Part P: mixing colours

Who says you cant ?

Dave

should

AIUI The mixing of tho old wiring with the new harmonised wiring is acceptable, the only condition on a single phase supply is that a warning notice is attached to the consumer unit advising that the colours are mixed

Domestic is not a problem, but the new colours for 3-phase will doubtless get someone killed one day....

Does that not indicate that some work was done after Part P came in to force and might fall foul of the Regs,depending on where the work was done and by whom.. Is it not better to use the old coloured cable and you can say that the work was done before Part P came in and who can prove it wasn't .? Stuart

Shift THELEVER to reply.

The new cable colours were available during 2004, so this is not a reliable indicator of the work having been done after Part P came into force. (mind you, some cables might have a date on them.)

Ahright ..thx for that info. Stuart

Shift THELEVER to reply.

I'd hope rank amateurs wouldn't be messing about with three phase?

The new colours have been available for some time - before Part P came in.

No, because new colour cable was available at least 6 months before Part P

True, though use of Red and Black is still preferable, that is still the best option IMHO to pretend work was done before Jan 05.

I notice the DIY sheds in my area still only have Red/Black for sale, though the local Wilkinsons is 100% Blue/Brown. BTW I notice that all the new colour T&E has a grey outer sheath, and generally all the red and black I've seen in recent years is white. Is this also connected to the colour changes ?

In one word, no - grey and white sheath cables have always been available

Can't say I've noticed all the red/black I've used has been grey?.

As Brown and Blue has been on sale for quite some time now, what is to prevent anyone saying that the work was done at the end of 2004 and the new colours were used???.

BTW are they or do they date stamp cable?.....

doubtless get someone killed one

I saw that in the back of my Scaddan guide to the IEE regs. I thought it was a mistake.

Unfortunately it's not (Black as the L2 phase ...) - madness.

From

Cheers,

Paul.

It is madness, it's going to be lethal in a sodium lit grubby plant room.

For domestic stuff, red/brown and black/blue is unlikly to be a problem. The three core and earth changes however could prove to be more of a problem.

I thought the use of red and black was gonig to be not permitted after a certain time. Am I mistook?

NT

In a sodium lit area, no colours will be accurate - even if the human has good colour vision. Use a torch. ;-)

Don't know about connected, but TLC have a note on their site that says the new cables *may* only be available in grey outers - so that sounds like another area of uncertainty.

Personally I have always bought white for the last few years, on the basis that if you need to surface wire at any point it looks better, and if its hidden then who cares!

Well it wont be for new installs after 2006, but we will still have to contend with existing red/black installations when we add new wiring in the new colours, so a label on the cu/distro board will be required into the far future.

Dave