IEC 60445:2010

Basic and safety principles for man-machine interface, marking and identification - Identification of equipment terminals, conductor terminations and conductors

IEC 60445:2010 applies to the identification and marking of terminals of electrical equipment such as resistors, fuses, relays, contactors, transformers, rotating machines and, wherever applicable, to combinations of such equipment (e.g. assemblies), and also applies to the identification of terminations of certain designated conductors. It also provides general rules for the use of certain colours or alphanumeric notations to identify conductors with the aim of avoiding ambiguity and ensuring safe operation. These conductor colours or alphanumeric notations are intended to be applied in cables or cores, busbars, electrical equipment and installations. This fifth edition is a merged version of IEC 60445 and IEC 60446, and cancels and replaces the fourth edition of IEC 60445, published in 2006, and the fourth edition of IEC 60446, published in 2007. This edition includes the following significant technical changes with respect to the previous edition:
- addition of new definitions in Clause 3;
- revision of some clauses to use words from reference IEC standards. These revisions did not change any technical requirements but to clarify the wording;
- addition of Annex B (informative) "List of notes concerning certain countries". It has the status of a horizontal standard in accordance with IEC Guide 104.

Principes fondamentaux et de sécurité pour les interfaces homme-machines, le marquage et l'identification - Identification des bornes de matériels, des extrémités de conducteurs et des conducteurs

La CEI 60445:2010 s'applique à l'identification et au marquage des bornes de matériels électriques, tels que résistances, coupe-circuits à fusibles, relais, contacteurs, transformateurs, machines tournantes et, chaque fois que cela est possible, à des combinaisons de tels matériels (par exemple des ensembles) et s'applique aussi à l'identification des extrémités de certains conducteurs désignés. Elle prévoit également des règles générales concernant l'utilisation de certaines couleurs ou de certains caractères alphanumériques pour identifier les conducteurs dans le but d'éviter toute ambiguïté et de garantir la sécurité de fonctionnement. Ces couleurs ou ces caractères alphanumériques destinés aux conducteurs doivent être appliqués aux câbles ou aux noyaux, aux barres omnibus, aux matériels et aux installations électriques. Cette cinquième édition qui fusionne la CEI 60445 et la CEI 60446, annule et remplace la quatrième édition de la CEI 60445, publiée en 2006, et la quatrième édition de la CEI 60446, publiée en 2007. Cette édition inclut les modifications techniques importantes suivantes par rapport à l'édition précédente:
- l'adjonction de nouvelles définitions à l'Article 3;
- la révision de certains articles afin d'utiliser la terminologie des normes CEI de référence. Ces révisions ne modifient aucune exigence technique, mais en clarifient la formulation;
- l'adjonction de l'Annexe B (informative) "Liste des notes concernant certains pays". Elle a le statut de norme horizontale conformément au IEC Guide 104.

General Information

• Status: Published
• Publication Date: 26-Aug-2010
• ICS: 29.020 - Electrical engineering in general
• Technical Committee: TC 3 - Documentation, graphical symbols and representations of technical information
• Drafting Committee: MT 11 - TC 2/MT 11
• Current Stage: DELPUB - Deleted Publication
• Completion Date: 04-Aug-2017

Relations

• Revised: IEC 60445:2017 - Basic and safety principles for man-machine interface, marking and identification - Identification of equipment terminals, conductor terminations and conductors
• Effective Date: 05-Sep-2023

Standards Content (Sample)

IEC 60445
®
Edition 5.0 2010-08
INTERNATIONAL
STANDARD
NORME
INTERNATIONALE
colour
inside
BASIC SAFETY PUBLICATION
PUBLICATION FONDAMENTALE DE SÉCURITÉ
Basic and safety principles for man-machine interface, marking and
identification –
Identification of equipment terminals, conductor terminations and conductors

Principes fondamentaux et de sécurité pour les interfaces homme-machines, le
marquage et l’identification –
Identification des bornes de matériels, des extrémités de conducteurs et des
conducteurs

