2)
At the service — an 11″ × 8.5″ plate
Multiple power supplies warning
14-414(3)
64-112(4)(d)Panelboard fed from more than one source
Arc-flash marking — “other than dwelling units”
2-306
Commercial and industrial only
Do-not-adjust marking — “Do not adjust settings” (Manitoba TI 8-106 A)
8-106
Adjustable overcurrent devices
Utility-interconnected inverter marking
C22.2 No. 107.1
Cl. 15.4.1.1Inverter, where not factory-marked
2 · What your jurisdiction adds
On top of the base set, and before the local distribution company has its say. Five provinces publish something; the rest leave the wording to the inspector.
| Jurisdiction | The document to work from |
|---|---|
| Ontario | ESA-SPEC-004 R1 · ESA Bulletin 64-5-4 · ESA 64-7-2 |
| British Columbia | BC Hydro DGTIR-100 Rev. 3 · FortisBC Rev. 14 |
| Saskatchewan | TSASK Appendix M · SaskPower ESR Rev. 3 |
| Manitoba | MB Hydro Informative Bulletin 64-0 |
| Québec | Hydro-Québec E.12-01 (2025-11-17) Annexe E · E.12-07 |
| Nova Scotia | NSPI B-64-200, eff. 2024-07-02 |
| Newfoundland & P.E.I. | Utility interconnection standards |
| Base set only | CEC C22.1:24 |
3 · Before you call for inspection
Not rules — the six things that actually get a labelling deficiency written up.
Every plate legible from where a person stands
Not from a ladder, and not after the equipment door is open. If it has to be read to be useful, it has to be readable from the floor.
Nothing filled in by hand
Voltages, currents, locations and equipment IDs engraved, not written on with a marker. An inspector is entitled to refuse a Sharpie, and the ink is gone in two summers anyway.
Fasteners, not adhesive, on anything outdoors
Screws or rivets on the service, the meter and the exterior placard. Adhesive is fine indoors and unreliable through a Canadian freeze-thaw.
The utility's plates present
Hydro One, Toronto Hydro, BC Hydro, Manitoba Hydro and Nova Scotia Power each publish their own. Manitoba Hydro and Nova Scotia Power name red with white lettering; check what your inspector expects on BC Hydro ID labels.
The rapid-shutdown label at the meter and the service
Rule 64-218(7): a label stating the system is equipped with rapid shutdown, at the supply-authority meter and at the consumer's service equipment. The most commonly missing plate on a finished residential job.
Wording checked against the current revision
Nova Scotia Power's DC conductor sentence changed on 2024-07-02. ESA 64-1-4 and 64-6-1 are superseded. A stale catalogue engraves a plate that was correct two years ago.
It is a reference, not an approval. It does not replace the drawings, the manufacturer's instructions or the inspection, and no plate — ours or anyone's — is code compliant, CSA approved or guaranteed to pass on its own. Certification attaches to equipment and to the installation as it is inspected. Check the current edition of C22.1 and your provincial amendments before you rely on any citation here.