Color coding required for 120/208V branch circuits?

Isaiah

Senior Member
Location
Baton Rouge
Occupation
Electrical Inspector
If a panelboard is 3phase 4wire 208/120V does the branch circuit wiring from the 1P 20A CBs need to be a black red blue, for A,B,C phases?


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tom baker

First Chief Moderator & NEC Expert
Staff member
Location
Bremerton, Washington
Occupation
Master Electrician
If there are no other voltage systems present, no
If,for example there was 480/277 and 120/208, then each system is identified by phase and voltage, no specified color except for neutral
 

Isaiah

Senior Member
Location
Baton Rouge
Occupation
Electrical Inspector
If there are no other voltage systems present, no
If,for example there was 480/277 and 120/208, then each system is identified by phase and voltage, no specified color except for neutral

Right - but the individual branch circuits of each panel don’t need to be color coded correct?


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Isaiah

Senior Member
Location
Baton Rouge
Occupation
Electrical Inspector
No but I have seen it done. I suppose just trying to make it look good. Which it does.

We have a panelboard with all the branches using black, red, blue and of course white for the neutral. Even though it’s not a code requirement I think it reduces confusion especially in condulets and splice boxes.


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jaggedben

Senior Member
Location
Northern California
Occupation
Solar and Energy Storage Installer
For branch circuits it's good practice and pretty standard in the industry. Black blue and red generally cost the same and save a lot of labor and troubleshooting time. But not a code requirement.
 
We have a panelboard with all the branches using black, red, blue and of course white for the neutral. Even though it’s not a code requirement I think it reduces confusion especially in condulets and splice boxes.


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Yeah for the most part color coding is to aid the installation process. I actually think it makes more sense to use the same color for all the ungrounded conductors in a full boat. So if you are pulling 3 full boats, blacks for one boat, reds for the second, blue for the third.
 

Hv&Lv

Senior Member
Location
-
Occupation
Engineer/Technician
Right - but the individual branch circuits of each panel don’t need to be color coded correct?


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Do you have to color code the individual legs of a single phase service?
Same thing
 
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