Reading cable designations: VDE, HD 361, NBN and NEN 3207

A type designation such as NA2XS(F)2Y or H07V-K is a short description of how a cable is built. In the Benelux four systems appear side by side: the German VDE code, the European harmonised code under HD 361, the Belgian NBN names and the Dutch names under NEN 3207. Each system has its own rules. So the same letter can mean different things in different systems, and sometimes depending on its position in the name.

The German code reads from the inside out. N stands for a standard type. An A right after it stands for an aluminium conductor; without an A the conductor is copper. Y is PVC, 2Y polyethylene (PE) and 2X cross-linked polyethylene (XLPE), both in the insulation position and in the sheath position. NYY therefore has PVC insulation and a PVC sheath. NA2XS(F)2Y has an aluminium conductor, XLPE insulation, a copper screen (S), a longitudinally watertight build with swelling tape ((F)) and a PE sheath. H stands for halogen-free, as in N2XH.

A C is a concentric copper conductor around the cores, and CW the same conductor laid in a wave. The W in NYCWY therefore belongs to the C and says nothing about heat. For armour, F stands for flat steel wire, R for round steel wire, B for steel tape and Gb for a steel tape as a counter helix, as in N2XSEYFGbY. At the front of that name SE stands for a screen per core; at the end of a name SE means a solid sector conductor. After the hyphen, -J says there is a green/yellow core and -O that there is none. At the end there is sometimes also the conductor shape: RE round solid, RM round stranded, SE sector solid and SM sector stranded.

Harmonised cords and wires follow HD 361, since 2020 in edition S4. That edition also covers PV cable to EN 50618. The leading H stands for a harmonised type. The number gives the voltage: 03 is 300/300 V, 05 is 300/500 V and 07 is 450/750 V. Next come insulation and sheath: V is PVC, R rubber, N polychloroprene and Z1 a halogen-free thermoplastic. After the hyphen comes the conductor: U solid, R stranded, K fine-stranded for fixed installation and F fine-stranded for flexing. H07V-K is therefore a PVC single core for 450/750 V with a fine-stranded conductor, and H05VV-F a flexible PVC cable for 300/500 V.

The Belgian names describe the construction too. X is XLPE, V PVC, W PE and G a halogen-free sheath. A small e stands for longitudinally watertight, as in EAXeVB. For the A, position counts. Right after the first letter, A is an aluminium conductor, as in EAXVB; after the insulation letter, A is armour. EXAVB is therefore an armoured cable with copper conductors. The F in XFVB also stands for armour. Sources contradict each other on the leading E and the final B, so we do not explain those letters.

The Dutch names, such as YMvK and VG-YMvKas, follow the designation system of NEN 3207. Since 1 June 2026 the 2026 edition applies, replacing the 2013 edition. We found no consistent explanation of the individual letters: sources contradict each other, and the new edition may have changed letters. Read the construction from the datasheet and from the product standard instead. For YMvK and VG-YMvKas that is HD 604.

Each system writes the number of cores differently. In the Netherlands, in Belgium and in HD 361, 5G2.5 means five cores, one of them green/yellow, and 5X2.5 means five cores without green/yellow. Germany writes 5×2.5 and puts the green/yellow core in the suffix: NYY-J with, NYY-O without. The G only ever stands for a green/yellow core. If the earth runs through a screen, armour or a concentric conductor, there is no G in the name.

Three letters show why you always read a designation within its own system. G is a green/yellow core in HD 361, a steel tape counter helix in the VDE code and a halogen-free sheath in a Belgian name. F is fine-stranded in HD 361, flat steel wire in the VDE code and armour in a Belgian name. And in a Belgian name A is aluminium or armour, depending on its position.