Every low-voltage assembly you build needs a switchboard rating plate — the durable designation label that tells an installer, inspector or maintenance sparky exactly what the board is and who built it. Under AS/NZS 61439, that marking is the assembly manufacturer's responsibility, and it has to survive years on the wall and stay legible. This is the plain-English guide for Australian panel builders: what must appear on the plate, who carries the duty, and why engraved plates are the trade's answer.
AS/NZS 61439.1, "Low-voltage switchgear and controlgear assemblies", superseded the old AS/NZS 3439 series — the transition completed on 24 May 2021. If you're still working to 3439-era thinking on marking, this is the standard that now governs your boards. The marking requirements sit in the standard's information clause (Clause 6 in the IEC structure it follows).
What must appear on a switchboard rating plate
The standard sets a firm minimum that every assembly's durable designation label must carry. These four are the non-negotiables:
| Required marking | What it means |
|---|---|
| Assembly manufacturer's name or trademark | The business that built the finished board — your panel shop |
| Type designation / identification number | A type designation, identification number or other means of identifying the assembly |
| Means of identifying date of manufacture | So the board can be traced back to when it was built |
| Standard and the specific part | e.g. AS/NZS 61439.2 for power switchgear assemblies, or AS/NZS 61439.3 for distribution boards |
Get those four onto a durable plate and you've met the hard minimum the standard sets for the designation label itself.
The rated electrical characteristics
Beyond the four minimums, the assembly manufacturer must also provide the board's fuller rated characteristics — rated voltage, rated current of the assembly, rated frequency, the relevant short-circuit ratings, insulation and impulse withstand data, and the IP rating. These are mandatory information the manufacturer has to supply.
Here's the careful bit: the standard places some of this information in the documentation that travels with the assembly, not necessarily all on the physical plate. Australian switchboard practice conventionally engraves the key rated values onto the rating plate too, because it's the most reliable place for them to live for the life of the board — but don't assume every rated value is mandated on the metalwork itself. The split between "on the plate" and "in the documents" is set by the standard, so confirm what your particular assembly part requires.
The minimum four identify the board. The rated characteristics describe what it can safely do. Australian panel practice puts both on an engraved plate — but always check which items the standard requires on the plate versus in the accompanying documentation.
Durable and legible — a performance requirement
The standard says the label must be marked in a durable manner and located so it's visible and legible once the assembly is installed and in operation. That's a performance requirement, not a material specification. The standard does not name "traffolyte" or any other product — it sets the durability bar and leaves the method to you.
That's exactly why engraving wins. IEC 61439-1 includes a marking rub test — markings are rubbed by hand with a water-soaked cloth, then with a cloth soaked in petroleum spirit, and must remain legible afterwards. Markings made by moulding, pressing, engraving or similar are exempt from that rub test, because a mark cut into the material can't be rubbed off in the first place. Engraved two-colour laminate, anodised aluminium and stainless are the industry-standard ways to clear the durability bar. A printed or stuck-on label is the kind of mark the rub test exists to weed out.
Who is responsible for the marking?
This trips people up, so it's worth being precise. AS/NZS 61439 distinguishes two roles:
- The original (system) manufacturer — the OEM who designs the system and holds the design verification, such as Schneider, ABB, NHP or Hager.
- The assembly manufacturer — the panel builder who takes that verified system and builds the finished board for a specific job. That's you, the panel shop.
The marking and documentation of the finished assembly are the assembly manufacturer's responsibility. So the name or trademark on the 61439 rating plate is the panel builder's name, not the OEM's. You built the board; you mark it; you stand behind it. That's the whole point of the designation label — traceability back to the business that assembled the unit.
Why panel shops use engraved rating plates
If you're turning out boards in batches, you need rating plates that are consistent, durable and carry your branding the same way every time. Hand-written or label-printer plates look amateurish on a finished assembly and don't survive the rub-test logic the standard is built around.
Engraved two-colour laminate solves it. The legend is cut through a colour cap into a contrasting core, so the mark is the material — there's no ink to fade, smudge or peel. You get a professional, repeatable plate with your shop's name and trademark, the type designation, the date-of-manufacture field, the standard part, and the rated characteristics, all engraved to read the same in ten years as on commissioning day.
Set up your plate layout once in our online label designer — pick the size, lay out the fields, choose your colours and see the price instantly. For boards that need mounting holes, custom shapes or cutouts, the Advanced Designer adds those plus an icon library. Stock colours cover the usual switchboard look — black/white and white/black for general plates, with red/white, yellow/black, blue/white and green/white on the shelf for warning and identification work. See our switchboard labels range and the companion guide to switchboard labelling requirements in Australia.
For batch and bulk runs, this is built for trade. Made by a qualified electrician in Townsville and shipped Australia-wide, with 1–3 business day production and no minimum order. Run the numbers on a batch of branded rating plates through quick quote, take a look at what we do for industrial and panel-shop customers, or spec a single plate in the label designer. Phone 0432 736 559 to talk a recurring run through.
References
- AS/NZS 61439.1 — Low-voltage switchgear and controlgear assemblies: General rules
- AS/NZS 61439.2 — Power switchgear and controlgear assemblies
- AS/NZS 61439.3 — Distribution boards intended to be operated by ordinary persons
- AS/NZS 3439 series — superseded by AS/NZS 61439 (transition completed 24 May 2021)
This article summarises publicly available guidance on switchboard marking and is not a substitute for professional advice or the direction of your certifier or inspector. The split between markings required on the physical plate and information required in the accompanying documentation is set by the standard — always confirm the requirements against the current edition of AS/NZS 61439 and the relevant part before you fabricate.