A cable type test checks every property the Indian Standard specifies for that cable: the conductor, the dimensions, the insulation and sheath materials before and after ageing, the armour, the electrical performance and, for flame-retardant cables, behaviour in fire. In our NABL accredited scope, a type test covers 26 tests for IS 694 (PVC insulated cables), 69 for IS 1554 (PVC insulated heavy duty cables) and 86 for IS 7098 (XLPE insulated cables). Each test is performed against a clause of the product standard and, in most cases, a part of IS 10810, the Indian Standard series of cable test methods. Below is what each test checks and which standard it applies to.
The three standards
| Standard | Covers | Accredited tests | Full list |
|---|---|---|---|
| IS 694 | PVC insulated unsheathed and sheathed cables and cords, rigid and flexible conductors, up to and including 1,100 V | 26 | IS 694 test list |
| IS 1554 | PVC insulated heavy duty cables: Part 1 up to 1,100 V, Part 2 from 3.3 kV to 11 kV | 69 | IS 1554 test list |
| IS 7098 | XLPE insulated cables: Part 1 up to 1,100 V (revised in 2025), Part 2 from 3.3 kV to 33 kV | 86 | IS 7098 test list |
IS 694 is the standard for house wiring and flexible cords. IS 1554 and IS 7098 cover the armoured and unarmoured power and control cables used in buildings, industry and distribution networks, which is why they carry armour tests that IS 694 does not.
Conductor tests
| Test | What it checks | Method | IS 694 | IS 1554 | IS 7098 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Annealing test (copper) | Elongation of copper wires, which shows they are properly annealed | IS 10810 (Part 1) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Tensile test (aluminium) | Tensile strength of aluminium wires | IS 10810 (Part 2) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Wrapping test (aluminium) | Aluminium wire does not crack when wrapped around a mandrel | IS 10810 (Part 3) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Persulphate test | Quality of tin coating on tinned copper | IS 10810 (Part 4) | ✓ | ||
| Conductor resistance | DC resistance per km at 20°C against the limit in IS 8130 | IS 10810 (Part 5) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Conductor resistance is the single most important test for most buyers. An undersized or impure conductor fails it, and that cable will run hotter than designed. The limits come from IS 8130, which all three product standards refer to.
Dimensions
The thickness of insulation and sheath and the overall dimensions are measured to IS 10810 (Part 6) for all three standards. For the medium-voltage parts of IS 1554 and IS 7098, the scope also covers eccentricity. Thin insulation is a common cause of failure, and it can also fail high voltage and insulation resistance tests later in the sequence.
Insulation and sheath: mechanical and thermal tests
These tests check that the PVC or XLPE compound is right and will stay serviceable over the cable’s life. Most compound requirements come from IS 5831 for PVC.
| Test | What it checks | Method | IS 694 | IS 1554 | IS 7098 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tensile strength and elongation at break | Strength and flexibility of insulation and sheath | IS 10810 (Part 7) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Ageing in air oven | Tensile strength and elongation retained after heat ageing | IS 10810 (Part 11) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Additional ageing (complete cable) | Compatibility of materials in the finished cable | Cl. 10.9 of IS 694 | ✓ | ||
| Loss of mass | Plasticiser loss from PVC on heating | IS 10810 (Part 10) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Shrinkage | Insulation and sheath do not shrink back from the conductor when heated | IS 10810 (Part 12) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Heat shock | PVC does not crack when wound and heated | IS 10810 (Part 14) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Hot deformation | Resistance to indentation at high temperature (thermoplastics) | IS 10810 (Part 15) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Thermal stability | PVC does not degrade quickly at high temperature | IS 10810 (Part 60) | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Hot set | Elongation under load at high temperature, showing XLPE is properly cross-linked | IS 10810 (Part 30) | ✓ | ||
| Water absorption | Moisture uptake of insulation or sheath | IS 10810 (Part 33) | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Carbon black content | UV protection of PE sheaths | IS 10810 (Part 32) | ✓ | ||
| Cold bend | Insulation and sheath do not crack when bent at low temperature | IS 10810 (Part 20) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Cold impact | Insulation and sheath do not crack under impact at low temperature | IS 10810 (Part 21) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
The hot set test is what separates XLPE from PVC testing. XLPE is cross-linked, so it does not soften like PVC. Instead the test hangs a weight on a sample in an oven and measures how far it stretches and how much it recovers. A poorly cured batch stretches too much. PVC cables get hot deformation, heat shock, loss of mass and thermal stability tests instead.
