Differences in Wire Colors Between North America and England

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Electrical Materials, Tools & Equipment:
Differences in Wire Colors Between England and North America

By Terry Peterman, the Internet Electrician

Summary: Wire colors are not standardized and may vary from country to country.

Q: I'm training to be an Electrician here in England. I have looked everywhere for the information and couldn't find it, but I was wondering, and it's a silly question.

We have Brown for Live, Blue for Neutral, and Green/Yellow for Earth (cpc). I was wondering what the color coding is please, in the USA?

A: Here in the North American system, Black, Red, (and Blue in 3-phase systems) are hot wires, and White is neutral. Green and/or Bare wires are ground.

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Electrical Materials, Tools & Equipment: Differences in Wire Colors Between England and North America

Electrical Materials, Tools & Equipment:
Differences in Wire Colors Between England and North America