When industrial steel storage rack installations have stamped and sealed engineering documents or load application and rack configuration (LARC) drawings, they should be kept on-site within the facility. These documents include critical details about the maximum safe capacity of the structure. However, such documentation may not be on-site. Or, it may be in a filing cabinet and not easily accessible to operators and associates working with and maintaining the system. Therefore, RMI’s ANSI MH16.1: Specification for the Design, Testing and Utilization of Industrial Steel Storage Racks requires the application of one or more load plaques.

What Are Load Plaques?

Intended to enhance the safety of the system and the personnel working around the rack, it is critical to display load plaques on or near the structure. ANSI MH16.1 sets forth the following requirements for the load plaques:

Load plaques are typically provided by the rack manufacturer and affixed during installation. Because some systems have different configurations within the same aisle, the safest practice is to place a plaque on every aisle, for every configuration. The majority of rack manufacturers also include their logo, contact information, date of manufacture or installation, and other project-specific identifying or safety details (as shown in the sample image above) on their load plaques; ANSI MH16.1 does not require this information.

If the rack system is reconfigured, modified, or altered, the corresponding load plaque’s information will no longer be valid. Therefore, after making any changes to the system’s configuration, the rack owner should work with the original rack manufacturer or a qualified rack design engineer. These professionals can re-evaluate the capacity of the system, develop new load plaques, and affix them to the system.

Learn More About Load Capacity Plaques

Download ANSI MH16.1: Specification for the Design, Testing and Utilization of Industrial Steel Storage Racks.