Cable Management Accessories Every Electrician Should Know About

Ask any seasoned electrician what makes the difference between a quick, professional job and one that drags on forever.

07:45 02 September 2025

Cable Management Accessories Every Electrician Should Know About

Ask any seasoned electrician what makes the difference between a quick, professional job and one that drags on forever, and they'll probably mention their toolkit. Not just the obvious stuff - your multimeter, screwdrivers, and wire strippers - but all those little bits and pieces that turn a potentially nightmare installation into something that flows smoothly from start to finish.

Cable management accessories aren't just about making things look tidy (though that definitely helps). They're about working smarter, staying compliant with regs, and keeping your customers happy. Miss them out and you'll spend twice as long on every installation, guaranteed.

Top 5 Must-Have Cable Management Accessories

Right, let's get down to brass tacks. If you're just starting out or maybe you've been neglecting this side of things, here are the five types of kit you absolutely need to have sorted.

• Cable Ties

Starting with the absolute basics here - cable ties. Sounds dead simple, doesn't it? Just plastic strips that hold stuff together. But you'd be amazed at how many different types there are and how much difference the right ones can make.

The trick is having a good selection in your van. Nothing worse than being halfway through a job and realising all your ties are too short or the wrong type for where you're working.

• Trunking

Trunking's one of those things that separates the professionals from the cowboys. Done right, it transforms an installation from a mess of cables stuck to walls into something that looks planned and thought-through.

• Cable Clips

Simple but essential. The number of times I've seen cables just draped between fixing points because someone couldn't be bothered with proper clips, it drives you mad. Cables sag, they get damaged, they look unprofessional.

Good clips aren't expensive, but they make such a difference. The flat ones are great for twin and earth, round ones for armoured cable, and the adjustable ones are perfect when you're not sure exactly what size you'll be clipping. Get yourself a selection and use them properly - your installations will look ten times better.

• Conduits

Flexible conduit's your friend for awkward routes where rigid stuff would be impossible to install. The corrugated plastic stuff's fine for light protection, but if you're going through walls or anywhere rough, spend the extra on proper liquid-tight flexible conduit.

For buried work, you really can't beat rigid PVC conduit. It’s a bit more work to install but your cables are protected for the life of the building.

• Junction boxes

The days of using any old plastic box are long gone. Fire-rated boxes for escape routes, weatherproof ones for outside work, and maintenance-free boxes where access is difficult. Getting the correct box for the application can save you callbacks and keep your customers happy.

Why These Accessories Are Essential

• Safety and Compliance

We use this kit because the regs say we have to. BS 7671's got quite a lot to say about cable support, protection, and segregation. Miss it out, and your installation fails its inspection. Simple as that.

But beyond just ticking boxes, proper cable management genuinely makes installations safer. 

• Efficiency and Organisation

Good cable management saves you time, not costs you time. When everything's properly planned and organised, adding circuits becomes straightforward instead of a nightmare.

Think about it - would you rather spend ten minutes running a new cable through existing trunking, or half a day trying to fish it through wall cavities and lift floorboards? No contest, is it?

• Customer Satisfaction

Never underestimate how much customers notice the details. They might not understand impedance or earth fault loop testing, but they can definitely tell the difference between cables that are neatly clipped and organised versus ones that look like they've been thrown at the wall.

Tips for Choosing the Right Cable Management Products

• Balancing Quality vs Budget

Look, we all work to budgets, but skimping on cable management accessories is false economy. Cheap cable ties that snap when you tighten them, clips that fall off the wall, trunking that cracks - you'll end up going back to fix problems that shouldn't exist.

Standard quality gear that's fit for purpose will do most of the time, though. Save the expensive stuff for the applications that really need it.

• Environment-Specific Considerations

Indoor office work needs different kit to outdoor industrial installations. Damp environments, high temperatures, chemical exposure - they all affect what products you should be using.

When in doubt, ask your supplier. The good electrical wholesalers employ people who know their products and can point you in the right direction. Don't guess - it'll come back to bite you.