The Joint IEE/BSI Technical Committee (JPEL/64) published a draft amendment to BS 7671 for public comment, with a deadline for comments of 30 June. The draft amendment proposed changes to the colours of the cores of cables used for fixed wiring:
It is proposed to replace the traditional colours of red and black for the phase and neutral of single-phase circuits with brown for the phase and blue for the neutral. The green-and-yellow marking of protective conductors will remain unchanged. This colour combination will be familiar, having been used in appliance flexible cables and cords in the UK for 28 years.
The proposed colours for the cores of cables intended for three-phase circuits are brown, black and grey with a blue neutral, in place of the traditional red, yellow and blue with a black neutral. Again, the green-and-yellow marking of protective conductors will remain unchanged.
To assist with the implementation of the new colours for fixed wiring, the draft amendment includes a new appendix to BS 7671 providing advice on marking at the interface between the old and new colours, and general guidance on the extended range of colours that may be used for line (not neutral or protective) conductors.
Will permit new cable core colours from April 2004:
If the proposals are accepted, the amendment to BS 7671 will permit use of the new cable core colours for fixed wiring commencing on site from 1 April 2004. Continued use of the old colours would be permitted until 1 April 2006, after which only the use of the new colours would be permissible. During the two year transition period, it would be permissible to use either the new or old colours, but not both in the same installation work.
To minimise the number of new installations that will have mixed (old and new) colours, specifiers and installers may wish to use cables with the new colours as soon as they become available, which could be before BS 7671 is amended. However, if a designer or other person responsible for specifying an installation decides to use the new cable colours in advance of the amendment to BS 7671, it will be necessary for that person to record on the Electrical Installation Certificate for that installation a departure from the requirements of BS 7671, confirming that the same degree of safety has been provided as that afforded by compliance with the Regulations. Regulations 120-02-01 and 511-01-02 refer.
If an NICEIC Approved Contractor has obtained such confirmation in writing from a designer prior to commencing installation work, the NICEIC would not consider the use of the new colours in advance of an amendment to BS 7671 to be a non-compliance with the Rules Relating to Enrolment.
However, as some of the proposed requirements, including the marking of cables at terminations, have yet to be agreed, it may be impracticable for specifiers to provide the confirmation until such time as all the installation requirements have been confirmed by publication of the amendment to BS 7671. Use of the new colours before all the related safety requirements have been firmly established and communicated to the industry and the public might be considered inadvisable.
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