In UK, BS 7671 (1992) "Requirements for Electrical Installations", also (better?) known as the "IEE Wiring Regulations, 16th edition") makes a distinction between "fixed wiring" and "flexible cables and flexible cords". (Section 514, "Selection and Erection of Equipment".)
This appears to be for historical consistency with long-standing UK practise, in the case of (my words) wiring attached to the building, and for EU harmonization in the case of wiring attached to the equipment. But they have to meet somewhere. (BS 7671 claims, as of 1992, partial harmonization with IEC pub. 60364 and numerous CENELEC "harmonziation documents", such as HD 308.) In summary (BS 7671 table 51A) for 3 phase AC _FIXED_ WIRING, colo[u]rs are as stated by John: red,yellow,blue, black (N), green/yellow (Protective...conductor). There are exceptions. Also, for PVC cable you can use sleeving, etc., and for thermosetting insulation you can use numbered cores...) But for 3-phase "flexible cables and flexible cords" (table 51B), phase are "brown or black", neutral is Blue, PE is green-and-yellow. Again there are exceptions and applicability issues, see the standard. You are allowed to _add_ numbers or letters if you want to distinguish the phases (L1, L2, L3 etc.) And, remember, this is just the "Installations" standard, not an equipment standard. (In US, there is a similar distinction: The fixed wiring is mainly controlled by NFPA 70 (a.k.a. the "National Electrical Code"); and wiring that is part of machinery is [also? instead?] governed by NFPA 79 "Electrical Standard for Industrial Machinery". In reality, the final installation needs to comply with both. But that's another story.) regards, Glyn Garside (Usual disclaimers apply...) PS: Martin J. only asked about colors, but don't forget that in most cases, you also need to use "Harmonized" Cordage (marked with <HAR>), which can be a problem in the US market as the HAR requirements can conflict with UL requirements. I think Olflex make a flexible cable which although not <HAR>, is rated for UL and IEC compliance; they number the conductors... _______________________________________________________________________________ Subject: RE: Wiring Requirements From: "Crabb John" <[email protected]> at Internet-Mail List-Post: [email protected] Date: 1998-11-23 11:04 The third edition of IEC 60446 "Basic and safety principles for man-machine interface, marking and identification - Identification of conductors by colours or numerals" is at the FDIS (Final Draft International Standard) stage, with voting terminating on December 15. There is "parallel voting" for acceptance by CENELEC as EN 60446. The document number (for anyone interested) is 16/377/FDIS. The FD states that "green-and-yellow" SHALL be used for identifying protective conductors; but there is a note stating that "in the USA, Canada, and Japan, ..green....is used as equivalent to ...green-and-yellow". It also states "where a circuit includes a neutral or mid-point conductor,...the colour used ...shall be blue. In order to avoid confusion with other colours, it is recommended to use an unsaturated colour blue, called here LIGHT BLUE". But again there is a note "In the USA, Canada and Japan, ...white or natural grey for the mid-wire or neutral conductor is used as replacement for...light blue". It also states "AC-phase conductors. The colours black and brown are PREFERRED for AC-phase conductors of systems." My capitals !! DOESN'T SEEM TO BE A WELL WRITTEN STANDARD. I wonder how the USA are going to vote ?? In the UK, for 3 phase wiring, we use red, yellow, and blue for the 3 phases, black for neutral, and green/yellow for earth. For single phase wiring, we use brown for line and light blue for neutral, and green/yellow for earth. (It used to be red for line and black for neutral). Maybe some the other "Europeans" out there can tell us what they do. I have found a "European style" 3 phase cord in a catalogue - the colours are blue, brown, black, black, green-yellow !! John Crabb, Product Safety Engineer, NCR Financial Solutions Group Ltd, Dundee, Scotland. > -----Original Message----- > From: Martin Johnson [SMTP:[email protected]] > Sent: 20 November 1998 10:03 > To: [email protected] > Subject: Wiring Requirements > > Can anybody tell me which (European)specification explicitly defines > the colour of insulation for wiring (internal and external). > Presumeably its going to be EN60XXX (can somebody fill in the X's for > me!!) > > Obviously green/yellow for earth, but what is defined for > phase/neutral. I have seen brown/black for used for phase and light > blue for neutral, but have also seen red/yellow etc for phase wiring. > Is this allowable? This may seem blatantly obvious to you guys, but > i'm just not that sure. > > Thanks, > MJ > --------- This message is coming from the emc-pstc discussion list. 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