We were asked recently for more information about the PAS5308 cable after we posted a customer case study of us supplying PAS 5308 to China in May.  The new standard was introduced in 2009 by the BSI (British Standards Institute) and their web site provides a good Precis of the new standard:
PAS 5308-1:2009 Control and instrumentation cables. Specification for polyethylene insulated cables
PAS 5308 has been developed to incorporate additional aspects not covered in the European standard for control and instrumentation cables, BS EN 50288-7. In particular PAS 5308:
- Covers circumstances where higher voltages are encountered and as such specifies cables that are suitable for more demanding applications, for example, in petrochemical plants
- Gives detailed constructional tables, showing actual dimensions for the full range of cable types as previously specified in BS 5308-1:1986 and as such maintains the availability of such data, which is required by stakeholders as a tool for design, manufacture, testing and selection.
The contribution of cables to fire hazard can pose a significant risk. The fire performance of cables is not covered. However, attention is drawn to the fact that safety systems or national and local regulations might specify requirements for either resistance to fire performance (e.g. circuit integrity under fire) and/or reaction to fire performance (e.g. low emission of smoke and corrosive and acidic gases and propagation of fire).
PAS 5308-1 specifies requirements for and dimensions of polyethylene (PE) insulated control and instrumentation cables in multipair construction, with or without screens, and optionally incorporating a lead sheath and single wire armour.
This is a summary of the standard by the BSI they also have the full standards available to purchase from their web site.
