Old To New Wiring Colours
The list below also outlines the different colour codes for single phase and multiphase in australia.
Old to new wiring colours. In 1999 it became apparent that a new european standard for wiring and cable colours meant that the uk would have to change fixed wire insulator colours. Although old wiring from before 2006 still exists in some houses and old appliances as long as the wiring is in good. Household wiring does not usually use three phase supplies and the clash only occurs in three phase systems. Additions to the old cables mean that some installations will have mixed colours within them.
A mixed installation is shown below. How to wire a plug. If your home was constructed prior to this date it will probably contain the old wires. Electricity gas high risk database user guide to the eghr database.
Installation wiring also known as building wiring is for things such as the wiring behind power points and walls. A transition period of 24 months from 1 mar 2009 to 28 feb 2011 is given before the new cable colour becomes mandatory on 1 mar 2011. It s important that properties get their wiring checked to see if the wiring colours are out of date have deteriorated over time and to check if they comply with bs 7671 wiring. The new standard colour code does not use red.
During the transition period either the old or new cable colour code but not both may be used. The old electrical colours were phased out in 2006 but as you can imagine old wiring still exists in many houses and appliances. As a result old uk wiring colours were required to change the red live wire and a black neutral wire. Wire cable colour changes for old and new 3 core wire.
Phase 1 red phase 2 white phase 3 dark blue neutral black earth green. The earth wire colour used to be pure green before 1977 then changed to green and yellow and has been the same ever since. New wiring colours since 2006. Where new wiring is mixed with old cables must be clearly marked to prevent interchange of phase and neutral.
In 2006 amendment 2 of 17 th edition bs7671 wiring regulations saw a change to harmonise the uk colours with the european cable colours for consistency and to avoid confusion. If your home has old wiring it is worth getting it checked by a qualified electrician to make sure it is in safe working order. New vs old wiring colours. Adding new colour wires to existing circuits with old colour wires.
Old australian colour code multiphase.