BS8519 Cable

When considering the safety and protection of buildings and human life in the event of a fire, fire-resistant power and control cable systems across applications are deemed vital. 

Code of Practice: BS 8519 Standard

Standard BS 8519 is a designated code of practice for the selection and installation of fire-resistant power and control cable systems for life safety, fire-fighting and other critical applications. Originally published in 2005 under BS7346-6 standard, it was withdrawn and superseded by BS8519 in 2010 and then updated in 2020. 

What does BS8519 cover?

The standard gives advice and recommendations for the broad range of fire-resistant power cables and control cables concerning life safety and firefighting systems such as smoke barriers, sprinkler systems and firefighting or evacuation lifts, used by the fire fighters to move around large and complex buildings. However, the standard does not cover cables for fire detection and fire alarm systems which are still covered by BS 5839-1.

• Added recognition of other critical systems, other than life safety or fire-fighting applications
• Added life safety and roof-mounted generator recommendations
• Added information on uninterruptable power supplies (UPS)
• Clause 12 (concerning cable protective systems) revised to include the recommendation for internal and external fire stopping to maintain the switch room fire compartmentation and the need to cater for the thermal expansion of the cable protective enclosure
• Added further detailed recommendations included in Clause 12 for the design and selection of the cable enclosure support systems

Standard BS8519 Fire Survival times

Cables designed to meet the standard BS8519 are classified by three survival times, providing circuit integrity and continued operation for a set timeframe in order to support firefighters and emergency service workers during evacuation and beyond.

F30 – 30 minutes fully operational
F60 – 60 minutes fully operational
F120 – 120 minutes fully operational

Life safety systems in large and complex buildings should remain operational for a period of 60 minutes, with 30 minutes being suitable for other types of buildings. Depending on the application, firefighting systems should be fully functional for 60 or 120 minutes. BS 8519 ensures that the degree of circuit fire integrity is not compromised by other components of the whole electrical distribution system such as cable glands, joints, terminations, and cable support systems.