IEC 60445:2010

---------------------- Page: 1 ----------------------
THIS PUBLICATION IS COPYRIGHT PROTECTED
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---------------------- Page: 2 ----------------------
IEC 60445
®
Edition 5.0 2010-08
INTERNATIONAL
STANDARD
NORME
INTERNATIONALE
colour
inside
BASIC SAFETY PUBLICATION
PUBLICATION FONDAMENTALE DE SÉCURITÉ
Basic and safety principles for man-machine interface, marking and
identification –
Identification of equipment terminals, conductor terminations and conductors

Principes fondamentaux et de sécurité pour les interfaces homme-machines, le
marquage et l’identification –
Identification des bornes de matériels, des extrémités de conducteurs et des
conducteurs

INTERNATIONAL
ELECTROTECHNICAL
COMMISSION
COMMISSION
ELECTROTECHNIQUE
PRICE CODE
INTERNATIONALE
T
CODE PRIX
ICS 29.020 ISBN 978-2-88912-166-3
® Registered trademark of the International Electrotechnical Commission
Marque déposée de la Commission Electrotechnique Internationale

---------------------- Page: 3 ----------------------
– 2 – 60445 © IEC:2010
CONTENTS
FOREWORD.4
INTRODUCTION.6
1 Scope.7
2 Normative references .7
3 Terms and definitions .7
4 Methods of identification.9
5 Application of identification means .10
6 Identification by colours.10
6.1 General .10
6.2 Use of single colours .11
6.2.1 Permitted colours .11
6.2.2 Neutral or mid-point conductors.11
6.2.3 Line conductors in AC-systems.11
6.3 Use of bi-colour combinations .11
6.3.1 Permitted colours .11
6.3.2 Protective conductors .11
6.3.3 PEN conductors.12
6.3.4 PEL conductors .12
6.3.5 PEM conductors .12
6.3.6 Protective bonding conductors.13
7 Identification by alphanumeric notation.13
7.1 General .13
7.2 Equipment terminal identification – Marking principles.13
7.3 Identification of certain designated conductors .16
7.3.1 General .16
7.3.2 Neutral conductor .16
7.3.3 Protective conductor.16
7.3.4 PEN conductor .16
7.3.5 PEL conductor.16
7.3.6 PEM conductor .16
7.3.7 Protective bonding conductor .16
7.3.8 Protective bonding conductor earthed.16
7.3.9 Protective bonding conductor unearthed.16
7.3.10 Functional earthing conductor.16
7.3.11 Functional bonding conductor .16
7.3.12 Mid-point conductor .16
7.3.13 Line conductor.17
Annex A (informative) Colours, alphanumeric notations and graphical symbols used

for identification of conductors / terminals.18
Annex B (informative) List of notes concerning certain countries.20
Bibliography.24


Figure 1 – Single element with two terminals .13
Figure 2 – Single element with four terminals: two endpoints and two intermediate
points .14
Figure 3 – Three-phase equipment with six terminals.14

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60445 © IEC:2010 – 3 –
Figure 4 – Three-element equipment with twelve terminals: six endpoints and six
intermediate points .14
Figure 5 – Equipment with groups of elements.15
Figure 6 – Interconnection of equipment terminals and certain designated conductors.15

Table A.1 – Colours, alphanumeric notations and graphical symbols used for
identification of conductors / terminals .18

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– 4 – 60445 © IEC:2010
INTERNATIONAL ELECTROTECHNICAL COMMISSION
____________

BASIC AND SAFETY PRINCIPLES FOR MAN-MACHINE
INTERFACE, MARKING AND IDENTIFICATION –
IDENTIFICATION OF EQUIPMENT TERMINALS, CONDUCTOR
TERMINATIONS AND CONDUCTORS



