The fire resistance of the construction products used in buildings has a key impact on the level of fire safety. For this reason, the European Commission has introduced common regulations for the entire EU, unifying, among other things, the classification of electrical cables and wires. As a result of these regulations, the use of PVC materials is being abandoned, replacing them with halogen-free materials. If you design electrical installations or are responsible for their implementation, be sure to read our guide on fire safety in relation to cables and wires!
In this article you will learn:
- what regulations govern the use of halogen-free cables,
- what markings are used on halogen-free cables,
- in what installations halogen-free cables are used.
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Cables and wires and fire safety - legal basis
The regulations in force in the field of fire safety are regulated by Regulation (EC) No. 305/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council, in short called CPR (Construction Products Regulation). It introduces the obligation to classify construction products in terms of their resistance to fire. It also defines the test methods for their assessment.
The CPR regulation applies to all construction products intended for permanent installation, which means that it also covers cables and wires in civil buildings, public utility buildings or engineering structures. It requires their manufacturers to issue declarations of performance and mark products with the CE mark.
The requirements for the declaration of performance and methods for verifying the fire resistance of cables and wires are included in the EN 50575 standard, and detailed provisions can be found in related standards, including EN 13501-6: Classification of cables and wires with respect to reaction to fire. This defines, for example, the test methodology for classifying cables.
These regulations allow all manufacturers and importers to more easily use parameters responsible for fire safety. This applies to both cable design and the specification of requirements by the ordering party. It is worth remembering that the regulations do not apply to all cable products, but only to those that are used for permanent installation in buildings or parts thereof.
Halogen-free cables
Fire reaction classes
Based on the above-mentioned regulations, power cables and wires are classified in a specific class (so-called Euroclass) of fire resistance: Aca, B1ca, B2ca, Cca, Dca, Eca, Fca, where the former is the highest standard and the latter is the lowest.
Each Euroclass indicates the extent to which a construction product (in this case a cable or wire) contributes to the development of fire. The higher the standard, the lower the risk during a fire. Specific parameters have been assigned to each class, which must be demonstrated by the products corresponding to them. The specified threshold values are verified during laboratory tests in independent research units notified by the European Union. This solution makes the test results fully comparable, regardless of the manufacturer and the EU country. The testing methods are described in the EN ISO 1716 standards (for class Aca) and EN 50399 and EN 60332-1-2 (for the others, except for class Fca).
Based on the tests performed, cables and wires are assigned a specific class of reaction to fire, where Aca means a product that is completely non-flammable, and Fca means a product that is easily flammable and does not meet the requirements of higher classes. Due to the materials used to manufacture cables, you will encounter products on the market that fall within the range of B2ca to Fca.
Depending on the assigned class, cables and wires are subject to Conformity Assessment Systems 1+, 3 or 4, which indicate the type of confirming documents and the scope of production supervision. The difference is primarily that in standards 1+ and 3, tests must be carried out in the aforementioned bodies notified by the European Commission, and in the case of Conformity Assessment System 4 (concerning class Fca), the product can be tested in the manufacturer's laboratory.
Furthermore, classes B1ca, B2ca, Cca and Dca require additional classifications for:
- smoke emissions – parameter s (smoke): s1/s1a/s1b/s2/s3,
- burning drops – parameter d (droplets): d0/d1/d2,
- corrosivity – parameter a (acidity): a1/a2/a3.
Classes Eca and Fca only include testing on a single vertical sample and are therefore not subject to additional classifications. In the case of standards B1ca, B2ca, Cca and Dca, after all tests have been carried out, the products are given a full designation, which looks for example like this:
B2ca-s1,d1,a3
In this case:
- B2 – means the fire reaction class,
- ca – is an abbreviation for cable,
- s1 – means smoke emission at the lowest level,
- d1 – means the average class of flaming drops,
- a3 – indicates a high level of corrosive gas emission.
To put it very simply, it can be said that the lower the numerical parameters in the marking, the higher the product standard.
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Use of halogen-free cables and wires
Since 2017, manufacturers are required to supply only products that comply with the CPR regulation, to mark them appropriately and to provide the appropriate documentation. Furthermore, the N SEP -E-007:2017-09 standard specifies minimum requirements for the use of electrical cables and wires in various types of buildings.
Thus, class Dca includes buildings of the ZL I type (e.g. theatres or cinemas), ZL II (e.g. hospitals, nurseries), ZL III (public utility buildings, but not ZL I and ZL II), ZL IV (residential) and ZL V (collective housing) as well as high-rise and high-rise buildings. However, this does not apply to their evacuation routes, for which class B2ca is provided. The Eca standard is assigned to buildings with a smaller cubic capacity, i.e. primarily residential buildings (e.g. single-family houses and buildings with a cubic capacity of up to 1000 m 3 ), as well as production, storage and livestock buildings.
All this means that in new investments, traditional PVC cables have been replaced by halogen-free cables (LSOH). As the name suggests, these products do not contain halogens, i.e. compounds of fluorine, bromine, chlorine, iodine or astatine. Thanks to this, in the event of a fire, they do not emit toxic, corrosive fumes, which pose a serious threat to human health and life. The only products that are created in the combustion process of these cables are carbon dioxide and water.
Halogen-free cables therefore fully comply with EU requirements regarding the reaction of construction products to fire. In the event of a fire, they emit only small amounts of smoke without corrosive fumes, which may prove decisive for extinguishing the fire and evacuating and saving people's lives. It is worth remembering that most victims of such incidents die not from the flames or high temperatures themselves, but from smoke poisoning.
Due to their unique performance properties, halogen-free electric cables are used primarily in buildings housing many people, but also in facilities protecting valuable material assets.
You will find a wide selection of halogen-free cables at Onninen
When working on modern electrical systems for your customers, stock up on our online wholesaler. In the Onninen installation wholesaler's offer you will find halogen-free cables and wires with various parameters. You can easily match them to the installation being performed, guaranteeing its users safety at the highest level!
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