Posted 13 May 2026
A Compliance Gap That's Costlier Than You Think
Data centres are among the most demanding environments when it comes to specifying cable. High cable density, 24/7 operation, and a regulatory landscape that's tightening - driven by stricter enforcement on projects, growing scrutiny from insurers, and audits that are catching substitutions that once slipped through.
If you're specifying or procuring cable for a data centre project, CPR classification isn't just a compliance checkbox. It's a fundamental part of getting the right product into the right environment. And if B2ca fire performance hasn’t come up in your conversations yet, it probably should have.
What Is CPR and Why Does It Apply to Data Centres?
The Construction Products Regulation (CPR) for cables is implemented via EN 50575, it applies to cables that are designed to be permanently installed in buildings or civil engineering structures. That includes data centres: any power, control, communications or data cable that becomes a fixed part of the building fabric falls within its scope.
Under CPR, cables are assigned a Euro class rating based on their reaction to fire. The classification system runs from Aca through to Fca, with the most commercially relevant range falling between B2ca and Eca. The class doesn't just reflect whether a cable will burn – depending on the Euroclass it can also capture how much heat it releases, how much smoke it produces, whether it drops flaming particles, and the acidity of gases emitted.
A full designation might look like B2ca-s1a,d1,a1 - that tells you the cable's primary fire class plus its sub-ratings for smoke production, flaming droplets and acid content. For data centres, those sub-ratings matter. Dense cable runs in an enclosed space mean smoke, and corrosive gases become serious life safety and equipment protection concerns.
The Euro class Hierarchy — and Where B2ca Sits
For telecommunications and data cables, B2ca is the ceiling - it's the highest class you'll realistically see on a structured cabling or data cable product. The table below shows the full hierarchy at a glance:
Buildings with high occupancy density, complex evacuation routes, or safety-critical systems are increasingly specifying B2ca or Cca as a minimum. In data centres specifically, the combination of high cable volumes, critical load continuity requirements and enclosed infrastructure spaces makes B2ca the logical specification choice where fire performance is a priority.
B2ca Means More Rigorous Testing - and More Accountability
It's worth understanding what it takes to achieve and maintain B2ca status, because not all CPR ratings carry the same weight of assurance.
B2ca cables fall under AVCP System 1+ - the most stringent assessment and verification category. This requires independent certification by a notified body, an initial inspection of the manufacturing facility, ongoing production control monitoring, and annual retesting of the product. The manufacturer must issue a Declaration of Performance (DoP) - a document that formally declares the cable's fire classification and other regulated characteristics - and the cable drum or packaging must carry a CE or UKCA marking referencing that DoP.
By contrast, Dca and Eca cables only require an initial type test with no ongoing monitoring. When you're specifying into a critical environment, that difference in process rigour and fire performance is significant.
UK Marking: CE and UKCA
For B2ca products, that DoP needs to carry the right mark for the jurisdiction - and getting this wrong can be a cause of sign-off delays on projects. Cables supplied into Great Britain can be UKCA or CE marked. For Northern Ireland, CE & UKNI marking is recognised whilst Europe only recognises CE marking.
This doesn't change the underlying fire classification system - the Euroclass structure and EN 50575 testing methodology remain the same. But it does mean that procurement teams and specifiers need to verify that suppliers can provide correctly marked product and up-to-date Declarations of Performance before anything goes on site.
What FS Cables Brings to Data Centre Projects
FS Cables has been supplying specialist cable for complex installations for over 30+ years. With more than 1,000 CPR-compliant cables across the range - covering Building Management Systems (BMS), Control, Data, Fibre, Security and beyond - the depth of the offering is built for exactly the kind of multi-system complexity a data centre presents.
Where this makes a practical difference is at specification and sign-off stage. A missing DoP, an incorrectly marked product, or a substitution that only surfaces at audit can hold up handover on an entire zone - and unpicking it under programme pressure is expensive. FS Cables provides full compliance documentation from the point of order, so the paperwork that auditors and clients need is there from the start, not chased down at the end. That means support from specification through to delivery, not just supply.
Summary
Don't treat CPR classification as an afterthought. Before finalising your cable specification for any data centre or high-density infrastructure project, confirm all four of the following:
• The CPR Euroclass is specified clearly in the tender documentation.
• The sub-classes (smoke, droplets, acidity) match the environmental risk profile of the installation.
• The cable carries CE or UKCA marking with a valid DoP from the manufacturer.
Speak to us about CPR-compliant cables for your next data centre project. With 30+ years of specialist expertise and the UK's largest CPR-compliant range, we support data centre projects from specification through to delivery. Visit fscables.com, call us on 01727 840841, or email sales@fscables.com