15 Facts About FRP Cable Trays Every Specifier Should Know

FRP cable trays are one of the most widely specified secondary infrastructure products in industrial, energy, water, and data centre construction, and one of the least understood. Here are fifteen facts about what they are made from, how they perform, and why they are increasingly the default specification in environments where steel struggles.

Published by Reinforce Technology  |  June 2026

Cable trays are not glamorous. They rarely appear in project renders, they are not the subject of marketing campaigns, and they receive a fraction of the engineering attention given to the equipment they support. But the cable management system inside any energy, water, industrial, or data centre facility is the infrastructure that everything else depends on to route power and data safely for the operational life of the asset. The material it is made from determines whether that infrastructure performs for 50 years or becomes a maintenance liability within a decade. Here are fifteen facts worth knowing.

1. FRP and GRP Are the Same Thing

FRP stands for Fibre Reinforced Polymer. GRP stands for Glass Reinforced Plastic, or Glass Reinforced Polymer. In the cable tray industry, the two terms are used interchangeably to describe the same composite material: glass fibre reinforcement embedded in a polymer resin matrix. If a specification document refers to FRP cable tray in one section and GRP cable tray in another, it is referring to the same product category.

2. They Are Manufactured Through Pultrusion

FRP cable trays are manufactured through pultrusion, a continuous process in which glass fibre reinforcements, including longitudinal rovings and continuous filament mats, are pulled through a resin bath and then through a heated forming die. The process produces a consistent cross-sectional profile along the full length of the product, which is then cut to the required lengths. Pultrusion is well suited to high-volume production of linear profiles with constant cross-sections, which is exactly what cable tray side rails, rungs, and channel sections require (IntechOpen, 2022).

3. The Resin System Is the Most Important Specification Decision

Two FRP cable trays that look identical can have very different chemical resistance profiles depending entirely on the resin system used. Polyester resin provides good general-purpose chemical and UV resistance for standard industrial and outdoor environments. Vinyl ester resin provides substantially enhanced resistance to concentrated acids, alkalis, solvents, and chlorinated compounds, making it the standard specification for chemical plants, offshore platforms, and coastal installations. Epoxy resin provides the highest combined chemical resistance and structural performance for the most demanding applications, including elevated temperature service. Specifying the wrong resin for the environment is the single most common and most costly FRP cable tray procurement error.

4. They Do Not Require Earthing or Bonding

FRP cable trays are electrically non-conductive. Unlike steel cable trays, which must be earthed and bonded throughout their length in accordance with electrical installation requirements, FRP cable trays require no earth continuity programme. This eliminates a specific category of installation labour, materials, and ongoing compliance verification across the operational life of the installation.

5. They Are Roughly a Quarter of the Weight of Steel

Glass fibre reinforced polymer has a density of approximately 1,750 to 2,100 kg/m³, compared to approximately 7,850 kg/m³ for structural steel. For an equivalent cross-section, FRP cable trays are roughly 75 to 80% lighter than steel equivalents. In practice, this means individual tray sections can often be handled and positioned by a single operative without mechanical lifting equipment, even on long-span or multilayer installations (IntechOpen, 2022).

6. No Welding Is Required

FRP cable tray systems are connected using bolted, snap-fit, or interlocking connections rather than welding. This eliminates hot work permits, the specialist welding labour, and the fire watch and ventilation controls that welding requires, particularly relevant in chemical plants, ATEX-adjacent zones, and any environment where ignition sources are tightly controlled.

7. They Do Not Corrode, Because There Is Nothing to Corrode

Corrosion is an electrochemical process that requires a metal substrate. FRP is a polymer composite, not a metal, and has no corrosion mechanism. This is a fundamentally different proposition from galvanised steel, where corrosion resistance is provided by a sacrificial zinc coating that depletes over time, particularly at cut edges, fixing points, and weld intersections. FRP's resistance to its environment is intrinsic to the bulk material, consistent through the full cross-section, and does not depend on a surface condition that can be breached.

8. They Come in Four Main Configurations

FRP cable trays are manufactured in several structural configurations to suit different applications. Ladder tray consists of two side rails connected by transverse rungs, providing maximum ventilation for heat dissipation and easy cable access, commonly used for power cable routing. Channel tray has a solid or perforated bottom with integral side rails, providing mechanical protection for communications and instrumentation cables. Perforated tray combines a partially enclosed, ventilated bottom with mechanical protection, suited to medium-duty power applications and outdoor drainage. Trough and wire mesh configurations are also available for specific lighter-duty and data cable applications.

9. They Operate Across a Wide Temperature Range

Depending on the resin system, FRP cable trays typically operate across a temperature range from approximately -40°C to 120°C, covering the full range of UK outdoor ambient conditions as well as many indoor industrial environments. Epoxy resin systems extend the upper end of this range for elevated temperature applications.

10. They Are Non-Magnetic

FRP cable trays are non-magnetic as well as non-conductive. This is relevant in applications where electromagnetic interference with sensitive instrumentation matters, including process control systems, precision measurement equipment, and nuclear environments where radiation survey instruments must not be affected by the secondary infrastructure around them.

