ULC Standards is pleased to announce the publication of the Second Edition of CAN/ULC-S139-12, Standard Method of Fire Test for Evaluation of Integrity of Electrical Power, Data and Optical Fibre Cables. This Standard has been approved by the ULC Standards Committee on Fire Tests and has been published under the date of November 2012.

The Second Edition of this Standard includes fire test requirements to determine the integrity of electrical power, data and optical fibre cables and evaluate their ability to maintain circuit integrity.

The electrical cables tested for evaluation of circuit integrity are subjected to the fire exposure in accordance with CAN/ULC-S101, Standard Methods of Fire Endurance Tests of Building Construction and Materials.

The electrical power, data and optical fibre cables covered by this Standard are installed to comply with the requirements in the Canadian Electrical Code and the National Building Code of Canada.

The fire exposure and hose stream tests are not intended to be representative of all fire conditions. It is likely that conditions will vary with changes in the amount, nature, distribution of fire loading, ventilation, compartment size and configuration, and heat conducting and dissipating characteristics of the compartment in which the electrical cables are installed.

The requirements in this Standard provide a relative measure of fire performance of comparable assemblies under these specified fire exposure conditions. It is possible that any variation from the construction or operating condition tested, such as size, method of assembly and materials, will substantially change the electrical performance characteristics of the cables.

The results represent one factor in determining the acceptability of electrical cables for use in specific applications. Application of these test results to predict electrical performance of cables in actual installations requires careful evaluation.