ABC Cable RFQ Checklist: The Information a Supplier Needs Before Quoting

ABC Cable RFQ Checklist: The Information a Supplier Needs Before Quoting

• 2026-10-11 
• by ethanqu
• Resources

ABC Cable RFQ Checklist: The Information a Supplier Needs Before Quoting

This ABC cable RFQ checklist helps buyers prepare the information a supplier needs before quoting: the cable construction, applicable specification, quantity, drum schedule, required documents and delivery terms. For an overhead bundle, the enquiry must also identify how the cable is supported and which conductor, if any, acts as the messenger.

The checklist covers low-voltage aerial bundled cable for overhead distribution and service connections. It is intended for describing a specified cable and comparing offers. Medium-voltage aerial systems need a separate construction and evidence schedule.

You can request a budget quotation while some project details remain open. Identify those details explicitly and ask the supplier to state its assumptions. Confirm the agreed construction before treating the quotation as a final supply specification.

In this article

Seven details to prepare before requesting a quote

Copy-and-fill RFQ template

What to check when quotations arrive

ABC cable RFQ checklist: seven details to prepare

1. Project, application and voltage

Provide the destination country, network owner where relevant, and whether the cable is for distribution or a service connection. State the system voltage and the cable rated-voltage designation required by the project.

Country alone does not define the product. Attach the utility specification, approved cable schedule or construction drawing when available, and identify its revision. This gives the supplier a common reference for the quotation.

2. Conductor functions, sizes and materials

List every conductor by function, number, nominal cross-sectional area in mm² and material. Include phase, neutral, messenger and any protective, lighting or auxiliary conductors. Add alloy, stranding or compaction requirements where specified.

A description such as “four-core ABC” or “3+1” does not fully identify the construction. Explain what each conductor does. If one conductor serves as both neutral and messenger, record it once as a combined neutral messenger and cross-reference both functions. If they are separate members, list both.

State any specified protective or combined electrical function explicitly; do not assume every neutral is a PEN conductor. For lighting, auxiliary or separate protective conductors that are not required, write “none”.

3. Support arrangement and accessory interfaces

Identify whether the required cable is a self-supporting bundle, a neutral-messenger system or another specified arrangement. For a designated messenger, state its material, cross-sectional area, bare or insulated condition, and whether it also functions as neutral.

Different arrangements exist: NKT describes its NFA2X cable as self-supporting, while Nexans describes an insulated aluminium-alloy neutral messenger in its NF C33-209 family. These examples do not establish interchangeable specifications.

If accessories are included, list each item and quantity separately. Suspension and anchoring hardware must match the support system and the member being gripped. For insulation-piercing connectors, give the main and branch conductor materials, size ranges and bare or insulated interfaces, together with the applicable accessory specification.

4. Standard edition, insulation and identification

Specify the full product standard and edition, plus the utility or tender specification and revision. A request for “international-standard ABC cable” leaves the supplier without a defined compliance basis.

For example, AFNOR lists a December 2024 edition of NF C33-209 that replaces the July 1996 edition. If a tender specifies an older edition, keep that requirement visible and refer any proposed change to the party responsible for the project specification.

Include the specified insulation material or compound designation, temperature rating, outdoor exposure requirements, core identification and cable print legend. A material label such as “XLPE” does not define every finished-cable requirement. If the drawing and specification disagree, flag the conflict for project confirmation.

5. Total quantity and continuous drum lengths

State the quantity for each cable item in metres of the complete assembled bundle. This avoids confusing bundle length with the total length of its individual conductors.

Then specify the required continuous length per drum, acceptable length tolerance and any drum size or weight limits. If packing is undecided, ask for a proposed drum schedule rather than leaving it implicit.

As a packing illustration, 5,000 m supplied on ten 500 m drums and 5,000 m supplied on five 1,000 m drums have the same total length but different handling and installation implications. Neither arrangement is a recommended default. Ask the supplier to confirm drum count, lengths, dimensions and gross weight.

