Over here if an appliance is repaired by a qualified technician, that technician, must affix an Electrical Safety
What appliances does that cover? Or is it a requirement for any mains-powered equipment?
On the colors again, after our previous discussions about this I've actually quizzed a few people about what they'd think if they came across other systems.
Just about all non-technical people seem to try to associate any color with its matching British designation first, and then assume that the remaining color(s) must be for whatever's left over.
Asked about an American appliance with black, white, and green, the response was almost invariably along these lines: "Green must be earth. Black has got to be neutral, so I suppose they use white for live."
How about an old German appliance with red, black, and gray? "Red and black have to be live and neutral, so do they use gray for earth?" The assumption of red being live could be disastrous, of course.
I guess this assumption process works everywhere: Recall Texas_Ranger's story of the old British tape-recorder where he assumed red was earth.... (Sorry, Ragnar, I'm not picking on you, it just stuck in my mind!
And certainly back when I was a teenager I was totally unaware of the Germanic use of red for ground.
That said, I still don't believe that there is any need for Trading Standards to tell second-hand dealers not to sell electrical equipment with the old color codes. They already have the rule that goods must be sold fitted with a plug, and if someone from another country happens to buy that item and take it home, then it's
his responsibility to rewire it correctly to his own national plug, just as it would be up to me to check the colors if I bought some unfamiliar appliance overseas.
Another point is that the new colors came into use here around 1970, so anything wired with the old standard is now well over 30 years old. It's really only likely to be sold to collectors and specialists, rather than being the typical flea-market stuff where Joe Schmoe just wants a cheap second-hand and not-too-old iron, TV, kettle, etc.
[This message has been edited by pauluk (edited 10-03-2003).]