Owners of high-risk buildings are being warned of the dangers of not using approved cabling under a new British Standard Code of Practice by cabling leader AEI Cables.
The systems powered by these cables – including smoke and heat extraction systems – assist fire services in firefighting and a safe evacuation in the case of life safety.
Installations and types of buildings that come under the new Code of Practice include evacuation alarms for the disabled in care homes and emergency voice communications systems and voice alarm systems in tall buildings, office spaces, hospitals, shopping malls and stadia.
Stuart Dover, General Manager of AEI Cables, said: ‘There isn’t a lot of widely available information on this issue. Building owners need to be aware of the dangers of not using approved cabling in these applications and ask their contractor what type of cable they are installing.
‘If these systems fail because the cable is not able to function properly, the consequences could be critical. Lives and property are at stake here. Category 3 Control fire performance cables reduce harmful smoke, toxic gases and flame spread in the event of a real fire.
‘Our customers are seeing the peace of mind of installing approved cables which provide continuity of power for these systems, and we think building owners should be aware of the same information.’
The wider fire-safety industry and professionals have also welcomed the message including the professional fire-safety membership body the Institution of Fire Prevention Officers (IFPO).
AEI Cables is the only supplier in the UK with independent approval from LPCB for BS8519 Category 3 Control fire performance cables with a fire survival time of up to 120 minutes.
AEI Cables’ Firetec Enhanced cabling has been approved and certified by LPCB to BS8519 (Annex B), Category 3 Control in addition to Category 2 Control. The BS Code of Practice under BS8519 contains six categories of cables, three for power cables and three for control cables each covering survival times of 30, 60 or 120 minutes.
All AEI Cables’ products are supplied with approvals from independent bodies including BASEC and LPCB. It also holds approvals from organisations including Lloyds, the MoD, Network Rail and LUL and works to international standards around the world.
For more information, go to www.aeicables.co.uk
