"Wiring" redirects here.

For the software development platform, see Wiring (development

platform).
This article is about building wiring. For power distribution, see Electric power
transmission and Electric power distribution. Building wiring is the electrical wiring and
associated devices such as switches, meters and light fittings used in buildings or other
structures. Electrical wiring uses insulated conductors.
Wiring safety codes vary by country, and the International Electrotechnical

Commission (IEC) is attempting to standardise wiring amongst member countries. Wires

and cables are rated by the circuit voltage, temperature and environmental conditions
(moisture, sunlight, oil, chemicals) in which they can be used. Colour codes are used to
distinguish line, neutral and ground (earth) wires.

Wiring Safety Codes

Wiring safety codes are intended to protect people and property from electrical shock and
fire hazards. Regulations may be established by city, county, provincial/state or national
legislation, usually by adopting a model code (with or without local amendments) produced
by a technical standards-setting organisation, or by a national standard electrical code. The
first electrical codes in the United States originated in New York in 1881 to regulate
installations of electric lighting. Since 1897 the US National Fire Protection Association, a
private non-profit association formed by insurance companies, has published the National
Electrical Code (NEC). States, counties or cities often include the NEC in their local building
codes by reference along with local differences. The NEC is modified every three years. It is
a consensus code considering suggestions from interested parties. The proposals are studied
by committees of engineers, tradesmen, manufacturer representatives, fire fighters and
other invitees.
Colour Code
To enable wires to be easily and safely identified, all common wiring safety codes mandate a
colour scheme for the insulation on power conductors. In a typical electrical code, some
colour-coding is mandatory, while some may be optional. Many local rules and exceptions
exist. Older installations vary in colour codes, and colours may shift with insulation exposure
to heat, light and ageing. Many electrical codes now recognise (or even require) the use of
wire covered with green insulation, additionally marked with a prominent yellow stripe, for
safety earthing (grounding) connections. This growing international standard was adopted

for its distinctive appearance, to reduce the likelihood of dangerous confusion of safety
earthing (grounding) wires with other electrical functions, especially by persons affected by
red-green colour blindness.

Wiring Method
Materials for wiring interior electrical systems in buildings vary depending on:

Intended use and amount of power demand on the circuit

Type of occupancy and size of the building

National and local regulations

Environment in which the wiring must operate.

Wires and cables are rated by the circuit voltage, temperature rating and environmental
conditions (moisture, sunlight, oil, chemicals) in which they can be used. A wire or cable
has a voltage (to neutral) rating and a maximum conductor surface temperature rating.
The amount of current a cable or wire can safely carry depends on the installation
conditions.

Early wiring methods

The first interior power wiring systems used conductors that were bare or covered with
cloth, which were secured by staples to the framing of the building or on running boards.
Where conductors went through walls, they were protected with cloth tape. Splices were
done similarly to telegraph connections, and soldered for security. Underground
conductors were insulated with wrappings of cloth tape soaked in pitch, and laid in
wooden troughs which were then buried. Such wiring systems were unsatisfactory
because of the danger of electrocution and fire, plus the high labour cost for such
installations.

Wiring Gauge
is a measurement of how large a wire is, either in diameter or cross sectional area. This
determines the amount of electric current a wire can safely carry, as well as its electrical
resistance and weight per unit of length. Wire gauge is applicable to both electrical and
non-electrical wires, being important to electrical wiring and to structural cable.
Types
Gauges may be broadly divided into two groups, the empirical and the geometric. The
first includes all the older gauge measurements, notably the Birmingham (B.W.G. or
Stubs) and the Lancashire. The origin of the B.W.G. is obscure. The numbers of wire were
in common use earlier than 1735. It is believed that they originally were based on the
series of drawn wires, No. 1 being the original rod, and succeeding numbers

corresponding with each draw, so that No. 10, for example, would have passed ten times
through the draw plate. But the Birmingham and the Lancashire gauge, the latter being
based on an averaging of the dimensions collated from a large number of the former in
the possession of Peter Stubs of Warrington, have long held the leading position, and are
still retained and used probably to a greater extent than the more recent geometrical
gauges.
The first attempt to adopt a geometrical system was made by Messrs Brown & Sharpe in
1855. They established a regular progression of thirty-nine steps between the English sizes,
No. 0000 (460 mils or about 12 mm) and No. 36 (5 mils or about 0.13 mm). Each diameter
was multiplied by 0.890526 to give the next lower size. This is now the American wire
gauge(AWG), and is used to a considerable extent in the United States.
The Imperial Standard Wire Gauge, which has been sanctioned by the British Board of Trade,
is one that was formulated by J. Latimer Clark. Incidentally, one of its recommendations is
that it differs from pre-existing gauges scarcely more than they differ among themselves,
and it is based on a rational system, the basis being the mil. No. 7/0, the largest size, is 0.50
in. (500 mils or 12.7 mm) in diameter, and the smallest, No. 50, is 0.001 in. (1 mil or about
25 m) in diameter. Between these the diameter, or thickness, diminishes by 10.557%, and
the weight diminishes by 20%.
None of the above systems of measurement are part of the metric system.
The current British Standard for metallic materials, which includes wire, is BS 6722:1986,
which is a solely metric standard. This replaces the now-withdrawn BS 3737:1964, which
used the SWG system.
Measuring
In commerce, the sizes of wire are estimated by a device, also called gauges, which consist
of plates of circular or oblong form having notches of different widths around their edges to
receive wire and sheet metals of different thicknesses. Each notch is stamped with a
number, and the wire or sheet, which just fits a given notch, is stated to be of, say, No. 10,
11, 12, etc., of the wire gauge.
The circular forms of wire gauge measurement devices are the most popular, and are
generally 3 in. (95 mm) in diameter, with thirty-six notches; many have the decimal
equivalents of the sizes stamped on the back. Oblong plates are similarly notched. Rolling
mill gauges are also oblong in form. Many gauges are made with a wedge-like slot into which
the wire is thrust; one edge being graduated, the point at which the movement of the wire is
arrested gives its size. The graduations are those of standard wire, or in thousandths of an
inch. In some cases both edges are graduated differently in order to allow comparison

between two systems of measurement. A few gauges are made with holes into which the
wire has to be thrust. All gauges are hardened and ground to dimensions.
In some applications wire sizes are specified as the cross sectional area of the wire, usually
in mm. Advantages of this system include the ability to readily calculate the physical
dimensions or weight of wire, ability to take account of non-circular wire, and ease
of calculation of electrical properties.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wire_gauge
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrical_wiring
http://electrical.about.com/od/wiringcircuitry/a/electwiresizes.htm