Bad fitting of fp 200 cables.

[kurnal]

Do we all agree then that it is bad practice to rely on plastic cable ties as the sole means of securing and supporting soft skin fire alarm cables?

Since these are used in 90% of new installations that I see- including buildings with phased evacuation policies- should the fire industry as a whole be doing something about it?

Does anybody else comment on it or is it me being far too picky?  And how could we tackle the problem?

[GregC]

If my engineers only used plastic tie wraps only they would be made to go back and redo with metal ones.

Not wanting to point the finger but it is mainly electrical contractors that use plastic, they dont know any better and rely on the fact that there never will be a fire and if there is they will be long gone or blame the next poor sod who connects in a few detectors to help out a client ...

Easy way to tackle the problem would be for the cable manufacturers to mark the cable at 300 and 450 intervals and print on the cable the required P clip or metal wrap part no.

[Wiz]

Do we all agree then that it is bad practice to rely on plastic cable ties as the sole means of securing and supporting soft skin fire alarm cables?

Since these are used in 90% of new installations that I see- including buildings with phased evacuation policies- should the fire industry as a whole be doing something about it?

Does anybody else comment on it or is it me being far too picky?  And how could we tackle the problem?

It doesn't comply with the recommendations as providing a fixing of equal fire resistance as the cable itself, so it is obviously bad practice. No argument.

You are not being picky, you are doing your job correctly. I would highlight it very strongly on any commissioning I carried out.

By highlighting it, the problem will be tackled.

[Wiz]

....Easy way to tackle the problem would be for the cable manufacturers to mark the cable at 300 and 450 intervals and print on the cable the required P clip or metal wrap part no.

I like it Greg. Maybe the marking could be a V for vertical fixing spacing and a H for horizontal fixing spacing.

[Galeon]

....Easy way to tackle the problem would be for the cable manufacturers to mark the cable at 300 and 450 intervals and print on the cable the required P clip or metal wrap part no.

I like it Greg. Maybe the marking could be a V for vertical fixing spacing and a H for horizontal fixing spacing.

Only if you live in Milton Keynes ?

[Graeme]

....Easy way to tackle the problem would be for the cable manufacturers to mark the cable at 300 and 450 intervals and print on the cable the required P clip or metal wrap part no.

I like it Greg. Maybe the marking could be a V for vertical fixing spacing and a H for horizontal fixing spacing.

good idea but gives them another excuse to whack the price of a drum of cable up more..high enough already..