28 TAC § 34.623 gives the yellow label one trigger with two limbs. If, after any service, inspection, or test, a system DOES NOT COMPLY with applicable codes and adopted standards, OR IS NOT BEING TESTED OR MAINTAINED according to those standards, a completed yellow label must be attached to the OUTSIDE of the control panel cover — or, where the system has no panel, in a permanent location — to indicate that corrective action is necessary. Notice the second limb. A system can be entirely compliant as built and still earn a yellow label because nobody is testing or maintaining it as the standards require. That is a finding about the regime around the system, not about its wiring.

The label is a statement made by a person, and the rule is precise about whose statement it is. THE SIGNATURE OF THE LICENSEE ON A YELLOW LABEL CERTIFIES THAT THE CONDITIONS LISTED ON THE LABEL cause the system to be out of compliance with applicable codes and standards. So the label must LIST the conditions — the rule requires a list of conditions resulting in the yellow label among its contents — and the certification attaches to that list rather than to a general verdict. It also carries DO NOT REMOVE BY ORDER OF TEXAS STATE FIRE MARSHAL, the words SYSTEM DOES NOT COMPLY WITH APPLICABLE CODES & STANDARDS, the firm’s details and certificate of registration number, and the date, the licensee’s unstamped signature, and license number.

Then the part that is a duty rather than a sticker. After attaching a yellow label, the licensee or the registered firm MUST NOTIFY the property owner, the occupant or their representative, AND the local AHJ, IN WRITING, indicating the conditions with which the system does not comply. The notification must be postmarked, emailed, faxed, or hand delivered WITHIN FIVE BUSINESS DAYS of the label being attached. Three recipients, one clock, and four permitted methods. A firm that tags a panel and tells the building manager verbally has done part of one third of what the rule requires.

That leaves the question the heading asks, and the rules answer it from two directions. A yellow label is NOT for new work: 28 TAC § 34.620 states outright that yellow or red labels must not be attached for the installation of a new system, or for new equipment used in the extension, alteration, or modification of an existing one — so an incomplete handover is not a yellow-tag situation, whatever else it is. And a yellow label is NOT for a system that is inoperable, has a fault condition, or is impaired from normal operation. Those three are the red label’s triggers under 28 TAC § 34.624, and § 9.5 covers them. Between the two, the yellow label’s territory is a system that is standing but not measuring up — out of compliance with the applicable codes and adopted standards, or not being tested and maintained according to them.