WCA March 2017

Industry news

BRE Global turns up heat on cable CE marking

The encouraging manufacturers to contact its cables certification team for information on their CE marking and product testing requirements, however small, large or company is

The safety testing requirement for cable CE marking is exclusively focused on fire performance. With its resources in fire testing, research and investigation, BRE Global says that clients can be fully confident of the integrity of its cable testing and CE marking services.

MANUFACTURERS risk losing out on trade opportunities with Europe without appropriate CE marking for their cable products, says UK company BRE Global, which specialises in fire, security and environmental testing and certification of construction products. The warning comes with just months to go to the 1 st July 2017 deadline when CE marking becomes mandatory for power, control and communication cables placed on the European market. The company is a long-serving notified body for the testing and certification of a wide portfolio of construction products and systems and is well versed with the requirements of the Construction Products Regulation (CPR). With the publication of EN 50575, the EU’s harmonised product standard for power, control and communication cables for permanent use in buildings, manufacturers entered a window of transition to comply with regulation. But despite a deadline extension from December 2016 to July 2017, some manufacturers are still holding back, either daunted by the process or hesitant in the current state of uncertainty following the UK’s vote to be self-declared by the manufacturer, while classifications Dca and Eca require testing by a notified test laboratory. However, Aca, Bca and Cca follow a more complex certification process which must be undertaken by a notified certification body such as BRE Global. This process mainly involves testing to two fire performance standards, EN 50399 and EN 60332-1-2, followed by classification to EN 13501-6 based on the outcome of the tests. The EN 50575 standard also includes the use of new extended field of application (EXAP) rules that allow for the testing of a family of products to be classified to a certain fire property without testing all of the individual members of the family. leave the EU. Classification Fca can

technically complex. BRE Global Ltd – UK Website : www.bre.co.uk

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Wire & Cable ASIA – March/April 2017