Seller process · Inspection
How footage and condition get verified.
Every number in a cable lot is an estimate until someone checks it. Verification is how a rough description becomes a firm basis for an offer.
Cable is sold on facts that are easy to state approximately and harder to state exactly: how much is left, what construction it is, and what condition it is in. Verification is the step that closes that gap.
It happens at the seller's site, at pickup, or both. The point is not to catch anyone out. It is to reach a number both sides can defend.
The walk-around
Verification starts with the reel, not the paperwork. The tag is read first, then the jacket printing, then the exposed end. Together they confirm the construction, the conductor material and the voltage class, and they show whether the cable on the reel matches the cable the tag describes.
The reel itself is inspected too. Rotten flanges, broken lagging and reels that have been sitting in standing water all affect how the cable can be moved, even when the cable itself is sound.
- Reel tag readable and consistent with the cable
- Jacket print confirming type, size and voltage rating
- Cut end showing conductor, strand and insulation
- Reel condition — flanges, lagging, rot, water line
Establishing how much is left
The tag length is the starting point, not the answer. If the reel has been used, the remainder is estimated from what was installed, from a length counter if the site has one, or from the number of wraps and the circumference of the drum plus cable.
Weighing is the other route. Net weight divided by the published weight per foot for that construction gives a footage estimate that is usually within a few percent. The estimate is weaker when the reel is partly full, when the cable is wet, or when the construction has changed mid-reel.
- Tag length minus documented usage
- Length counter reading where available
- Wrap count multiplied by measured circumference
- Net weight divided by weight per foot
A certified scale and a published weight-per-foot table turn an argument into arithmetic. Both are worth having.
Grading condition
Condition is graded in bands rather than adjectives. New surplus has never been installed and usually still has the mill tag and banding. Used cable has been energised and removed, and is graded on jacket integrity, shield condition and the state of the ends.
Flooded and storm-damaged cable is its own category. Water can travel under a jacket and sit against a copper shield, and the damage is not always visible from outside. Where there is doubt, the grading is conservative and the lot is valued accordingly.
- New surplus, still banded, documentation intact
- New surplus, opened or partly used
- Used and removed in service
- Flooded, salt-exposed or storm damaged
- Unknown history, stored outside
What changes after verification
Usually the quantity and occasionally the basis. A lot described as 2,000 feet that verifies at 1,400 is still a lot, but the terms move. A reel described as 15 kV that turns out to be 600 V tray cable is a different conversation entirely.
That is why verification happens before the final number is fixed, and why the confirmed figures are shared with the seller. If the cable is being bought on weight, the scale ticket does the same job.
When the lot is bigger than a walk-around
A plant stores list with dozens of line items cannot be verified reel by reel in an afternoon. It is handled in stages: the list is reviewed first for construction, size and stated length, then the highest-value items are inspected physically, then the balance is confirmed at pickup.
That ordering matters because a stores list is often years out of date. Reels get moved, combined, cut into, or quietly scrapped by a maintenance crew that needed the flange. The list is a starting point, not a title deed.
Where a lot is large enough, a site visit before terms are agreed saves both sides a wasted day. The visit is a walk, a count and a set of photographs, not an audit, and it is usually enough to separate the reels worth collecting from the ones that should stay where they are.
Questions sellers ask
Do you cut the cable to inspect it?
Not unless an end is already exposed or the seller agrees. Cutting a reel costs length and value. The existing end, the jacket print and the tag usually answer the question without damaging the lot.
What if the reel tag is wrong?
It happens, especially where a reel has been re-used for a different cable. The jacket print and the cut end take precedence over the tag. Where they conflict, the physical cable decides the construction.
Can verification be done from photographs?
Partly. Good photographs of the tag, the jacket print and the cut end support an initial review and often a conditional offer. Final quantities and condition are still confirmed at the site or at pickup.
How long does an inspection take?
A few reels at a contractor yard is a short visit. A plant stores list with dozens of line items takes longer, and is usually done in stages: list review first, physical check second.
Buying desk · Greater Houston
Ready to move a lot?
Tell us what is on the reel, where it sits and what condition it is in. A buyer reviews the lot, asks for photographs of the tag and the cut end, and comes back with a real answer — not a request to call a call centre.
- Cable type, size and voltage class
- Footage, reel count or weight, and condition
- City, and whether the site has loading equipment