Fire alarm cable in underground installations

[wireman74]

In a concrete encased ductbank, can you use standard FPLR or FPLP cable. Or is their anything in the code that says you can't.

 

[pjholguin]

Is the cable rated for damp or wet location...IMHO, it would need to be rated for the environment in which is it is installed. I ran into the same issue for cabling used in SCADA systems when the NEC changed outdoor raceways to be considered a wet location.

PJHolguin

In a concrete encased ductbank, can you use standard FPLR or FPLP cable. Or is their anything in the code that says you can't.

 

[gadfly56]

Is the cable rated for damp or wet location...IMHO, it would need to be rated for the environment in which is it is installed. I ran into the same issue for cabling used in SCADA systems when the NEC changed outdoor raceways to be considered a wet location.

PJHolguin

FPLP and FPLR are not rated for damp or wet locations. We usually run TC as the default in this case since you can run it practically anywhere.

 

[wireman74]

FPLP and FPLR are not rated for damp or wet locations. We usually run TC as the default in this case since you can run it practically anywhere.

It's what the government engineer wanted, and put on the plans. The fire alarm company didn't want to use it because it was not a wet location cable.

 

[gadfly56]

It's what the government engineer wanted, and put on the plans. The fire alarm company didn't want to use it because it was not a wet location cable.

The fire alarm company is correct. You can't just do something that's not code compliant just because the engineer didn't bother to check through all the boiler plate he used from six projects ago. And that's coming FROM an engineer. If this is your company/employer, suggest sending an RFI outlining the issue and suggesting a solution and the change order price.