In IS 1554 (Part 1) and IS 7098 (Part 1), cold bend and cold impact sit in the optional tests clause (Cl. 15.4), so they are done when the buyer or the application calls for them.
Armour tests (IS 1554 and IS 7098)
Armoured cables have galvanised steel wire or strip armour, tested against IS 3975:
- Dimensions of armour wires or strips, IS 10810 (Part 36)
- Tensile strength and elongation at break, IS 10810 (Part 37)
- Torsion test on round wire, IS 10810 (Part 38)
- Winding test on formed wire or strip, IS 10810 (Part 39)
- Uniformity of zinc coating, IS 10810 (Part 40)
- Mass of zinc coating, IS 10810 (Part 41)
- Resistivity and conductance of armour, IS 10810 (Part 42)
- Armour coverage percentage, to the appendix or annex of the product standard
Poor galvanising shows up in the uniformity and mass of zinc tests, and leads to corrosion of buried cables. Armour resistance matters where the armour carries earth-fault current.
Electrical tests
| Test | What it checks | Method | IS 694 | IS 1554 | IS 7098 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Insulation resistance and volume resistivity | Quality of the insulation as a dielectric | IS 10810 (Part 43) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| High voltage test (AC and DC) | The cable withstands a test voltage without breakdown | IS 10810 (Part 45) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Resistivity of semiconducting screen | Screens on MV XLPE cables | Annex E of IS 7098 (Part 2) | ✓ |
Fire performance tests
These apply to flame-retardant (FR) and flame-retardant low smoke (FR-LSH) cables. In IS 1554 (Part 1) and IS 7098 (Part 1) they appear as additional type tests in Cl. 15.1.1, with the C1 tests covering flame retardance and the C2 tests covering smoke and halogen.
| Test | What it checks | Method | IS 694 | IS 1554 | IS 7098 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flammability | Burning time and unaffected portion of a single sample | IS 10810 (Part 53) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Flame retardance, single cable | Flame does not spread along a vertical cable | IS 10810 (Part 61); SS 424 1475 for IS 7098 (Part 1) | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Flame retardance, bunched cables | Flame does not spread along a bunch of cables in a vertical tray | IS 10810 (Part 62); IEC 60332-3-22/23/24 for IS 7098 (Part 1) | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Oxygen index | Minimum oxygen needed to sustain burning | ASTM D2863 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Temperature index | Temperature at which the oxygen index falls to 21% | IS 10810 (Part 64) or ASTM D2863 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Smoke density | Light absorption by smoke from burning sheath material | IS 10810 (Part 63), ASTM D2843 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Halogen acid gas | Corrosive acid gas released on burning | IS 10810 (Part 59), IEC 60754-1 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
For low smoke halogen free sheaths under IS 7098 (Part 1):2025, the scope also covers pH, conductivity and light transmission tests, and LSHF versions of the tensile, elongation, hot deformation, shrinkage, cold elongation and water absorption tests.
Reading the clause references
Each line in our test lists carries a clause reference such as Cl. 15.1(a)-4) of IS 1554 (Pt 1), Cl. 7.3 of IS 8130, IS 10810 (Pt 5). Read it as: the requirement is in Cl. 15.1 of the product standard, the limit comes from IS 8130 and the method is IS 10810 Part 5. When a tender asks for “all type tests as per IS 1554”, this is the list it means. When it names specific clauses, check them against the report before you submit it.
Other cable standards in scope
The cable and wire testing category covers 1,558 accredited tests across 18 Indian Standards, plus IEC, BS and other standards. Related pages:
- IS 9968 elastomer insulated cables and IS 14494 flexible mining cables
- IS 17048 HFFR cables and IS 17505 fire survival cables
- IS 17293 solar PV cables and IS 14255 aerial bunched cables
- IS 9857 welding cables, IS 4289 flexible lift cables and IS 2465 cables for motor vehicles
- IS 10810, the full set of cable test methods
Which report you need
IS 694, IS 1554 and IS 7098 cables are all under compulsory ISI certification, and BIS accepts reports only from laboratories it has recognised for the standard. Testing to all three is available at a BIS-recognised laboratory, so one report can go with a BIS application and with a utility or PSU tender. See NABL accredited vs BIS-recognised lab for when each report is accepted.
How Aaditech can help
Aaditech offers NABL accredited cable testing to IS, IEC and BS standards. We confirm the test list against the edition and clauses your buyer or BIS needs, tell you how much sample to send, and review the report for construction, size and clause references before you use it. Our CEO, Mr B.K. Jain, headed the BIS electrical laboratory, so we know where cable reports most often go wrong.