Consumer
With ever more competition in the marketplace, tendering becomes ever more agressive. This drives behaviour of increased efficiency, but can also promote extreme price pressure on building products. This is very applicable to cabling products, whose major component is copper- an extremely valuable commodity.
You as installers and consumers should be aware, that, with some product, the "Value for money" that you think you may be getting, may not be the case, as unscrupulous manufacturers may have reduced copper content, or may not even be using copper at all. It is not just the conductor material either. High performance polymeric and mineral materials are used in the production of cable products, and it is not uncommon for these unscrupulous manufacturers to downgrade the material to a cheaper one, reap the cost benefits but still claim the high level of performance. In short, you are not getting what you paid for. In all of these cases, the cable product may not be up to the job for which it was intended. Reduction in copper content means reduced conductivity and increased resistance. This is a severe risk for overheating, and potentially causing fire. Similar performance defects may occur when under engineered materials are used in cable production. With regulation and legislation being overhauled regularly to ensure public safety, there is an increased burden on installers and building owners to ensure public safety- this legislation carries extreme penalties. In short, when you think you are getting a "good deal", don't simply take it at face value, ask yourself why?
