Building Cabling & Electrical

In this global marketplace it’s easier than ever to open an office in another country, but being based in one country and operating in another can have a few challenges that perhaps aren’t always considered. Office buildings pose one such conundrum – they have to meet the national building regulations of the host country, but should your employees expect the same levels of construction safety as your domestic-based staff? 

Cables are only one element in a larger project, but they are a vital component in any connected construction. Whether for power, data or monitoring purposes, these cables are essential to delivering the building services expected in a modern office – even more so in a ‘smart’ building. In an ideal world, using international IEC standard in specifications would eliminate cross-border differences but there’s not always an exact comparison. Instead, one of the easiest solutions, particularly when it comes to installing switchgear, is to use a cable that has near universal approval.

Tri-rated cable, so called because it is manufactured to the three approved standards of UL1015 (American), CSA 22.2 (Canadian) and BS6231 (British), is a high temperature, flame retardant flexible cable for use in switchgear, relay and instrumentation panels amongst other applications. Commonly known as panel wire, tri-rated cable has a single copper conductor ranging in size from 0.5mm² to 240mm², and PVC insulation. Cable standards are also being harmonized across Europe in order to create a common ground and tri-rated is no different – it is known as H05V2-K or H07V2-K depending on the cable conductor’s cross-sectional size.