BS6701:2016+A1:2017 is published

British Standards issued BS6701:2016+ A1: 2017; an amendment to the frequently used standard

On 30 November 2017, British Standards issued BS6701:2016+ A1: 2017; an amendment to the frequently used standard entitled ‘Telecommunications Equipment and Telecommunications Cabling – Specification for installation, operation and maintenance.’

Within the various updates contained in this amendment, is the requirement for installations aiming to comply with this standard to use a minimum specific Euroclass from the series of classes defined in the Construction Products Directive, which came into law across EU member states on July 1st 2017. To comply, the amended BS6701 end users, specifiers and installers must use a minimum of Cca S1b d2 a2.

The Construction Products Regulation (CPR) has been a prevalent topic across the industry over the past 18 months, with the period of co-existence ending in July of this year. During this period, Excel Networking – in tandem with the whole structured cabling sector – were preparing for the expansion of the legislation to include performance specifications relating to how cables react to fire. The aim of this revision was to harmonise these specifications across all EU member states through a pre-defined classification structure; “Euroclasses”.

This classification structure covers seven Euroclasses from A to F, where A-class cables have the highest retardance to fire, and F- the lowest. However, the revisions to the legislation also mean that heat release, smoke production, light transmittance, flaming droplets and acid production are considered alongside fire retardance when denoting a Euroclass classification. It is the responsibility of each EU member state to define the recommended minimum Euroclass standard for installations within its market.

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