AEI Cables wins support from electrical safety watchdog
Cables leader AEI Cables has
won support from electrical safety experts to highlight the importance of
cabling under the new Building Safety Act.
The Act – introduced from
October 2023 – makes new requirements for ‘higher-risk buildings’ which are
those deemed to be of at least 18 metres in height or at least seven storeys
containing at least two residential units.
The systems in these
buildings powered by electrical cables – including smoke and heat extraction
systems – assist fire services in firefighting and a safe evacuation in the
case of life safety.
Luke Osborne,
Deputy Technical Director, Electrical Safety First, said: “The safety of people is the priority in this new legislation
which ultimately makes all of our buildings a safer place particularly those
where large numbers of people move about. We support this initiative at raising
the importance of electrical cables and wiring.”
Stuart Dover, general
manager of AEI Cables, said: “We want to help our supply chain understand the
significance of this important new legislation and how they can meet the
requirements in the interests of safety.
“We are happy to provide
guidance and support on these issues as demonstrating competence is also a
requirement.”
Under the terms of the Act, a Principal Accountable Person who fails to
register an occupied higher-risk building ‘without a reasonable excuse’ will be
liable to either a fine or imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years.
The Building Safety Regulator will oversee
the safety and performance of all buildings, as well as having a special focus
on high-rise buildings. It will promote competence and organisational
capability within the sector including for building control professionals and
tradespeople.
Building owners should now have their building safety regime in
place and any occupied higher-risk buildings should be registered with the
Building Safety Regulator.
The National Construction Products Regulator
will oversee a more effective construction products regulatory regime and lead
and co-ordinate market surveillance and enforcement across the UK. The NRCP has
already started taking enforcement action under the scope of existing
regulations.
AEI Cables’ Firetec
Enhanced cabling has been approved and certified by LPCB to BS8519 (Annex B),
Category 3 Control in addition to Category 2 Control.The BS Code of Practice under BS8519 contains six categories of cables,
three for power cables and three for control cables each covering survival
times of 30, 60 or 120 minutes.
All AEI Cables’ products
are supplied with approvals from independent bodies including BASEC and LPCB. It also
holds approvals from organisations including Lloyds, the MoD, Network Rail and
LUL and works to international standards around the world. For more information
see the AEI Cables website, tel 0191 410 3111 or
email sales@aeicables.co.uk.
ENDS
About
AEI Cables:
AEI Cables serves key
markets in the UK and worldwide including construction, industrial, fire
protection, defence, mining and rail. Its products meet the highest
industry standards including ISO 9001 and are approved by the leading approvals
organisations nationally and internationally including BASEC, LPCB and Lloyds. For
further information tel 0191 410 3111 or email sales@aeicables.co.uk