FOREWORD
1) The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) is a worldwide organization for standardization comprising
all national electrotechnical committees (IEC National Committees). The object of IEC is to promote
international co-operation on all questions concerning standardization in the electrical and electronic fields. To
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8) Attention is drawn to the Normative references cited in this publication. Use of the referenced publications is
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patent rights. IEC shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.
International Standard IEC 60445 has been prepared by IEC technical committee 16: Basic
and safety principles for man-machine interface, marking and identification.
This fifth edition is a merged version of IEC 60445 and IEC 60446, and cancels and replaces
the fourth edition of IEC 60445, published in 2006, and the fourth edition of IEC 60446,
published in 2007.
It has the status of a basic safety publication in accordance with IEC Guide 104.
This edition includes the following significant technical changes with respect to the previous edition:
a) addition of new definitions in Clause 3;
b) revision of some clauses to use words from reference IEC standards. These revisions did
not change any technical requirements but to clarify the wording;

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60445 © IEC:2010 – 5 –
c) addition of Annex B (informative) “List of notes concerning certain countries”.
The text of this standard is based on the following documents:
FDIS Report on voting
16/479/FDIS 16/480/RVD

Full information on the voting for the approval of this standard can be found in the report on
voting indicated in the above table.
This publication has been drafted in accordance with the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2.
The reader’s attention is drawn to the fact that Annex B lists all of the “in-some-country”
clauses on differing practices of a less permanent nature relating to the subject of this
standard.
The committee has decided that the contents of this publication will remain unchanged until
the stability date indicated on the IEC web site under "http://webstore.iec.ch" in the data
related to the specific publication. At this date, the publication will be
• reconfirmed,
• withdrawn,
• replaced by a revised edition, or
• amended.

IMPORTANT – The 'colour inside' logo on the cover page of this publication indicates
that it contains colours which are considered to be useful for the correct understanding
of its contents. Users should therefore print this document using a colour printer.

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– 6 – 60445 © IEC:2010
INTRODUCTION
This basic safety publication is primarily intended for use by technical committees in the
preparation of standards in accordance with the principles laid down in IEC Guide 104 and
ISO/IEC Guide 51.
It is not intended for use by manufacturers or certification bodies. One of the responsibilities
of a technical committee is, wherever applicable, to make use of basic safety publications in
the preparation of its publications. The requirements of this basic safety publication will not
apply unless specifically referred to or included in the relevant publications.
In this fifth edition of IEC 60445, the terminology has been aligned with IEC 60050-195.

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60445 © IEC:2010 – 7 –
BASIC AND SAFETY PRINCIPLES FOR MAN-MACHINE
INTERFACE, MARKING AND IDENTIFICATION –
IDENTIFICATION OF EQUIPMENT TERMINALS, CONDUCTOR
TERMINATIONS AND CONDUCTORS



1 Scope
This International Standard applies to the identification and marking of terminals of electrical
equipment such as resistors, fuses, relays, contactors, transformers, rotating machines and,
wherever applicable, to combinations of such equipment (e.g. assemblies), and also applies
to the identification of terminations of certain designated conductors. It also provides general
rules for the use of certain colours or alphanumeric notations to identify conductors with the
aim of avoiding ambiguity and ensuring safe operation. These conductor colours or
alphanumeric notations are intended to be applied in cables or cores, busbars, electrical
equipment and installations.
2 Normative references
The following referenced documents are indispensable for the application of this document.
For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For undated references, the latest edition
of the referenced document (including any amendments) applies.
IEC 60417, Graphical symbols for use on equipment
IEC 60617, Graphical symbols for diagrams
IEC Guide 104, The preparation of safety publications and the use of basic safety publications
and group safety publications
ISO/IEC Guide 51, Safety aspects – Guidelines for their inclusion in standards
3 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the following terms and definitions apply.
NOTE The terms are sorted in alphabetical order in the English language.
3.1
electrical equipment
item used for purposes like generation, conversion, distribution or utilization of electric energy
(e.g. electrical machines, transformers, switchgear and controlgear, measuring instruments,
wiring systems, current-using equipment, etc.)
[IEC 60050-826:2004, 826-16-01, modified]
3.2
functional bonding conductor
conductor provided for functional- equipotential bonding
[IEC 60050-195:1998, 195-02-16]

