Which standard first nailed down yellow for flammable fluid piping in North America, and what year was that edition? I’m double-checking a 1985 shop chart before approving a repaint so we don’t risk misidentification during an emergency.
ANSI/ASME A13.1 nailed it — yellow with black letters for flammable fluids — and it’s in the 1981 edition, so your 1985 chart is in-bounds. > a 1985 shop chart before approving a repaint so — , been there; grab A13.1-1981 (or 1996) and confirm the color field and letter contrast notes before you sign off. Small caveat: some shops leaned on OSHA 1910.144 back then, but OSHA never set pipe colors — are you in the U.S. or Canada?
You’re safe for a 1985 repaint — A13.1-1981 already called flammable fluids yellow with black legend — but I’d still pull the table and tighten up arrows/placement at valves, direction changes, and entries. One caveat: some shops carried older in‑house colors into the late ’80s, so make sure the emergency pre‑plans match that “1985 shop chart.” @carlson_84, did oxidizers have their own split in that era on your jobs, or was that a later update?
But looks right — by the early ’80s A13.1 had yellow/black locked in for flammables — but do a quick pass to catch anything that’s only combustible (diesel, HT oil), which is brown in that scheme. Quick step: classify each line by flash point first — “call the color by the hazard” — then hit valves, direction changes, and wall penetrations with markers. Any oxidizers in the mix or just fuels?
It’s ANSI/ASME A13.1, with “flammable fluids” on yellow confirmed in the 1981 edition; earlier A13.1 printings leaned that way, but ’81 is the clean cite. Before you sign off, @kevmanley90, match the paint to ANSI Z535.1 safety yellow so it doesn’t drift into that muddy mustard that hurts readability.
Cross-check your ‘1985 shop chart’ against NFPA 30 classes; label anything Class I accordingly. Any O2 lines — treat separately?
For the citation, “Flammable fluids” on a yellow field is explicit in A13.1-1981 (Table 1), with later editions retaining it. Do a belt-and-suspenders pass on the repaint by adding clear legends and flow arrows at valves/changes and at intervals per A13.1, and note the standard also permits a documented plant-specific scheme if you’re locked into one. ASME overview is here: https://www.asme.org/codes-standards/find-codes-standards/a13-1-scheme-for-the-identification-of-piping-systems.
If your ‘1985 chart’ tracks A13.1-1981, also add NFPA 704 placards at entries.