Fireproof cables

Fire safety is a topical a topical theme in society. Eldra uses its expertise and know-how to develop products that meet the highest safety requirements. Eldra also closely monitors developments in standards in order to be able to offer complete and up-to-date solutions for the fire safety of installed systems.

Cables are important in the safety of buildings and equipment and play an active role in limiting the risks if a fire breaks out. Approximately 80% of electrical engineering systems consists of cables and conduits that are usually concealed and spread through a building bundled together and that link different areas together. 

The cables account for approximately 90% of all the plastic materials in electrical engineering systems. Office buildings contain two to five kilograms of cable per m². A fire can cause the temperature of plastics in cables to increase radically. The heat that this generates can cause other materials to ignite. The main danger is, however, the production of combustion gases and smoke that are harmful to people and equipment.

The most commonly used cables are made from precisely the halogen-based plastics that can be harmful to people, animals and equipment. In a fire, toxic smoke is produced that is extremely harmful to the human body. Breathing in hot combustion gases acutely and permanently harms the alveolar in the lungs. Toxic smoke and gases can also cause immense consequential damage. 

The European Construction Products Directive (CPD)

The publication of the European Construction Products Directive (CPD) made the building industry aware of the risks associated with the increasingly larger quantities of cables in buildings and tunnels.

Various disasters such as the fires in Düsseldorf Airport, the Mont Blanc Tunnel and the Kaprun Ski Tunnel have only served to increase fire-safety awareness.

For further information about our fireproof cables, please see our product catalogue.