House wiring Part II : Wire color code

Wire	Color
Earth (E)	Green (Standard: Green or Yellow)
Neutral (N)	No colored (White or Black) (Standard: Black or Blue)
Live (L)	Other colored except Green (Standard: Red or Brown)

This is only a general guide for the color code system. One way to know a live wire is by using a test pen.

Carefully touch the open wire with a test pen then touch with one finger at the back of the test pen. If the bulb is illuminate, it is the live wire. The Neutral wire is any other wire except the Green wire because generally, Green wire is the Earth.

Before cut
After cut

For my house, they use green, black and red wire. But for some lamp and fan points there are only green and black wires. In this case, the black wire or sometimes red wires need to be cut. Then use the test pen method to know which one is the Live wire. The other wire will be the Neutral wire.

Note:
Usually, electrical appliance use standard wire color code. The best way to know the wire type is by reading the manual or look for the E, N and L marking.

Some electrical appliance such as fluorescent light and ceiling fan only have Neutral and Live wire. The Earth wire you have to fix it by clamping the tip between the ceiling and the light casing or for fan, screw it to the down rod.