Light Switch Wire Colours Uk

Ground wires return fault current to earth ground protecting the individual from electrocution.

Light switch wire colours uk.

Prior to 2006 different colours of cables were used in uk domestic electrical wiring and appliances for the neutral and live wires. The earth wires have been omitted for clarity and would need to be connected at all switches and ceiling roses. The black electrical wire used to be the colour for the neutral wire. 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.

Red wires are commonly found in sheathed multi conductor cable. New vs old wiring colours. This was the live wire. The old colours were.

The standard wiring colours in the uk are as of 2006 the same as elsewhere in europe and follow international standard iec 60446. Wiring colours conductor colours. Since red wires still conduct current they are considered hot. This colour scheme had already been introduced for appliance flexes in the uk in the early 1970s however the original red black colour scheme recommended by the iee for fixed.

It s important that properties get their wiring checked to see if the wiring colours are out of date have deteriorated over time and to check if they comply with bs 7671 wiring. These are called travelers and typically used for two way switch wiring. This was the neutral wire. Iec wiring color codes for ac uk eu other countries.

New wiring colours since 2006. A ground wire is used as a protective measure. Just to confuse matters there are other cables in the uk that have similar colours to the mains electrical wiring. The earth wire colour used to be pure green before 1977 then changed to green and yellow and has been the same ever since.

3 way light switching new cable colours 3 way light switch old cable colours 3 way light switch using a two wire control. In 2006 the old electrical wiring colours were finally. The live wire colour used to be red. Although still used today the earth wire used to be pure green.

Other cable colours to be aware of. 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. 2 way light switch 3 wire system new harmonised cable colours 2 way switch 3 wire system old cable colours 2 way switch two wire control three way switching. The wires would also be covered by the protective outer sheath cable.

There is a chance that if your house has these old wiring colours the switch drops may be from a loop in loop out radial lighting circuit done with junction boxes rather than ceiling roses as shown in fig 2. Tv aerial cables do not carry any voltage but many are brown in colour the same colour as the new live wiring in the uk. Light wiring diagram.