WCA November 2014

Industry news

New lab facilities to meet demand for fire tests ❍ The BS EN 50200 Annexe E fire and water test at BASEC

CPR for cables we also expect there will now be a demand from other manufacturers who do not have access to the kind of facilities we can offer, such as production/certification and development testing of their products. We will also be able to turn test samples around quickly and competitively.” BASEC laboratories can carry out a number of cable fire tests: BS EN 50200; BS EN 50200 Annex E; BS 8434-2; BS 6387 CWZ and others based on IEC standards, and will shortly also encompass a BS EN 50399 3.5-metre-tall ladder rack rig for vertical fire tests on cables. The Milton Keynes headquarters also has a 3m 3 smoke chamber for smoke emission tests (EN 61034-2). BASEC – UK Website : www.basec.org.uk

increased demand from its current clients for the fire testing of cables in accordance with the CPR, and the test labs will also be open to other cable manufacturers and traders seeking to conform to the regulations as they become applicable to cables. “In anticipation of this, BASEC has made a substantial investment in laboratories, equipment and a dedicated team of staff and we have expanded the range of our services to meet the demands of the industry,” said Dr Hodge. “At Milton Keynes we have combined the expertise and experience of our staff with state-of-the-art equipment within first-class facilities to serve our clients from around the world who hold BASEC approvals. “And with the implementation of the

DR Jeremy Hodge, chief executive of the British Approvals Service for Cables (BASEC), anticipates a strong demand for the soon-to-open cable fire testing facility, as the cable industry moves to implement the Construction Products Regulation 2011 (CPR). The test laboratories at BASEC’s headquarters in Milton Keynes, UK, are into the commissioning phase and will go fully live by the end of this year. Dr Hodge says the three new re-configurable fire test labs and a ladder rack rig, joining BASEC’s existing smoke and halogen testing facilities, represent a considerable investment for the approvals and testing body and further expands the capability of the largest dedicated testing facility in Europe. He says BASEC expects there will be

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Wire & Cable ASIA – November/December 2014