Industrial ยท Life Safety
We buy fire-rated and life-safety cable.
Fire-rated cable is the one family where the print on the jacket is worth more than the copper inside it, and a reel with the print worn away is a different lot entirely.
Call or text the buying desk954-740-1983
ListingsFPLR, FPLP, CI
Assembly ratingsTwo-hour systems
Typical sizes14 AWG to 10 AWG
Priced onPrint, listing, footage
Get a buy quote
Send the reel list. A buyer reads it.
Six details are enough to start. Tags and photos can follow by text or email once a buyer has looked at the basics.
- A buyer reviews the lot: construction, footage and condition, not only metal weight
- Copper and aluminium, 600 V building wire through 345 kV cable
- Full reels, partial reels, cut lengths, pallets and truckloads
- No fee, no obligation, and no automatic pickup
Reel list · Fire-Rated Cable
Reviewed by a buyerTell us what you have and where it sits. Nothing is moved until written lot terms are agreed.
Life-safety cable is specified by listing rather than by gauge. FPLR for risers, FPLP for plenums, CI for circuit integrity, and two-hour rated systems for the circuits that have to keep working while the building is on fire. Each is a separate product with a separate approval, and mixing them is how a lot gets priced down.
That makes the jacket print the whole argument. An inspector, an electrician and a buyer all read the same line of text, and any of them will refuse cable that cannot prove what it is. The copper is worth something either way, and the rating is worth rather more than the copper, which is the part sellers underestimate.
01
Four families and what each is for
FPLR is riser-rated fire alarm cable, intended for vertical runs in a shaft where a fire would otherwise chimney upward. FPLP is plenum-rated, for the air-handling spaces above a ceiling, where the jacket has to limit smoke and fuel contribution.
CI cable carries a circuit-integrity rating, which means the circuit keeps working for a stated time under fire conditions. Two-hour rated systems go further and certify an assembly, not just a cable, which is why the installation instructions travel with the product.
- FPLR: riser runs in a vertical shaft
- FPLP: plenum and air-handling spaces
- CI: circuit integrity for life-safety circuits
- Two-hour systems: an assembly, tested as installed
- MI cable: mineral-insulated, used where nothing else survives
02
Why the listing decides the number
Cable that cannot be identified cannot be installed. That is the whole rule, and it is enforced by the person signing the inspection, not by the buyer. A reel of two-hour rated cable with a legible print is surplus material with a future, and the same reel with the print sanded off in a duct is copper in a jacket.
That is why a fire-rated lot is photographed at the print, not at the reel face. One clear frame of the legend is worth more to the quote than a wide shot of the pallet.
03
What a removal does to the cable
Most fire-rated cable is pulled through conduit or laid in a raceway, so removal means pulling it back out. The jacket takes the abrasion, and the print takes it first, because the legend runs along the outside of the jacket.
Lengths are usually short and numerous: a corridor re-rating produces hundreds of separate pulls rather than one reel. The cable that survives with the print intact near the end is the cable that keeps its rating.
04
Storing and presenting a life-safety lot
Keep it dry and keep it out of the sun. Fire-rated jackets are formulated for smoke and flame performance, not for years of UV, and a faded print is a lost rating. Coil in a figure-eight or on a spool, band it, and write the listing on the band.
- Photograph the print, not just the reel
- Keep reels boxed or shaded, never in standing water
- Band each coil and write the listing on it
- Do not mix rated and unrated cable in one pile
- Keep the submittal or cut sheet with the lot
| Family | Typical use | What proves it |
|---|---|---|
| FPLR | Vertical fire alarm riser | Print with FPLR legend |
| FPLP | Plenum and air-handling space | Print with FPLP legend |
| CI | Circuit integrity circuits | Print plus listing reference |
| Two-hour system | Egress and critical circuits | Assembly instructions |
| MI cable | High-temperature and wet areas | Construction and print |
Questions
Answers before you send anything.
If your question is not here, call the desk. A buyer answers, not a call centre.
The print is faded. Is the cable still rated?
Physically it may be, but commercially it is not, because nobody downstream can prove it. Faded print is the most common reason a fire-rated lot gets priced as ordinary copper, and it is the reason to photograph the legend early.
Do you buy CI cable that has been in service?
Yes, if the print is readable and the jacket is sound. Removed CI cable is normal material from a corridor or riser upgrade. Cable with the jacket torn open at a staple or a clamp is treated as damaged.
How are short pulls from a corridor job handled?
As a coil lot. Hundreds of twenty- to sixty-foot pulls are common, and they are weighed and priced as a group. Keeping them banded by listing, rather than heaped together, is what holds the value.
Does the copper content matter as much here?
It sets the floor. Life-safety cable is usually small gauge, so the metal value is modest and the rating is the premium. That is why a rated lot and an unrated lot of the same weight can price far apart.
Keep reading
Related pages
No fee · no obligation
You have the cable. We have a scale and a check.
Send the reel list, the tags or a photograph of the pallet. A buyer comes back with what the lot is worth and how pickup would work, before anything is moved.
954-740-1983 Call or text
- Reel tags, or the print on the jacket
- Reel count and footage, even roughly
- Where it sits and what can reach it
- Whether the cable is still energised