Pick the main and the additional colour, or type them (GN-VT-GN, green violet green, RAL 6018) or the medium (sea water, lub oil, fire fighting). Below, an offered tape or label can be checked against the marking wanted.
On the colours alone: the tape material, its adhesive and its fit to the pipe surface are checked separately.
Ship piping is marked to ISO 14726: a main colour gives the group of the content (fresh water blue, sea water green, fuel brown, oils other than fuels orange, fire fighting red), and a narrower additional band between two main-colour bands names the medium: green–violet–green is ballast water, orange–yellow–orange lubricating oil for internal combustion engines. Enter the colours or the medium and the reader draws the bands, names the medium and its RAL equivalents, checks an offered tape or label against the one wanted and writes an RFQ line.
Only ISO 14726:2008 is read here. National standards for land plants, such as BS 1710 or DIN 2403, use other colours, and ISO 14726 does not cover cargo piping, medical or industrial gases. The ship’s own piping diagram has the last word.
Twelve main colours give the group of the content: black waste media, blue fresh water, brown fuel, green sea water, grey non-flammable gases, maroon air and sounding pipes, orange oils other than fuels, silver steam, red fire fighting, violet acids and alkalis, white air in ventilation systems, yellow flammable gases.
A narrower band of another colour, with the main colour on both sides, names the medium within the group: BU–GN–BU potable water, BN–BK–BN heavy fuel oil, BN–YE–BN marine diesel oil. On a maroon air or sounding pipe the additional colour is the main colour of the content: maroon–brown–maroon is fuel.
ISO 14726 recommends an arrow for the direction of flow, and text that names the content in a language the crew understands. The colours may be tape, a sign or painted stripes across the pipe.
| Colour | Code | RAL | Group (main colour alone) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Black | BK | RAL 9005 | Waste media |
| Blue | BU | RAL 5015 | Fresh water |
| Brown | BN | RAL 8001 | Fuel |
| Green | GN | RAL 6018 | Sea water |
| Grey | GY | RAL 7001 | Non-flammable gases |
| Maroon | MN | RAL 8015 | Air and sounding pipes |
| Orange | OG | RAL 2003 | Oils other than fuels |
| Silver | SR | RAL 9006 | Steam |
| Red | RD | RAL 3000 | Fire fighting |
| Violet | VT | RAL 4001 | Acids, alkalis |
| White | WH | RAL 9010 | Air in ventilation systems |
| Yellow | YE | RAL 1021 | Flammable gases |
| Medium | Bands | Codes |
|---|---|---|
| Waste media | black | BK |
| Black water | black–blue–black | BK–BU–BK |
| Waste oil | black–brown–black | BK–BN–BK |
| Bilge water | black–green–black | BK–GN–BK |
| Exhaust gas | black–grey–black | BK–GY–BK |
| Grey water | black–white–black | BK–WH–BK |
| Sewage, contaminated | black–yellow–black | BK–YE–BK |
| Fresh water | blue | BU |
| Fresh water, sanitary | blue–brown–blue | BU–BN–BU |
| Potable water | blue–green–blue | BU–GN–BU |
| Distillate | blue–grey–blue | BU–GY–BU |
| Gas-turbine wash water | blue–orange–blue | BU–OG–BU |
| Feed water | blue–silver–blue | BU–SR–BU |
| Cooling fresh water | blue–violet–blue | BU–VT–BU |
| Chilled water | blue–white–blue | BU–WH–BU |
| Condensate | blue–yellow–blue | BU–YE–BU |
| Fuel | brown | BN |
| Heavy fuel oil (HFO) | brown–black–brown | BN–BK–BN |
| Aviation fuel | brown–blue–brown | BN–BU–BN |
| Biological fuel | brown–violet–brown | BN–VT–BN |
| Gas-turbine fuel | brown–white–brown | BN–WH–BN |
| Marine diesel oil (MDO) | brown–yellow–brown | BN–YE–BN |
| Sea water | green | GN |
| Decontamination water | green–blue–green | GN–BU–GN |
| Sea water, sanitary | green–brown–green | GN–BN–GN |
| Ballast water | green–violet–green | GN–VT–GN |
| Cooling sea water | green–yellow–green | GN–YE–GN |
| Non-flammable gases | grey | GY |
| Oxygen | grey–blue–grey | GY–BU–GY |
| Inert gas | grey–brown–grey | GY–BN–GY |
| Nitrogen | grey–green–grey | GY–GN–GY |
| Refrigerant | grey–maroon–grey | GY–MN–GY |
| Compressed air, low pressure | grey–orange–grey | GY–OG–GY |
| Compressed air, high pressure | grey–red–grey | GY–RD–GY |
| Control air, regulating air | grey–violet–grey | GY–VT–GY |
| Breathing air | grey–white–grey | GY–WH–GY |
| Breathing gas | grey–yellow–grey | GY–YE–GY |
| Air and sounding pipes | maroon | MN |
| Air and sounding pipes: waste media | maroon–black–maroon | MN–BK–MN |
| Air and sounding pipes: fresh water | maroon–blue–maroon | MN–BU–MN |
| Air and sounding pipes: fuel | maroon–brown–maroon | MN–BN–MN |
| Air and sounding pipes: sea water | maroon–green–maroon | MN–GN–MN |
| Air and sounding pipes: non-flammable gases | maroon–grey–maroon | MN–GY–MN |
