Apex LSZH Conduits for Data Centres

Data centres are becoming critical infrastructure across Australia, with the materials used inside them carrying real consequences for safety and performance. When it comes to conduit selection, the wrong choice can introduce fire safety risks and compliance issues in environments where downtime isn’t an option. LSZH conduit has become the preferred solution for these environments. Below, Mojak Plastics explores what LSZH means, why it suits data centre applications and what engineers and contractors should consider when selecting conduit.

What LSZH Means and Why it Matters

LSZH stands for Low Smoke Zero Halogen. Unlike standard PVC conduit, LSZH materials are formulated to produce minimal smoke and release no halogen gases when exposed to fire. In enclosed, high-density environments, this distinction is important. During a fire event, it’s often the toxic gases and smoke rather than the flames themselves that cause the most harm to people and the most lasting damage to sensitive equipment. Halogen gases are particularly destructive in data centre settings. When released, they can corrode server hardware and electronic infrastructure rapidly, compounding the damage well beyond what the fire itself causes. For specifiers and project managers, this makes LSZH a baseline requirement rather than an optional upgrade.

Fire Safety and Compliance in High-Density Environments

Data centres are classified as high-risk environments from a fire safety standpoint, and the materials running through them need to reflect that. LSZH conduit is formulated to slow combustion and resist flame spread, helping limit fire progression through cable runs and conduit pathways. In dense cabling configurations, a fire moving through a conduit run can escalate quickly, making material selection a direct factor in risk mitigation.
From a compliance perspective, specifying LSZH conduit supports alignment with International standards including IEC 61386, IEC 61034, IEC 60754,
which set expectations for fire performance and toxicity characteristics of materials used in high-value environments. Mojak Plastics manufactures LSZH conduit to comply with these standards, giving project teams confidence in the materials they’re putting forward for approval.
The cost of data centre downtime is measured in thousands of dollars per minute for many operators. Selecting materials that reduce the severity of a fire event and the secondary damage caused by corrosive gases is a practical step in protecting both infrastructure and business continuity.

Communications Conduit in Data Centre Environments

LSZH conduit is also well-suited to the physical demands of data centre cable management. Modern data centres run extensive structured cabling systems, including fibre optic, Cat6A and direct attach copper, that need to be routed cleanly and remain accessible for maintenance and future upgrades. The right conduit protects this cabling from physical damage while supporting orderly installations that hold up after the initial fit-out.

Pathway separation is a key consideration in data centre design. Power and communications cabling must be routed through separate conduit pathways to prevent electromagnetic interference, and LSZH conduit is available in the sizes needed to support both. As facilities scale and cable routes become more complex, a conduit system that accommodates future capacity without requiring a full refit adds long-term value.