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Non-standard power cord colours - legal to supply or not?

jbrameld

Could someone confirm if it is legal to place on the market in the UK product that is supplied from the US with a power cord with US colour codes?  This is a manufactured product intended for use in 'professional' settings (rather than domestic) in the form of theatrical lighting luminaires.

If it's a separate cable then it's an easy swap for a UK cable - but who should do that swap - The Manufacturer, Importer, Distributor (us) or the end-user (or nobody....)?

The Electrical Appliances (Colour Code) Regulations 1969 say this about applicability:

....so on this basis if a product is marked for 'professional use only' would it fall outside of these regulations, and therefore OK to be supplied with US colours in the mains lead?  If the product has a separate mains lead, and the product itself has UKCA or CE marking is the separate lead included in this or subject to entirely separate marking (which might not be permissible if the wrong colours are in it)?

I have had a skim through the Electrical Equipment (Safety) Regulations but they are very generically written.

Assume for this discussion that the power supply in the appliance is suitable for 230V operation.

Thanks in advance,

Jason.

  • 0

    I am fairly confident  it is not illegal, you can certainly buy, sell and use a US colours cables in the UK and no-one will arrest you.

    It is probably not wise if there is ever any chance that someone changes the plug and gets confused, so customers should be advised in the paperwork, or kit should be labelled.

    The plug and socket rules are very specific about 13A plugs for domestic use. Beyond that once you are using anything else you are really supposed to know what you are doing.

    Mike.

  • 0 in reply to mapj1

    Thanks MIke - it's likely we'll swap the supplied US cable with a UK one before we ship to our customer - it was more looking to see if I could push that responsibility back to the manufacturer/importer.

    Looks like I can't.....

  • 0 in reply to jbrameld

    well even without a legal enforcement, you may still try  it on and say you don't want /cant use these foreign mains leads and can they please not supply them and knock a bit off the price....

    Mike.

  • 0 in reply to mapj1

    We're definitely trying that approach anyway!!

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