I messed up real bad. :(

[HayZee518]

New code? I have a copy of the 1996 code book right in front of me. Article 200-7, exceptions 1 & 2 deal with the white or natural gray wire. Go read exception #2.

[Speedy Petey]

I don't have access to my '96 right now.

I said "newer", meaning less than 20 years old. The re-marking the white wire in a switch loop is a relatively new requirement. 200.7(C)(2)

It is very common to see homes built in the 50's-80's with black and white switch loops. Black and white on a switch and a black connected to a white at the fixture box.

That was my point about the inaccuracy of a "black never connected to a white".

[HayZee518]

I apprenticed in Buffalo NY under a master elect. in 1965. We always taped a white in a switch loop - end of story.

[Speedy Petey]

Agree, it was common practice for some. It just didn't become an official code till NEC '99.
Unfortunately tape is not legal to fulfill this code requirement.

For anyone interested, here is the code section and Handbook commentary in blue:

200.7(C)(2) Where a cable assembly contains an insulated conductor for single-pole, 3-way or 4-way switch loops and the conductor with white or gray insulation or a marking of three continuous white stripes is used for the supply to the switch but not as a return conductor from the switch to the switched outlet. In these applications, the conductor with white or gray insulation or with three continuous white stripes shall be permanently reidentified to indicate its use by painting or other effective means at its terminations and at each location where the conductor is visible and accessible.

Previous editions of the Code permitted switch loops using a white insulated conductor to supply the switch but not as the return conductor to supply the lighting outlet. Prior to the 1999 NEC, re-identification of this particular ungrounded conductor was not required. However, many electronic automation devices requiring a grounded conductor are now available for installation into switch outlets. Therefore, re-identification of all ungrounded conductors that are white or otherwise identified by one of the methods permitted for grounded conductors is now required at every termination point to avoid confusion and improper wiring at the time a switching device is installed or replaced. The required re-identification must be effective, permanent, and suitable for the environment, to clearly identify the insulated conductor as an ungrounded conductor.