Live And Neutral Colours Uk

Iec wiring color codes for ac uk eu other countries.

Live and neutral colours uk. As a result old uk wiring colours were required to change the red live wire and a black neutral wire. Although still used today the earth wire used to be pure green. Blue previously used as a phase colour is now the colour for neutral. When terminated at lights sockets etc.

Unlike the live and neutral the earth does not have it s own separate insulation. The old colours were. The uk changed colour codes three decades after most other european countries as in 1977 the change of neutral and phase colours was not considered safe by the iee. 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.

Red for the live wire and black for the neutral wire. It s important that properties get their wiring checked to see if the wiring colours are out of date have deteriorated over time and to check if they comply with bs 7671 wiring. As mentioned above most of the europe union countries and uk china russia hong kong singapore ukraine belarus kazakhstan israel turkey argentina south africa ksa saudi arabia uae united arab emirate and malaysia are following the iec international electrotechnical commission wiring codes. Black which was previously used for neutral now indicates a phase.

Green yellow earth sometimes bare wire without a sleeve. Blue neutral in the uk the neutral wire colour is blue. The neutral wire transfers electricity away from the appliance to avoid overloading. What were the old uk electrical wiring colours.

Prior to 2006 different colours of cables were used in uk domestic electrical wiring and appliances for the neutral and live wires. Underneath an outer insulation you have a live neutral and earth cable. The old electrical wiring colours in the uk are green and yellow or bare for the earth wire. The guide below is for uk british electrical wiring if you live in another country the colours may be different.

This was the live wire. Before this change old wiring colours in the uk for 2 core wire were red live black neutral and earths are either bare or yellow and green whereas with 3 core cable live red blue neutral additional yellow and earth either bare or yellow and green. New vs old wiring colours. It is highly unlikely that you will have an electric shock on contact with a blue.

Prior to harmonisation with other european countries the united kingdom s electrical wiring system used. 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. Earth sleeving must be put on any bare wire green and yellow stripey if you have old electrical wiring your colours will be different from current.