faulty cable

What you should do

Unfortunately, it is often not until cables are installed, tested or used that the issue comes to light and by then it can be too late to avoid the enormous costs of rectifying the situation.

If you are an installer, we advise the following precautionary steps and action to safeguard against the risk of installing cable which is sub-standard.

  1. Prevention is better than cure.  Instruct your procurement department to buy approved cable - not just the cheapest available but products which are BASEC approved. Then when the cable arrives check more specifically what they have purchased for you and inspect the product.  Is it what was specified?  On larger projects cable is sometimes purchased by the main contractor and issued to installers.  In this situation make sure that the cable is as specified.

  2. If there is found to be a problem with the cable, for example on system testing, don't immediately strip it out - it may be safe to leave in place – but instead seek advice.

  3. Contact your trade body for e.g. ECA or inspectorate e.g., NICEIC on the installation aspects, or contact BASEC on cable quality issues. Please see contact details at the end of this section.

  4. To help should there be any problems, keep records of the purchase, including reel ends with batch marking on, receipts from the wholesaler and any other sales records on your computer system, and a sample of the cable markings.

  5. If you have scrap lengths, these can be sent to BASEC for checking and testing - 1.5m is good, longer is better. Based on the test results, BASEC will then advise on the best course of action.
Should BASEC find serious faults with a cable such that BASEC would under normal circumstances issue a product recall to the manufacturer, BASEC will contact the manufacturer and suppliers (importers / distributors / wholesalers) with the findings.  

Dependent upon the response, BASEC may choose to make public details of the faulty cable and the parties responsible.  This information will be made available to the trade media and professional organisations in the interests of public safety.