Discuss Where are you getting your metal buckle clips in the Electrical Tools and Products area at ElectriciansForums.net

Welcome to ElectriciansForums.net - The American Electrical Advice Forum
Head straight to the main forums to chat by click here:   American Electrical Advice Forum

Just finished some work in my bosses new house lots of cabling put in loft space and no fire rated fixings employed.
 
Just finished some work in my bosses new house lots of cabling put in loft space and no fire rated fixings employed.

Suppose you could argue that if the fire was in the loft to melt the clips then the ceiling would have already failed :thumbsup:
 
If the loft is not a habitable space I guess cabling, if it were to fall, is falling onto the ceiling ...
 
If you are clipping in a loft space, let's look at the situation where we have cables clipped to boards that span the rafters. The usual clips are fine to be hammered in where the support boards are on or very close to the main timbers...hammering halfway betyween the main timbers is hopeless due to the bounce, unless you can get someone to hold a big hammer behind...so, you use buckle clips, substituting small screws for the nails. That way, you can drive the screws in midway, through the clips, and just fold the buckle over the cable...if that makes sense.
 
I've undertaken a couple of domestic re-wires this year and decided to go the whole hog on the fire rated clips, to see the impact on cost and time. To clarify, I used F-Line clips from D-Line. These allow 3/4 cables side by side. Used them every 400mm or where practice. Only used them when traversing ceilings or the loft and I hadn't gone through the joists. Quite time consuming to keep changing from hammer to impact driver when swapping from plastic clip to metal strap. Factor in a couple of boxes of 10x1.5 screws and the overall costs aren't a deal breaker at an additional £30 or so. It's the additional time spent and the ball ache of dragging the impact, screws, 2 lots of clips and the hammer around with you in confined areas. Looking at the metal clips from SF, I reckon £12 for 100 isn't too bad.
 
If cables boxed or hidden in under floor I'm laying cables on nails or screws in joist with the odd steel tie and sometimes simple banding. I bought some schneider T/E metal clips this week, look good (cheaper than SF from Rexel) but yet to use these on show with plastic clips.
Now back to buckle clips.. anyone got an update on prices?
 
There is no requirement for metal cable support under floors, above ceilings inside boxing etc.

The idea of the reg it to prevent cables collapsing prematurely in the event of a fire and hindering evacuation of the building or access for firefighters. Think of a stairwell with loads of SWA tied to tray with plastic ties.
 
Thank you Blissof89 for pointing this out....as usual I get confused with parts of BS7671 when it states on Page5 521.10.202 "...and applies throughout the installation, not just in escape routes as previously":(
so much for buckle clips !
 
It's just a change in the scope of the regulation from escape routes to the full installation.

The key phrase is 'premature collapse' if the very fabric of the building is collapsing then there are bigger problems than a few cables dangling in the way. In general it is for surface mounted cabling.

Edit: A word
 
Last edited:
It's not inconceivable that a plasterboard ceiling will collapse before the fabric of a building degrades to a point where the fire service won't consider entering the premises, particularly if they are inside fighting the fire with water.

If that happens, the cables you've decided aren't subject to premature collapse because they are supported by the plasterboard could come raining down presenting a risk to fire fighters trying to enter or leave.

A couple of quid, a few clips, lengths of all band or whatever seems a small price to pay for potentially making the installation safer for those who choose to put themselves in harms way so that those unlucky enough to be caught up in a fire have a chance of surviving the ordeal.
 
Plasterboard ceilings are part of the fabric of the building imo, if they are collapsing a lot of your light fixtures are going to be posing the same threat as cables would have. I wouldn't say the above scenario would be a case of premature collapse of the wiring system.

I'm not saying you should not be using fire rated cable support above these ceilings, just stating that it is not a requirement. Over engineering is rarely a bad thing, but there is a tendency in this trade for people to over engineer base on their own personal opinion and then bad mouth those that do not tow the line.

I remember the confusion over AMD 3 consumer units and the use of 'fire rated' cable glands for these enclosures, or filling half the enclosure with fire rated sealant :confused:, partly fuelled by manufactures and distributors to boost sales.
 
I agree with the above comments... I have been in a number of fire damaged properties over the years and have been amazed at the amount of fine burnt electrical wires looping down from the ceilings incl FP (plasterboard or false ceiling). Just trying to work around these after the fire was difficult enough. If we can spare a few minutes by securing cables out of the way and possibly help save lives then thats no bad thing. thwacking a number of nails in a joist is quicker than cable clips any day.
 

Reply to Where are you getting your metal buckle clips in the Electrical Tools and Products area at ElectriciansForums.net

Electricians Tools | Electrical Tools and Products

Thanks for visiting ElectriciansForums.net, we hope you find the Electricians Tools you're looking for. It's free to sign up to and post a question yourself to find a tool or tool supplier either local to you, or online. Our community of electricians and electrical engineers will do their best to find the best tool supplier for you.

We also have a Tiling Tools advice from the worlds largest Tiling community. And then the Plumbers Forums with Plumbers Tools Advice.

OFFICIAL SPONSORS

Electrical Goods - Electrical Tools - Brand Names Electrician Courses Green Electrical Goods PCB Way Electrical Goods - Electrical Tools - Brand Names Pushfit Wire Connectors Electric Underfloor Heating Electrician Courses
These Official Forum Sponsors May Provide Discounts to Regular Forum Members - If you would like to sponsor us then CLICK HERE and post a thread with who you are, and we'll send you some stats etc
This website was designed, optimised and is hosted by Untold Media. Operating under the name Untold Media since 2001.
Back
Top
AdBlock Detected

We get it, advertisements are annoying!

Sure, ad-blocking software does a great job at blocking ads, but it also blocks useful features of our website. For the best site experience please disable your AdBlocker.

I've Disabled AdBlock