RoHS Compliance for Electrical Cables

All electrical cables sold within Europe must be compliant with the Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) Directive of 2013. This Europe-wide regulation restricts the use of certain chemicals used in electronic and electrical equipment, with heavy fines imposed for non-compliance. Similar restrictions apply elsewhere in the world, including the USA, South Korea, China, Japan, Norway and Turkey, and yet it is imperative that we remain vigilant to prevent non-compliant cables making it into the supply chain and onto projects. Eland Cables will only supply RoHS compliant cables and cable accessories.

RoHS testing is part of the rigorous QA protocols our cables and accessories are subjected to, with products being compliant before being released for sale. We undertake ongoing sample testing by the British Standards Institute (BSi), whilst our ISO 9001 certification sees us routinely audit our Quality Management Systems for the process management of hazardous substances.

The Cable Lab^®, our in-house specialist cable testing laboratory, offers electrical cable RoHS compliance testing as one of its UKAS-accredited evaluations available to third-parties.

Testing cables for RoHS compliance

The Cable Lab^® is accredited to ISO 17025 to identify the presence and levels of any RoHS restricted substances in goods. It is also possible to test for the presence of other substances including alloys in metals. The list of restricted substances reflects the requirements of RoHS 3.

RoHS Restricted Substance	Chemical Abbreviation	Maximum concentration value
Lead	Pb	0.1%
Mercury	Hg	0.1%
Hexavalent chromium	Cr 6+	0.1%
Polybrominated Biphenyls	PBB	0.1%
Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers	PBDE	0.1%
Cadmium	Cd	0.01%
Bis (2-ethylhexyl) phthalate	DEHP	0.01%
Butylbenzylphthalate	BBP	0.01%
Dibutylephthalate	DBP	0.01%
Diisobutylphthalate	DIBP	0.01%

Our experienced lab technicians test our cables and third-party cables' RoHS compliance using advanced instrumentation ensuring reliable and fast test results. Testing to demonstrate RoHS compliant cables is a key part of our commitment to quality and compliance for cables throughout the marketplace.

It should be noted that under RoHS 3 (EU 2015/863) compliance with the RoHS Directive is included and implied within CE marking.

The Cable Lab

Quality Assurance testing in our UKAS accredited ISO 17025 cable labortory

Read on

BSI Kitemark Testing

Third-party quality mark achieved only after the intensive cable-specific testing

More info

CPD certified training

Cable training programmes certified by CPD for continuous professional development

Learn more