NEN 1010 §411
PE (Protective Earth)
PE (Beschermende aarding)
Also known as: aarding, aarde, pe, grounding, ground, lasmachine-pe-eis, las-retourleiding-verbod-pe, tig-las-aarding
Protective conductor — yellow/green — connecting all accessible metal parts to the earth electrode. Diverts fault current and ensures protection trips within the required time.
Practical example
PE (Protective Earthing): In a washing machine connection, the PE conductor is directly linked to the appliance housing, allowing leakage current to be intercepted by the RCD.
Common mistake
PE (Protective Earthing) Common mistake: Using PE as neutral in a TN-S system — strictly prohibited, causes voltage on the enclosure.
See also
Related terms
- PEN conductor
- Equipotential bonding
- Main earthing terminal
- Main earthing electrode
- Automatic disconnection of supply (ADS)
- Touch voltage (UL)
- Basic Protection, Fault Protection and Additional Protection
- Plate Earth Electrode
- Local isolator (appliance disconnector)
- Connection capacity / contracted power
- Fire-Protection RCD (300 mA)
In-depth guides
- → Earthing and earthing systems (TN, TT, IT)
- → §131 Protection Principles
- → §444.6 / IEC 60364-4-44 Functional earthing (FE) versus protective earthing (PE) — two different purposes, with or without a shared conductor
- → IEC 60364-5-56 / NEN-EN 81-20 / NEN-EN 81-50 Lift installations — supply, bonding and RCD protection of passenger lifts
- → §413.3 Electrical separation (§413.3) — an isolating transformer as a protective measure without earthing
- → §531 Residual Current Circuit Breakers (RCD)
- → Bijlage A (IEC 60364-4-41) Annex A — Basic protection against direct contact, IP2X and the jointed test finger
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