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– 8 – 60445 © IEC:2010
3.3
functional earthing
functional grounding (in US)
earthing a point or points in a system or in an installation or in equipment, for purposes other
than electrical safety
[IEC 60050-195, Amendment 1:2001, 195-01-13]
3.4
functional earthing conductor
functional grounding conductor (in US)
earthing conductor provided for functional earthing
[IEC 60050-195, 195-02-15]
3.5
functional-equipotential-bonding
equipotential bonding for operational reasons other than safety
[IEC 60050-195, 195-01-16]
3.6
line conductor
phase conductor (in AC systems) (deprecated)
pole conductor (in DC systems) (deprecated)
conductor which is energized in normal operation and capable of contributing to the
transmission or distribution of electric energy but which is not a neutral or mid-point conductor
[IEC 60050-195, 195-02-08]
3.7
mid-point conductor
conductor electrically connected to the mid-point and capable of contributing to the
distribution of electric energy
[IEC 60050-195, 195-02-07]
3.8
neutral conductor
conductor electrically connected to the neutral point and capable of contributing to the
distribution of electric energy
[IEC 60050-195, 195-02-06]
3.9
PEL conductor
conductor combining the functions of both a protective earthing conductor and a line
conductor
[IEC 60050-195, 195-02-14]
3.10
PEM conductor
conductor combining the functions of both a protective earthing conductor and a mid-point
conductor
[IEC 60050-195, 195-02-13]

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60445 © IEC:2010 – 9 –
3.11
PEN conductor
conductor combining the functions of both a protective earthing conductor and a neutral
conductor
[IEC 60050-195, 195-02-12]
3.12
protective bonding conductor
equipotential bonding conductor (deprecated)
protective conductor provided for protective-equipotential-bonding
[IEC 60050-195, 195-02-10]
3.13
protective bonding conductor, earthed
protective bonding conductor with a conductive path to earth
3.14
protective bonding conductor, unearthed
protective bonding conductor without a conductive path to earth
3.15
protective conductor
(identification: PE)
conductor provided for purposes of safety, for example protection against electric shock
[IEC 60050-195, 195-02-09]
3.16
protective earthing
protective grounding (in US)
earthing a point or points in a system or in an installation or in equipment, for purposes of
electrical safety
[IEC 60050-195, Amendment 1:2001, 195-01-11]
3.17
protective earthing conductor
protective grounding conductor (in US)
protective conductor provided for protective earthing
[IEC 60050-195:1998, 195-02-11]
3.18
protective-equipotential-bonding
equipotential bonding for the purposes of safety
[IEC 60050-195:1998, 195-01-15]
4 Methods of identification
Where the identification of equipment terminals and of terminations of certain designated
conductors is considered necessary, it shall be effected by the use of one or more of the
following methods:
– the physical or relative location of the equipment terminals or of terminations of certain
designated conductors;

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– 10 – 60445 © IEC:2010
– a colour code for equipment terminals and terminations of certain designated conductors
in accordance with Clause 6;
– graphical symbols in accordance with IEC 60417. If additional symbols are required, these
shall be consistent with IEC 60617;
– an alphanumeric notation in accordance with the system laid down in Clause 7.
To keep consistency with the documentation, conductor and equipment terminal designation,
the alphanumeric notation is recommended.
Identification of conductors by colours shall be in accordance with the requirements provided
in Clause 6. Identification of conductors by alphanumeric notation shall be in accordance with
the requirements provided in Clause 7.
NOTE It is recognised that for complex systems and installations additional marking and labelling may be needed
for reasons other than safety, see for example IEC 62491.
5 Application of identification means
The identifying colour, graphical symbol or alphanumeric notation shall be located on, or
adjacent to, the corresponding terminal.
When more than one identification method is used and confusion is possible, the correlation
between the methods shall be clarified in the associated documentation.
When no confusion is possible, the juxtaposition of numerical and alphanumeric notation may
be applied.
Terminals/conductors used for earthing are divided concerning their purpose of earthing into
the two basic concept of protective earthing and functional earthing.
– If a terminal or conductor fulfils the requirements for both protective earthing and
functional earthing, it shall be designated as a protective earthing terminal/conductor.
– If the requirements for protective earthing are not met by a functional earthing
terminal/conductor, it shall not be marked with an identification of a protective earthing
terminal/conductor.
– The requirements for functional earthing are to be defined by the manufacturer or the
relevant product committee and should be specified within the documentation of the
equipment.
NOTE For example requirements for handling EMC issues.
6 Identification by colours
6.1 General
For identification of conductors, the following colours are permitted:
– black, brown, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, violet, grey, white, pink, turquoise.
NOTE This list of colours is derived from IEC 60757.
The identification by colour shall be used at terminations and preferably throughout the length
of the conductor either by the colour of the insulation or by colour markers, except for bare
conductors where the colour identification shall be at termination and connection points.
Identification by colour or marking is not required for
– concentric conductors of cables,

