Handing (Unloading at Site):
On receipt of cable drums visual inspection of drums should be made. While unloading the cables certain precaution are to be taken to ensure the safety of the cables.
1. The cable drums should not be droped or thrown from railway wagons or truck during loading operations as the shock may cause serious damage to cable layers. A crane should be used for unloading cable drums. when lifting drums with the crane, it is recommended that the lagging should be kept in not available , a ramp should be prepared with approximate inclination of 1:3 or 1:4 The cable drum should be rolled over the ramp by means of ropes and winches, Additionally a sand bed at the food of the ramp may be prepared too brake the rolling the cable drum.
2. Cable should not be dragged along the earth surface.
3. Cable ends should always be sealed by means of suitable end sealing materials to prevent moisturisation of cores and armour. 4. Drums should be rolling in direction of arrow marked on the drum

Storage
Cable should be stored in a dry covered place to prevent exposure to climatic conditions and wear & tear of wooden drums. Further, it should preferably be kept on a contrate surface to avoid sinking of drums and decay of flanges which will help easy movement of the drums. All drums should be stored in such a manner as to leave sufficient space between them for air circulation. it is desirable to drums to stand on battens directly under the flanges.

Laying
For laying of cables special caves to be taken to prevent sharp bending, kinking, twisting . Cable should be unwound from drum by proper mounting the cable drum on a cable wheel, making sure the spindle is strong enough to carry the weight without bending and that it is lying horizontally in the bearing so as to prevent th drum creeping to one side or the other while it is rotating. However, Following salient points are to be considered during laying procedure of cables laid in racks and in built in trenches.
1. For laying of cables power cables to be placed at top most layer.
2. Single core power cable for use on A.c. system shall be laid in delta formation supported by non-magnetic material. trefoil clamps of suitable size are to be placed at regular intervals but preferably not more than 800 mm. Axial spacing of two circuits in delta formation shall not be less than 4 times the cable dia. Incase of multicore power cables, cables shall be laid side by side, with spacings not less than one cable diamter. However derating factors for cables laid on trenches are to be referred. Multicore power cables and single core D.C. circuits may be clamped by means of galvanised mild steel saddles but 1.1KV single core cables should be clamped by means of non-magnetic saddles. The saddles shall not be paced at intervals more than 1500 mm for horizontal and 1200 mm for vertical runs.
3. Multicore control cables can be laid touching each other on cable racks and wherever required may be taken in two layers. They should be clamped by means of PVC straps both for horizontal and vertical runs (alternatively, fabricated aluminium clamps may be used) at regular intervals.
4. a) if the cables are buried directly in ground IS-1255 is to be followed for code of practice. However, generally cables are laid 1000 mm below finished ground level at any point of cable run and 75 mm of sand cushioning to be provided. b) In loose soil concrete pillar should be provided for as support and hence pipe are recommended to the used for cable path.
5. If there is possibility of mechanical damage, cables should be protected by means of mild steel covers placed on racks.
6. While laying cables, special care to be taken at bends. Following are the recommended bending radius for power and control cables.
Single Core = 15 x D
Multi Core = 12 x D
Where 'D' is overall diameter of cable.
7. Maximum safe pulling force (When pulled by pulling eye) Aluminium Conductor Cables : 3.0 kg / nm2Copper Conductor cables : 5.0 Kg mm2 Proper method of pulling of cable should be used.

End Terminations & Jointing :
Termination and jointing of power and Control Cables shall be done by means of compression methods using solderless tinned copper / Aluminium terminal lugs. For control cables terminations, ring tongue or reducer pin type terminal lug can also be used to suit the purpose.

Testing during laying :
All new cable drums shall be meggar-tested before jointing with a 500/1000 volts meggar. Please note that meggar value decreases with increase in the length, temperatures and size of the cables. Before meggaring, both the ends of the cables should be opened out and cleaned to remove dust or metal particles. After the test, the cores should be shorted to discharge the cable, otherwise charged cores may give a shock to a person who may handle it subsequently.

IS-1554 does not mention the minimum meggar value of the PVC cables. The table below give the minimum meggar values of PVC cables as per BS-6346-1989.

As PVC cables have got higher capacitance, while meggaring, a high charging current will flow intially and hence the meggar will show a lesser reading. As per International specifications the reading after one minute of continuous meggaring should be taken.