Color Codes for Conduits

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charlie b

charlie b

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I have an RFI from a contractor regarding color codes. It states that they intend to have separate colors for conduits in emergency, optional standby, and fire alarm systems. They intend to continue the color (i.e., paint the conduit) from the panelboard to the outlet boxes. They are asking about whether it is necessary to paint the outlet boxes themselves, given that the color of the conduit leading to the box should be enough.

I never heard of a requirement, either in the NEC or other NFPA documents, for color coding conduits. Does anyone have any information to share?

BTW, I was just given the question, and I took a quick look at the NEC, but have not yet looked at the project specs. This is not a health care facility, so 517 is not a player.
 
i recall there being some jurisdictions that require red boxes be used for FA, but you can just buy them red. (and you can buy EMT in colors -allied makes it)
 
Charlie, 760.30 requires fire alarm circuits to be identified at terminal and junction locations in a manner that helps to prevent unintentional signals on fire alarm system circuit(s) during testing and servicing of other systems.

I have in the past used red painted junction boxes and conduit to meet this requirement.

Also 700.9(A) requires all boxes and enclosures for emergency circuits to be permanently marked so they will be readily identified as a component of an emergency circuit or system.

Chris
 
We spray paint our boxes and fittings and blank covers. I've only painted conduit once and it was very time consuming. We also made the mistake of painting the entire length of conduit,making for a crappy ground connection at the fittings.
 
A couple of PITA AHJ's require FA conduit/fittings/boxes to be painted red. The EI doesn't require any thing of the sort, so there is RED lines all over the wall. Looks like crap.

A lot of government facilities, some hospitals etc. have a color code for j-boxes, but they can vary widely.

As long as its applied uniformly, it would be great for above a dropped ceiling or another dark spot you have to work in.
 
PA

PA

I did some life safety work in PA Prisons and we had to paint all the conduit Red, most of the boxes were already red as they were pull stations. It was not a code requirement but part of the job specs. It really sucked but at least we had a painting contractor (was lots of work at several prisons) to do it they had to prime it first then paint it. You know as well as I do that the code is just the min. required and some require much much more and any project can have much that is not standard just depends on what the customer wants and if it meets or exceeds the AHJ standards
 
nhfire77 said:
As long as its applied uniformly, it would be great for above a dropped ceiling or another dark spot you have to work in.
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whats wrong with just painting the box/cover? If your above ceiling the only place your going to be concerned with is the JB, not the entire pipe run.
 
jusme123 said:
whats wrong with just painting the box/cover? If your above ceiling the only place your going to be concerned with is the JB, not the entire pipe run.
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I agree, I wasn't referring to painting the pipe above the ceiling, just JB's.

Painting the entire pipe is just stupid, IMO.
 
Stupid

Stupid

There are many things that are pretty questionable as to need but if that is what is called for then you have to do what the customer wants and heck if they are paying for it who cares, the Prison Job everything was exsposed so maybe it would have been different. I say give the customer what they want as long as its not against code....and of course they are willing to pay for it...
 
jusme123 said:
whats wrong with just painting the box/cover? If your above ceiling the only place your going to be concerned with is the JB, not the entire pipe run.
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nhfire77 said:
I agree, I wasn't referring to painting the pipe above the ceiling, just JB's.

Painting the entire pipe is just stupid, IMO.
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It would make it a heck of a lot easier following the route that the conduit takes. Imagine going to a facility where 1) you are unfamiliar with 2) the prints/schematics are unreliable and you open up a drop ceiling (or up in any ceiling with lots of conduit runs) only to find it stuffed to the gills with different conduit runs. It would be piece of cake trying to find where the conduit went. Yes, only painting the JB's is kind of the same thing, but what if the pipe run was really long and the next JB was not in direct line of sight?

JMHO
 
eric7379 said:
It would make it a heck of a lot easier following the route that the conduit takes. Imagine going to a facility where 1) you are unfamiliar with 2) the prints/schematics are unreliable and you open up a drop ceiling (or up in any ceiling with lots of conduit runs) only to find it stuffed to the gills with different conduit runs. It would be piece of cake trying to find where the conduit went. Yes, only painting the JB's is kind of the same thing, but what if the pipe run was really long and the next JB was not in direct line of sight?

JMHO
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I understand. My specifc complaint about this painting is, for instance, in a retail envrioment where the entire ceiling is white except the red. Its stupid looking, IMHO.
 
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