National Electrical Installation Standards

Standards as High as Your Own

 
?
Monday, January 11, 2021

Question:

Hello Code Friends,

I was on a job recently and noticed red 600 kcmil wires re-identified with green tape and used for an EGC.   Typically it would be a black wire used so I looked in the book to see if that was permissible by code. As far as I can tell there’s are no code violations with this.  Is that correct or did I miss something?

Mike Rotondo

A

Answer:

Hi Mike,

You are correct. The Code Section is 250.119(A)(1) and (2) as follows: Equipment grounding conductors 4 AWG and larger shall comply with 250.119(A)(1) and (A)(2) which indicates the following: An insulated or covered conductor 4 AWG and larger shall be permitted, at the time of installation, to be permanently identified as an equipment grounding conductor at each end and at every point where the conductor is accessible. Identification shall encircle the conductor and shall be accomplished by stripping the insulation or covering from the entire exposed length, coloring the insulation or covering green at the termination, or marking the insulation or covering with green tape or green adhesive labels at the termination. Hope this is helpful.

ABOUT CQD: The Code Question of the Day (CQD) is NECA and ELECTRICAL CONTRACTOR Magazine’s flagship National Electrical Code (NEC®) public forum for the industry, sponsored by EATON. The daily distribution of Q&A generates a lively dialogue and shares relative Code-based practical responses.

SUBMIT YOUR CODE QUESTION: Click here to submit a question to for inclusion in an upcoming edition of the Code Question of the Day, or email codequestion@necanet.org

CHARLIE TROUT: Charles M. Trout, better known as Charlie, was a nationally known NEC® expert and author. He served on several NEC® technical committees and is past chairman of CMP-12. In 2006 Charlie was awarded the prestigious Coggeshall Award for outstanding contributions to the electrical contracting industry, codes and standards development, and technical training. Even though Charlie passed away in October of 2015, his work continues in spirit. NECA continues to maintain this question forum for its many subscribers in memory and recognition of all his significant contributions to making the NEC what it is today.

NECA STANDARDS: NECA publishes the National Electrical Installation Standards™ (NEIS™), a series of ANSI-approved performance and quality standards for electrical construction. NEIS can be purchased in the NECA Store in three formats: a printed or  PDF download of a standard or, as an  annual subscription service.

NECA SAFETY PRODUCTS & PUBLICATIONS: NECA produces electrical safety publications and products for the industry including jobsite safety guides, handbooks and resource kits. View a full listing of available resources and products »

IMPORTANT NOTICE: Unless the question requests a response based on a specific edition, all answers are based on the latest edition of NFPA 70® National Electrical Code®.

This correspondence is not a formal interpretation of the NEC® and any responses expressed to the questions are opinions and do not necessarily represent the official position of NECA, NFPA, the NEC Correlating Committee any Code-making panel or other electrical technical committee. In addition, this correspondence is neither intended, nor should it be relied upon, to provide professional consultation or services. 

UPDATE YOUR SUBSCRIPTION PREFERENCES: Subscribe or Unsubscribe from this list.