Paul:
Lighting circuits here generally use conduit (behind walls) and individual colour coded cables rather than multicore cable. They don't like the idea of changing colour codes with tape. All live (or potentially live) cables will be brown in a single phase system. You could identify travellers, switch loops etc etc etc by using white rather than grey outer sheathed cable the inner sheath would still be brown) The only tape used is green/yellow stripes to mark unsheathed earth cables at junctions/switches/sockets etc.
Commercial installations often use all individual cables and trays.
In a domestic installation the circuits feeding the lighting may come out of the distribution panel (consumer unit/fusebox) as 3-core cable but the cable feeding the light fittings and switches is almost exclusively single cables.
In my opinion a much more flexible way of doing things!
The individual cables used here are very similar to the multicore cables used in the UK
single colour coded cable inside a grey outer PVC sheath.
-- It means if Mr. DIY expert opens a junction box or an electrican comes along 30 years later that the colour system is easy to follow. Brown = hot/potentially hot. Blue = Neutral and Green/Yellow stripes = Earth.
No other colours are used.
The same applied in the days of Red/Black cable too.
[This message has been edited by djk (edited 08-03-2003).]
