Is there a code about using color coded romex?

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delfadelfa

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Cincinnati, OH
Romex #12 yellow #10 orange. Is there a code that requires you to use these colors? I used some old stock #10 white for an A/C unit and the inspector told to replace it with #10 orange. I have been looking through the code book and can not find anything. Is the white jacket #10 - 60 degree wire and the orange jacket #10 - 90 degree? I was not there when he inspected the job and need some ammo when I call him tomorrow.
 
Not positive, but don't think it is a code requirement. Just something the manufacturers started doing.

I always ask the inspector for a code section if I am failed for something I don't understand. I try to ask nicely because I will need to deal with him again.
 
delfadelfa said:
Romex #12 yellow #10 orange. Is there a code that requires you to use these colors? I used some old stock #10 white for an A/C unit and the inspector told to replace it with #10 orange. I have been looking through the code book and can not find anything. Is the white jacket #10 - 60 degree wire and the orange jacket #10 - 90 degree?
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As long as the jacket says NMB it is 90 degree.
I was not there when he inspected the job and need some ammo when I call him tomorrow.
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You don't need any ammo unless things turn really ugly and you need the real stuff. You just need to ask him to give you a code reference.

The colour of the jacket is the manufacturer?s choice. There are only small number of code references that have to do with colour and none of them have anything to with the jacket on romex.
 
I remember one time, when a guy got all excited because the "Flammables" cabinet had been painted blue. They have to be yellow, he claimed. Open up a catalog from the manufacturer, and -voila!- there were 'flammables' cabinets offered for sale in just about any color you wanted. Guy claimed it was in the NEC. Nope. Then he claimed city code. Nope. Claimed the fire code. Nope. I finally told him to find it himself- and until he did, the cabinet was staying blue.

Or, we get into this regularly on the 'grounds up or down' debate. Let me sum all this up very briefly:

Just because it's "always" a certain way does not mean it HAS to be that way. Check your assumptions. Nor is it proper, IMO, for the code to mandate things for the sole purpose of making life easier for the inspector.

The colored Romex is nothing but a marketing ploy, one that was so successful that everyone copied it. I know one contractor who special-orders his romex in pink, for the specific reason of deterring theft from the job site.
 
renosteinke said:
I know one contractor who special-orders his romex in pink, for the specific reason of deterring theft from the job site.
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People won't steal pink romex? If this works, I have some customers that would pay extra for pink wire.
 
renosteinke said:
I remember one time, when a guy got all excited because the "Flammables" cabinet had been painted blue. They have to be yellow, he claimed. Open up a catalog from the manufacturer, and -voila!- there were 'flammables' cabinets offered for sale in just about any color you wanted. Guy claimed it was in the NEC. Nope. Then he claimed city code. Nope. Claimed the fire code. Nope. I finally told him to find it himself- and until he did, the cabinet was staying blue.

Or, we get into this regularly on the 'grounds up or down' debate. Let me sum all this up very briefly:

Just because it's "always" a certain way does not mean it HAS to be that way. Check your assumptions. Nor is it proper, IMO, for the code to mandate things for the sole purpose of making life easier for the inspector.

The colored Romex is nothing but a marketing ploy, one that was so successful that everyone copied it. I know one contractor who special-orders his romex in pink, for the specific reason of deterring theft from the job site.
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If he can custom order it in pink why not with company name and logo printed on it also? How much must you purchase at a time to make it worth it? What if you bought a big supply and suddenly price of copper dropped- :eek:
 
I know that it's not the only reason it was done, but it's mostly just to help the inspectors. Same as green HC cable or the black/red/blue marked MC/AC cable. It's simply a visual cue.
 
cowboyjwc said:
I know that it's not the only reason it was done, but it's mostly just to help the inspectors. Same as green HC cable or the black/red/blue marked MC/AC cable. It's simply a visual cue.
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It also helps the noobs who can't tell the difference between adjacent wire sizes just by look & feel.
 
480sparky said:
It also helps the noobs who can't tell the difference between adjacent wire sizes just by look & feel.
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Well since I don't work with it much any more, I one of those noobs, #12 is smaller than it used to be with a tighter insulation and my eye's aren't as good as they used to be either. Much easier for me and you if all I have to do is stand in the middle of the room and go, white good, yellow good, orange good. But don't worry I get paid by the hour, I'll look at your work as close as you would like me too.
 
Aha! I thought the pink romex would get your attention!

Guy does tract homes in Vegas; buys the stuff by the truckload. Most importantly, he has the local inspectors 'on board.' That is, the inspectors know that the pink wire belongs to him, and are in a position to spot it when it turns up on someone else's jobs. Likewise, the scrapyards are aware of this. I am told it has greatly reduced the 'shrinkage.'

Having done (just) one house from scratch, I can attest to the tendency of entire rolls of wire disappearing. Boss delivers 10 rolls at 7AM, I get there at 7:30 and find only 8. Hmmm .... and, by golly, there's a neighbor out & about, scrounging boxes. Sure he is!

Mark it with company name? Might help- but nowhere near as easy to spot driving down the road!
 
renosteinke said:
...The colored Romex is nothing but a marketing ploy, one that was so successful that everyone copied it. I know one contractor who special-orders his romex in pink, for the specific reason of deterring theft from the job site.
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If I was an offshore manufacturer I would make #14 with a yellow jacket and #12 with an orange jacket.
 
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