Life safety cable · Georgia
We buy FPLR, FPLP and FPL fire alarm cable
Fire alarm cable from fit-outs that over-ordered, service companies with part coils and projects that were cancelled. The jacket rating decides where a reel can be used, so the print is read before the footage is discussed.
- FPLR, FPLP and FPL
- 14 to 18 AWG
- Shielded and unshielded
01Overview
What this page covers
Fire alarm cable is ordinary copper under a jacket that carries a rating. The rating — FPL, FPLR or FPLP — says where the cable is permitted: general use, a riser, or a plenum space. The copper inside is much the same in all three, which is exactly why the jacket print matters more than the reel tag.
It reaches a buying desk from three directions. A fit-out orders to a takeoff that overcounts the runs and leaves sealed reels. A service company finishes a year of device replacements with a shelf of part coils. A project is cancelled after the material was delivered and the boxes were never opened.
It is also the material most likely to be sold by mistake. Cable that is part of an operating system cannot be taken out because a buyer is interested in it, and a reel of plenum cable pulled out of a live ceiling is a code violation waiting to happen.
02Specification
What the print and tag tell us
- Ratings
- FPL general use, FPLR riser, FPLP plenum
- Sizes
- 18, 16 and 14 AWG; 14 AWG on notification circuits
- Conductors
- 2, 3, 4 and 6 conductor; twisted and untwisted
- Shielding
- Overall foil shield with drain wire on loop cable
- Voltage
- 300 V class, power-limited circuits
- Standards
- UL 1424; installation per NEC Article 760
- Packaging
- 500 ft and 1,000 ft reels; 250 ft coils and pull boxes
- Condition
- Sealed, part reel, opened coil, removed from service
Record the rating, the AWG, the conductor count and whether the cable is shielded. Those four items decide whether a reel can be used at all, before footage is considered.
03Fire alarm cable we buy
Fire alarm cable we buy
FPLP plenum cable
Low-smoke, low-flame-spread construction for air-handling spaces. The most restricted of the three ratings and the one most often left over, because plenum takeoffs are hard to estimate.
FPLR riser cable
Built for vertical shafts between floors, in 2 to 4 conductor constructions. Riser cable may be used in a riser and nowhere that a plenum rating is required; the reverse is not true.
Shielded loop cable
Twisted pair with a foil shield and drain wire for signalling line circuits. Reviewed on shield integrity and conductor count, and kept apart from unshielded notification cable.
Notification and NAC cable
Two-conductor untwisted cable for horn and strobe circuits, usually 14 or 16 AWG. Simple material, bought in quantity, and worth listing by the coil rather than the reel.
04Evaluation
How a fire alarm lot is reviewed
Rating first, because it is a permission rather than a quality. Plenum cable can be used in a plenum; riser cable cannot. General-use cable cannot be substituted upward or downward. A lot that mixes ratings without saying so will be reviewed at the lowest rating in the pile, so separate the FPLP from the FPLR before counting.
Then size, conductor count and shielding. These decide what the reel suits: a 2-conductor 16 AWG notification run is not a substitute for a 4-conductor shielded loop. Where the cable came from a service company, the coils may be short and numerous, and the list is more useful as sizes and footages than as a single weight.
Then condition. Fire alarm cable is usually indoors and lightly handled, so it holds up well. Watch for cable that has been pulled through a ceiling and re-coiled, and for coils that have been stored loose in a van where the jacket has abraded against racking.
Cable that is part of an operating fire alarm system is never removed to sell. Circuits stay supervised and intact until the building owner or their alarm contractor isolates the system and confirms it in writing.
05Seller terms
Before you sell: how it works
Four things a seller should be able to pin down before a truck is booked.
Verification
Footage is checked against the reel tag, the sequential marks on the jacket, the wrap count against the barrel, or a published weight per 1,000 ft — whichever the reel actually supports.
Payment
Payment method and timing are agreed in writing for the specific lot before anything is loaded or moved. No verbal number is treated as an agreement.
Paperwork
A bill of sale for the lot, and for utility material the owning utility’s release reference. Neither is optional and neither is created after the fact.
Freight
Collection is arranged as part of the terms. Say what can lift the reels and whether a 53-foot trailer can reach them, and the pickup is planned around that.
Sending a reel list and photographs costs nothing. A review is not a purchase, and nothing is bought, moved or scheduled until written lot terms are agreed for that material. Request a pickup when the lot is ready.
07Questions
Fire alarm cable questions
Can riser cable be used in a plenum?
No. FPLR is permitted in a riser, and a plenum space requires FPLP. The ratings are not interchangeable, and mixing them in one lot reviews at the lower rating.
Do you buy opened coils?
Yes, with the footage noted. Opened coils are common from service work and are reviewed on remaining length rather than on the original package.
How do I identify cable with no print?
By construction and history. Note the AWG, conductor count, shield and where it was installed. Without a print the reel is reviewed as unrated material.
Is fire alarm cable worth more than ordinary building wire?
It is reviewed differently, because the rating creates a smaller pool of buyers and a smaller pool of users. Footage and rating both have to line up.
Send the rating, the AWG and the footage
The jacket print, the conductor count, whether the cable is shielded, and the footage on each reel. Separate the ratings on the list and the review moves faster.