11. Fire-Retardant Formulations Are Available

Standard FRP resins are combustible, but fire-retardant formulations incorporating flame-retardant additives are widely available and tested to recognised fire performance classifications, including self-extinguishing properties in some formulations. For applications where fire performance is a specification requirement, including offshore topsides, nuclear facilities, and buildings subject to fire safety regulations, fire-retardant FRP cable trays provide both chemical resistance and documented fire performance in a single product.

12. The Global Market Is Growing at Over 7% Annually

The global FRP and GRP cable tray market was valued at approximately $1.8 billion in 2022 and is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of approximately 7.2% through 2030, driven by infrastructure modernisation, renewable energy projects, and industrial automation, with adoption concentrated in corrosive environments including chemical plants, coastal facilities, and wastewater treatment works where traditional materials fail (Accio, 2025).

13. They Are Resistant to Microbial Growth

Unlike organic materials, FRP does not provide a nutrient source for fungal or bacterial growth, and its smooth, non-porous surface does not retain moisture in the way that some coated or treated materials can. This is relevant in water treatment, food processing, and pharmaceutical environments where hygiene and microbial control are specification requirements.

14. Cable Trays Can Be Stacked in Multi-Tier Configurations

FRP cable trays are commonly installed in multi-tier configurations, with separate trays at different levels along the same support structure used to segregate power, control, and instrumentation cables in accordance with electrical separation requirements. Because FRP trays are roughly a quarter of the weight of steel, multi-tier installations impose significantly less load on the support structure itself, FRP ladder racks, brackets, and trapeze hangers, than an equivalent steel multi-tier system. This allows wider support spacing, smaller support sections, and in many cases the use of FRP throughout the entire support structure as well as the trays themselves, giving a fully non-conductive, corrosion-free cable management system from the support steelwork down to the cable itself.

15. The Lifecycle Cost Case Is Independently Documented

A peer-reviewed lifecycle cost analysis published in Construction and Building Materials compared GFRP and conventional steel over a 100-year study period and found approximately 50% cost savings in favour of GFRP, driven primarily by the elimination of corrosion-related maintenance and replacement cycles (Younis, Ebead and Judd, 2018). The global annual cost of corrosion is estimated at approximately £2 trillion, around 3.4% of global GDP, with the adoption of corrosion-resistant materials identified as the highest-leverage cost reduction intervention available to infrastructure owners (NACE International, 2016). For cable tray installations in corrosive environments, the break-even point at which FRP's lower maintenance cost offsets its higher purchase price typically falls within 8 to 12 years.

Reinforce Technology FRP Cable Trays

Reinforce Technology supplies FRP cable tray systems in ladder, channel, perforated, and solid bottom configurations for industrial, energy, water, data centre, and infrastructure applications across the UK and internationally. Available in polyester, vinyl ester, and epoxy resin systems, with fire-retardant formulations available where flame performance is a specification requirement. All-FRP connection hardware available to eliminate galvanic corrosion at fixing points.

We provide resin system guidance based on the specific chemical environment of each installation, load and span data, and full material traceability documentation for project QA submissions. Contact us to discuss your project and the correct cable tray specification for your application.

Final confirmation of suitability for any specific application, including resin system selection and load and span requirements, remains the responsibility of the appointed project engineer. Reinforce Technology provides technical guidance and material recommendations based on information supplied to us, but specification sign-off should always sit with the qualified professional responsible for the design.

References

Accio (2025) FRP GRP Cable Tray: Durable and Corrosion-Resistant Solutions. Available at: https://www.accio.com/plp/frp-grp-cable-tray [Accessed: June 2026]. [Global FRP/GRP cable tray market valued at $1.8bn in 2022, projected 7.2% CAGR through 2030; typical resin-to-glass-fibre ratio 70:30; 30-50% faster installation than steel].

IntechOpen (2022) 'Fibre-Reinforced Polymer (FRP) in Civil Engineering', in IntechOpen Engineering Series. Available at: https://www.intechopen.com/chapters/84203 [Accessed: June 2026]. [GFRP density 1,750-2,100 kg/m³ vs steel 7,850 kg/m³; pultrusion manufacturing process; non-conductive and non-magnetic properties].

NACE International (2016) International Measures of Prevention, Application and Economics of Corrosion Technology (IMPACT). Houston, TX: NACE International. Available at: http://impact.nace.org/economic-impact.aspx [Accessed: June 2026]. [Global annual cost of corrosion approximately £2 trillion, 3.4% of global GDP].

Younis, A., Ebead, U. and Judd, S. (2018) 'Life cycle cost analysis of structural concrete using seawater, recycled concrete aggregate, and GFRP reinforcement', Construction and Building Materials, 175, pp. 135-144. doi: 10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2018.04.183. [Approximately 50% lifecycle cost saving for GFRP versus steel over 100-year study period].