| Air and sounding pipes: oils other than fuels | maroon–orange–maroon | MN–OG–MN |
| Air and sounding pipes: steam | maroon–silver–maroon | MN–SR–MN |
| Air and sounding pipes: fire fighting | maroon–red–maroon | MN–RD–MN |
| Air and sounding pipes: acids, alkalis | maroon–violet–maroon | MN–VT–MN |
| Air and sounding pipes: air in ventilation systems | maroon–white–maroon | MN–WH–MN |
| Air and sounding pipes: flammable gases | maroon–yellow–maroon | MN–YE–MN |
| Oils other than fuels | orange | OG |
| Thermal fluid | orange–blue–orange | OG–BU–OG |
| Lubrication oil for gas turbines | orange–green–orange | OG–GN–OG |
| Hydraulic fluid | orange–grey–orange | OG–GY–OG |
| Lubrication oil for steam turbines | orange–silver–orange | OG–SR–OG |
| Lubrication oil for gears | orange–violet–orange | OG–VT–OG |
| Lubrication oil for internal combustion engines | orange–yellow–orange | OG–YE–OG |
| Steam | silver | SR |
| Steam for heating purposes | silver–black–silver | SR–BK–SR |
| Driving steam | silver–green–silver | SR–GN–SR |
| Exhaust steam | silver–white–silver | SR–WH–SR |
| Supply steam | silver–yellow–silver | SR–YE–SR |
| Fire fighting | red | RD |
| Fire-fighting water | red–green–red | RD–GN–RD |
| Fire-fighting gas | red–grey–red | RD–GY–RD |
| Sprinkler water | red–orange–red | RD–OG–RD |
| Spray water | red–violet–red | RD–VT–RD |
| Fire-fighting powder | red–white–red | RD–WH–RD |
| Fire-fighting foam | red–yellow–red | RD–YE–RD |
| Acids, alkalis | violet | VT |
| Air in ventilation systems | white | WH |
| Discharge air | white–black–white | WH–BK–WH |
| Mechanical supply air, cold | white–blue–white | WH–BU–WH |
| Natural exhaust air | white–brown–white | WH–BN–WH |
| Atmospheric air | white–green–white | WH–GN–WH |
| Mechanical exhaust air | white–grey–white | WH–GY–WH |
| Decontaminated supply air | white–maroon–white | WH–MN–WH |
| Mechanical recirculated air | white–orange–white | WH–OG–WH |
| Mechanical supply air, warm | white–silver–white | WH–SR–WH |
| Smoke clearance | white–red–white | WH–RD–WH |
| Conditioned supply air | white–violet–white | WH–VT–WH |
| Natural supply air | white–yellow–white | WH–YE–WH |
| Flammable gases | yellow | YE |
| Hydrogen | yellow–blue–yellow | YE–BU–YE |
| Acetylene | yellow–grey–yellow | YE–GY–YE |
| Liquid gas | yellow–violet–yellow | YE–VT–YE |
Every colour combination and RAL number here is confirmed by two independent sources. Left out: used oil as a medium of its own, since the standard puts it together with waste oil (black–brown–black) while one supplier chart shows it as orange–black–orange; additional colours for acids and alkalis, which the standard does not assign; the Pantone and Munsell equivalents; band widths and the spacing of markings. Combinations the standard leaves without a medium are shown as not assigned.
ISO 14726:2008, identification colours for the content of piping systems on ships, Tables 2 and 3 and Annex B (as published by law.resource.org); the Bourne Group pipe identification tape chart to ISO 14726; the IDIGO ISO 14726:2008 pipe marker colour chart; the Craftmark ID ISO 14726-1/2 colour table; the A-SPE Europe pipe marking colour guide (RAL equivalents); the Eurosul ISO 14726 colour code list. Every combination is in at least two of them.
ISO 14726 gives each pipe a main colour for the group of its content and, where pipes of one group must be told apart, a narrower additional band with the main colour on both sides. Green alone is sea water; green–violet–green is ballast water and green–yellow–green cooling sea water. The standard does not cover cargo piping, medical or industrial gases.
Fuel is brown: brown–black–brown is heavy fuel oil, brown–yellow–brown marine diesel oil. Lubricating oil comes under orange, oils other than fuels: orange–yellow–orange for internal combustion engines, orange–violet–orange for gears, orange–green–orange for gas turbines, orange–silver–orange for steam turbines. Fire fighting is red; fire-fighting water is red–green–red.
Annex B of ISO 14726 gives RAL equivalents for the twelve colours, for example blue RAL 5015, green RAL 6018, brown RAL 8001, orange RAL 2003 and red RAL 3000. The standard itself defines the colours by chromaticity; Annex B is guidance for those who work in other colour systems.
The medium and its colours in order, main colour first, with the letter codes (for example GN–VT–GN, ballast water), the tape width or label size, the outer diameter of the pipes, the quantity, whether flow arrows and a text legend are wanted and in which language, and a photograph of an existing marking.
A reading is a check of the colours, not a survey of the ship’s piping. Attach a photograph of the existing marking and give the pipe sizes, and Vessel Core checks them before an offer goes back.
