Yes. North American building codes refer to the rack design standards in which it is indicated that the rack’s load capacity must be displayed. However, the codes do not impose a specific method of displaying this information.
The Rack Manufacturers Institute’s (RMI) ANSI MH16.1-2023: Specification for the Design, Testing, and Utilization of Industrial Steel Storage Racks, in section 4.5, states that industrial steel storage rack systems shall be identified with one or more load plaques, displayed on or near the rack system and that they should include the following information:
(a) the maximum permissible unit load and/or maximum uniformly distributed load per level
(b) the average unit load, if applicable
(c) the total average load per bay
(d) maximum total load per bay
The RMI specification also states, “Information on load plaques shall represent the permissible load capacity of the rack systems as designed. If rack systems are modified in a way that invalidates the plaque information, the load plaques shall be updated with new information.”
Load capacity information displayed on the existing rack capacity labels/plaques has been calculated for a specific racking configuration. Suppose a racking system is modified, such as the modification of the height of the beam levels. In that case, the rack's load capacity could have changed, and new pallet rack capacity labels/plaques are required following a new load capacity study.
Load capacity labels placed on each bay or load capacity plaques placed at the end of aisles are the most common ways of displaying rack system capacity information.
This ensures that the maximum load capacity is communicated to the forklift operators, so they do not overload the racks.
If you do not currently have labels or need to know the load capacity of your pallet racking systems, Damotech offers a load capacity calculation service. This service is performed by qualified engineers who take various measurements on-site to determine the maximum load capacities for your warehouse’s specific setup.