6. Documents, tests and inspection requirements

Separate the information needed to evaluate the offer from the records required for the supplied cable. Request the following where applicable to the project:

With the offer: construction drawing, technical datasheet, compliance schedule, declared deviations and applicable type-test reports or certificates.

Before shipment or with delivery: agreed routine or acceptance-test records, inspection documents and traceability to the supplied drums or batch.

When specifically required: utility approval, independent laboratory evidence or witnessed inspection, including the timing and responsibility for its cost.

Check that the evidence matches the manufacturer or holder, factory where identified, cable construction, covered size range and standard edition. Review the report date and any applicable validity conditions. A company quality-management certificate does not by itself establish product compliance.

Farwalk’s Standards & Quality page provides general document information. The evidence requested for an individual ABC quotation still needs to match that enquiry.

7. Delivery terms and the price basis

Give the delivery destination, required date, quotation deadline and required offer validity. Specify the currency, price unit, payment basis and requested trade term with its named place or port and version where applicable.

Ask for the cable price per metre of assembled bundle, with accessories, inspection and freight inclusions clearly identified. The supplier should state when the quoted lead time begins, such as after technical approval or another agreed milestone.

If you also need cable sizing or a span assessment, say so and attach the available load, circuit length, neutral and earthing arrangement, voltage-drop limit, fault conditions, spans, support details and environmental loading. The exact inputs depend on the assessment; a proposed design needs project engineering review.

Copy this ABC cable RFQ checklist into your enquiry

Use the template below with one cable-item block for each construction. Replace the blanks with your project information. Use “none” or “not applicable” where appropriate. Mark unresolved inputs as “buyer/project confirmation pending”, and use “supplier to propose” only for options you deliberately want the supplier to offer.

Project and specification

Destination country and network owner: ______

Application and system voltage: ______

Cable rated-voltage designation: ______

Product standard and edition: ______

Utility or tender specification and revision: ______

Approved drawing or cable schedule and revision: ______

Cable item

Item reference: ______

Phase conductors: number × mm²; material: ______

Neutral: mm²; material; bare or insulated; electrical function: ______

Messenger: separate or combined with neutral; mm²; material; bare or insulated, or no separate messenger: ______

Protective conductor: number × mm²; material; insulation and function, or none: ______

Lighting or auxiliary conductors: number × mm²; material; function, or none: ______

Support arrangement and specified mechanical requirements: ______

Stranding or compaction requirements, if specified: ______

Insulation designation, temperature rating and outdoor requirements: ______

Core identification and cable print legend: ______

For a combined neutral messenger, enter the member once and cross-reference it in the other field so it is not counted twice.

Quantity and quotation

Total assembled-bundle length for this item, m: ______

Continuous length per drum, m; tolerance; drum limits: ______

Accessories and quantities, or cable only: ______

Documents required with the offer: ______

Shipment records and inspection requirements: ______

Delivery place or port and required date: ______

Requested trade term and version, where applicable: ______

Currency, price unit, payment basis and freight inclusions: ______

Quotation deadline and required validity: ______

Open questions, proposal requests and attached files: ______

Requested supplier response: Please confirm the offered construction, compliance and deviations against the attached requirements, price basis, document availability, proposed drum schedule, lead-time basis and quotation validity. Identify all assumptions and price any alternative separately.

Check the quotation against the requested cable

Use your completed ABC cable RFQ checklist when reviewing each offer. First compare the conductor functions, materials, support arrangement, standard edition and declared deviations. Then compare drum schedules, document availability, delivery terms and the price on the same unit basis.

A lower unit price can refer to a different construction or supply scope. Resolve those differences before making a purchasing decision, and record which open items still need project confirmation.

To request an ABC cable quotation from Farwalk Cable, send your completed enquiry and project attachments. Include any unresolved specifications so the quotation basis can be discussed explicitly.