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60445 © IEC:2010 – 11 –
– metal sheath or armour of cables when used as a protective conductor,
– bare conductors where permanent identification is not practicable,
– extraneous-conductive-parts used as a protective conductor,
– exposed-conductive-parts used as a protective conductor.
Additional markings, for example alphanumerical, are allowed, provided that the colour
identification remains unambiguous.
6.2 Use of single colours
6.2.1 Permitted colours
The single colours green and yellow are only permitted where confusion with the colouring of
the conductors in accordance with 6.3.2 to 6.3.6 is not likely to occur.
6.2.2 Neutral or mid-point conductors
Where a circuit includes a neutral or mid-point conductor identified by colour, the colour used
for this purpose shall be blue. In order to avoid confusion with other colours it is
recommended to use an unsaturated colour blue, often called "light blue". Blue shall not be
used for identifying any other conductor where confusion is possible.
In the absence of a neutral or mid-point conductor within the whole wiring system, a conductor
identified by blue may be used for any other purposes, except as a protective conductor.
If identification by colour is used, bare conductors used as neutral or mid-point conductors
shall be either coloured by a blue stripe, 15 mm to 100 mm wide in each unit or enclosure and
each accessible position, or coloured blue throughout their length.
NOTE IEC 60079-11 prescribes blue when a colour is used for the marking of terminal, terminal boxes, plugs and
sockets of intrinsically-safe circuits.
6.2.3 Line conductors in AC-systems
For line conductors in AC-systems the preferred colours are BLACK, BROWN and GREY.
NOTE Sequence of colour codes in this clause is alphabetical. It does not recommend phasing or direction of
rotation.
6.3 Use of bi-colour combinations
6.3.1 Permitted colours
Combinations of any two of the colours listed in 6.1 are permitted provided there is no risk of
confusion.
To avoid such confusion the colour green and the colour yellow shall not be used in colour
combinations other than the combination green-and-yellow. The use of the combination of the
colours green-and-yellow is restricted to the purposes of 6.3.2 to 6.3.6.
6.3.2 Protective conductors
Protective conductors shall be identified by the bi-colour combination green-and-yellow.
NOTE 1 It may be necessary to provide additional marking to unambiguously identify a certain designated
conductor.
NOTE 2 An additional colour marking is required for PEN, PEL and PEM conductors.

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– 12 – 60445 © IEC:2010
Green-and-yellow is the only colour combination recognized for identifying the protective
conductor.
The colour combination green-and-yellow shall be such that, on any 15 mm length of the
conductor where colour coding is applied, one of these colours covers at least 30 % and not
more than 70 % of the surface of the conductor, the other colour covering the remainder of
that surface.
If bare conductors, used as protective conductors, are provided with colouring they shall be
coloured green-and-yellow, either throughout the whole length of each conductor or in each
compartment or unit or at each accessible position. If adhesive tape is used, only bi-coloured
tape shall be applied.
NOTE 3 Where the protective conductor can be eas
...