Conduit/Pipe colours

[darylhewston]

Hi all,

I mean't to do this ages ago.

It appears that there is quite a lot of renovating going on and I would like to clarify that power, water, gas etc services have different colours to identify them.  It is extremely important to install services in their respective colours, not only for legalities, but mainly for safety.

I won't list all the colours, but these will be some you will probably see.

Orange - Electrical (underground)

Light Grey - Electrical (above ground)

White - Communications

Yellow - Gas

Blue - Water

Red - Fire

Purple - Recycled water

Tan - Garden drip

Now you are probably going to say 'but retic poly pipe is white'.  Yes it is, but it is clearly marked for this purpose and it won't ruin your day if you hit it.

This is in accordance with Australian Standard AS-1345.1995.

Stay safe and have a Happy New Year

Cheers'n'beers

Daryl

[Helen]

Thanks, I found this very useful, I have often wondered why all homes don't have the services marked on plan/ drawing which is placed somewhere (meter box perphaps) that stays with that home for reference, it is time comsuming trying to work out where everything runs!

[patrick1]

Hi, I just wonder if you can use the grey general purpose conduit as a communications conduit? Thanks

[EricL]

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @patrick1. It's great to have you join us, and thank you for sharing your question about using grey conduits for communications.

Would it be possible for you to tell us more about what type of communication cable you're putting through the conduit? Can you also please post a photo of the grey conduit itself. By providing our members with more information we'll be able to give you a comprehensive recommendation. Is it just for inside the house or for a commercial establishment? How much of the conduit will you be running? Will it be close to any other conduit that's running on the premises? 

Please keep us updated with your progress, we look forward to seeing your photos.

Eric

[Jason]

Great question @patrick1.

Let me tag electrician @HandyAndy for his thoughts. 

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community. We're looking forward to reading more about your projects and plans.

Jason

[patrick1]

Hi Eric,

I have installed a grey general purpose conduit (it is not labeled 'electrical'; just DETA MD Rigid Conduit Grey 25mm) bought from Bunnings for connection with the NBN conduit in my street, as I had to install a conduit that connects with the NBN conduit in the street to my property before an NBN contractor runs NBN cabling to my property. But the NBN contractor who came told me that I had to use a white communications conduit for the NBN cable. The conduit is half buried and the rest up my private pole. I did google search but all the posts mention grey electrical conduit and white communications conduit but no posts ever mention a grey general purpose conduit replacing the white communications conduit. Many thanks, Eric. And I look forward to hearing from you.

[patrick1]

Thank you Jason. I just replied to Eric with more details. This grey general purpose conduit bought from Bunnings is labelled DETA MD Rigid Conduit Grey 25mm. I intend to use it for NBN cabling. A small part of it is connected to the NBN conduit buried and most of it is up my private pole. Please refer to images. Kind regards

[EricL]

Hello @patrick1

Thank you so much for the photo updates. I recommend exchanging your current conduit for a DETA 20mm Internal Rigid Communications Conduit. If you're linking this up with an existing conduit make sure to double-check the size before purchasing it. Size adapters are available in the store if you need to shift from one size to the other. In this manner, you comply with the rules and there will be no confusion as to what is going through that pipe. 

If you need more advice or information, please let us know.

Eric

[patrick1]

Hi Eric,

Thanks for your reply, which is actually what I had expected. So yesterday I already bought two communications conduits from Bunnings and installed them. 

But what I'd like to know is where the light grey coloured conduit differs from the white communications conduit (as they are both marked as being made of UPVC), such as does the grey conduit interfere with communications signal etc.

Kind regards 

[MitchellMc]

Hi @patrick1,

@EricL will be back after the weekend, so I'll take a stab at answering that for you. The colour simply denotes the usage. You could theoretically run any cable through whatever coloured conduit you like. However, that wouldn't adhere to the rules and standards surrounding the compliant use of conduits. The standards exist to ensure the health and safety of those working around and on the conduits. Incorrectly using conduits is the same as wiring your house with the wrong coloured wires.

In your case, you've unknowingly used a conduit designed for 240V power cables for a telecommunications line. This isn't inherently dangerous in itself, but it is an incorrect usage of the conduit. On the other hand, it would be highly hazardous if a white telecommunications conduit was used for 240V cables and could cause the loss of life. Someone could cut through that conduit expecting, at worst, a low voltage cable inside to then be electrocuted with 240V. It's happened before and is why the standard was introduced.

Australian Standard AS-1345.1995 ensures the appropriate use of conduits and makes identifying their usage an easy task. Not only does this keep things simple, but it also saves lives.

I hope that answers your question. 

Mitchell