Prime Minister addresses Sub Standard Cable

The availability of sub standard cable on the market is not anything new, the issue has been around for a fair number of years and it is a growing problem within the electrical industry. Sub standard cable is the result of importing cheap cable and unfortunately it is very hard to detect sub standard cable. It is a similar issue to the electrical appliance market which has seen record numbers of dangerous appliances being sold on the High Street. The products are copies of the genuine product – from the outside they look the same as the real thing and often its only when the product is used when the buyer realises it is sub standard.

Cable is much the same, from the outside it looks the same. Its only when a closer look is taken that a problem is found. Sub standard cable is a recognised problem across the whole industry with local authorities being heavily involved in detecting the sale of sub standard cable. Many cable suppliers have unwittingly purchased sub standard cable which in turn has been distributed to wholesalers and brought and subsequently used by installers. Many electrical installers have been caught out believing they have purchased a reputable and good quality brand of cable, to find it is not genuine.

So where does the problem start? It seems to be part of the manufacturing process in factories abroad where not all cable is not made to the correct specifications, such a situation is hard to monitor and all suppliers which purchase their cable from such sources are at risk of sub standard cable. There have been calls to regulate the import of sub standard cable.

In a move to promote UK manufacturing, the Prime Minister paid a visit to Prysmian cables where he opened a £2M high voltage testing laboratory. This facility tests extra high voltage power transmission cable at 1 million volts. The laboratory will be a central resource for Prysmian worldwide operations which hopefully will go some way to tackling this major problem.

Sub standard cable is close to the hearts of everyone who works in the electrical industry and the Prime Minister has pledged support to tackle this huge problem saying that he recognises the problem with sub standard cable and will investigate at European level to see what can be done.

We welcome this move at Fulcher Edwards. As one of Londons biggest electrical contractors we are very aware of the problem of sub standard cable and would welcome a move to stamp out this problem. Bringing UK manufacturing back into the limelight and the government showing increasing support for UK manufacturing is a great thing. With more companies now bringing their manufacturing operations back to the UK (many of these are electrical related) we at Fulcher Edwards hope that cable will be one of them so we can buy once again with confidence.

In turn this will ensure the safety of those who put their trust in us – and their family and friends.