Unitrunk has become the first cable management specialist in the UK to pass fire safety testing for both its cable tray and cable ladder.
The move pre-empts any mandatory requirement to certify cable management systems for fire safety and has seen Unitrunk proactively choose to undertake fire testing in response to general concerns about the safety of all elements of construction specifications.
Independent third party tests have been carried out on Unitrunk’s pre-galvanised UniKlip cable tray from the RIS range, involving both heavy duty UniKlip and medium duty UniKlip, which achieved a fire rating of E90, indicating that the system can withstand temperatures rising to 1,000°C for at least 90 minutes. The company’s EasyConnect basket tray is already E90 certified for fire resistance.
Other Unitrunk cable management systems that passed the stringent fire testing process include hot-dip galvanised cable tray and Speedway SW4 medium duty cable ladder in both stainless steel and hot-dip galvanised.
To pass the fire tests, all the cable management systems had to withstand a temperature curve as high as 1,000°C whilst the cables in the system maintained circuit integrity. The cable management was then fire-rated based on the number of minutes they were successfully able to withstand these conditions.
Unitrunk’s commercial manager, Martin Gregg, commented, “Our decision to invest in fire safety testing for UniKlip, hot-dip galvanised cable tray and Speedway SW4 cable ladder system stems from a belief that this should be integral to quality assurance processes for all cable management systems, regardless of whether compliance to a standard is required.
“The whole construction supply chain needs to take responsibility for designing fire safety into their products. Gaining certification ahead of any mandatory obligation helps specifiers include fire safety as a product selection criterion.”
Martin adds: “Our goal is to offer customers complete peace of mind that they are specifying a cable management system that will enhance the fire safety of their completed construction or refurbishment project. As a UK manufacturer, we can offer total quality assurance and consistency for all our systems and fire certification adds to that pedigree.”
