1 Telecom Cabling THE NATIONAL ELECTRIC CODE AND THE STANDARDS
Dec 31, 2015
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THE NATIONAL ELECTRIC CODE AND THE STANDARDS
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The National Electrical Code (NEC) or NFPA 70, is a U.S. standard for the safe installation of electrical wiring and equipment.
It is published by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA).
The purpose of NFPA 70 is stated in article 90.1
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So what is the purpose of the NEC code book?
A-90.1: The practical safe guarding of persons and property from the hazards arising from the use of electricity.
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The NEC code book is updated every 3 years.
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While the NEC is not itself a U.S. law, NEC use is commonly mandated by state or local law.
The NEC codifies the requirements for safe electrical installations into a single, standardized source.
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The "authority having jurisdiction” (AHJ) inspects for compliance with these minimum standards.
This can be a building inspector, electrical inspector, or fire marshal.
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Therefore, the codebook itself is a standard until it is adopted as law by the local authority.
The NEC is published every 3 years and is usually adopted by states within 2 years of publication.
The articles that cover low voltage cabling start with chapter 6 article 645, some of article 700 and article 800.
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The purpose of the codes are to protect life, property, and the mission of the building.
Notice on the news when there is a fire, first they look for arson, then they look for an electrical source.
Even-though we are low voltage, our wires can still ignite if installed improperly.
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Each article that relates to our trade will contain the following statement:
“800.24 Mechanical Execution of Work. “Communications circuits and equipment shall be installed in a neat and workmanlike manner.”
We are legally obligated to be neat and professional.
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In 2002 the NEC addressed the issue of abandoned low voltage cables and this had a big impact on our industry.
800.2 Abandoned Communications Cable: Installed communications cable that is not terminated at both ends at a connector or other equipment and not identified for future use with a tag.
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This means that when we arrive to install some new cables for a client and we find older cables in the ceiling, we must remove them. Who bears the cost of this work? The customer.
There is a loop-hole that allows us to label these old cables for future use, but………
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The reason for removing old cables is that they serve as an additional fuel source during a fire and it is highly unlikely that an inspector will allow these cables to be tagged and left in the ceiling.
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The codebook also indicates cable markings and contains a cable hierarchy to help us decide which cables we can substitute if possible. (table 800.113)
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A cable hierarchy chart tells us what cable can be substituted for each situation we encounter.
The important thing is that when we are working in a plenum environment, we must use plenum cable.
Essentially, plenum is on top of the food chain.
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The first letters of a cable marking indicate the type of cable. CL is class, MP is multipurpose, and CATV is coax.
The last letter indicates plenum rated (P), riser rated (R), X or no marking (general purpose).
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The NEC also tells us how far to keep our cables away from power cables inside a building: 2 inches.
The NEC also tells us how far to keep our cables away from power cables on a building: 4 inches.
The NEC also tells us how far to keep our cables away from power cables on a telephone pole: 40 inches.
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800.113-A: Separation from Other Conductors(2) Other ApplicationsCommunications wires and cablesshall be separated at least 50 mm (2 in.) from conductors ofany electric light, power, Class 1, non–power-limited firealarm, or medium-power network-powered broadbandcommunications circuits.
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The NEC also tells us how to support our cables as they pass thru the building:
“800.24-..Cables installed exposed on the surface of ceilings and sidewalls shall be supported by the building structure in such a way that the cable will not be damaged by normal building use. Such cables shall be secured by straps, staples, hangers, or similar fittings designed so as not to damage the cable.”
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CABLE SUPPORT OF CHOICE THE J HOOK
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Essentially, the NEC codebook tells us how to install the various types of wires we put into buildings.
The codebook is considered law and a technician can be prosecuted for violating these laws and at the very least lose their license and face fines of $500 to $2000 dollars.
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Another consideration we must deal with are the telecommunication standards.
These are published by:
the Electronics Industry Association (EIA)the Telecommunication Industry Association TIA The American National Standards Society (ANSI)
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Standards are part of an effort to create the “plug and play” world that we live in.
They are created so one manufacturer’s jack will work on another companies cable, etc.
They are considered minimum recommendations for performance.
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Telecommunications standards (wire and wireless) are the underlying "laws" that govern the Global Information Highway and existing telephone systems.
Telecommunications networks in every country in the world utilize formal telecommunications standards to physically interwork.
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Without public agreements and the telecommunications standards that codify such agreements, wide-area voice and data communications would not be possible.
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For example, when we wish to run higher speed and higher capacity applications on cable, the cable must be designed to support those new requirements.
As the computers got faster, the cable had to support those speeds.
This is where the standards came in.
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Let’s say your company designs a cable that can handle 100 megahertz transmission speeds with ease. The problem is all the jack companies need to come up with jacks that work at those speeds as well.
They all get together on standards committees and decide what will be the minimum requirements for these new jacks and that is how a standard is born.
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There are five big standards that dominate the low voltage world. They are:
568 : Commercial building standard569 : Pathway and spaces standard570: Residential and light commercial standard606: Administration and documentation standard607: Grounding and bonding standard
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The '568-C Family of Standards
The ANSI/TIA-568 family of Telecommunications Standards contains the requirements for balanced twisted-pair and optical fiber cabling, which provide the foundation for the design, installation, and maintenance best practices.
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ANSI/TIA-568-C.0,"Generic Telecommunications Cabling for Customer Premises", published 2009
ANSI/TIA-568-C.1,"Commercial Building Telecommunications Cabling Standard", published 2009
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ANSI/TIA-568-C.2,"Balanced Twisted-Pair Telecommunication Cabling and Components Standard", published 2009
ANSI/TIA-568-C.3,"Optical Fiber Cabling Components Standard", published 2008, errata issued in October, 2008
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TIA/EIA 568 is the most commonly quoted standard in the communications industry.
The 568 standard dictates all of the common termination practices in the industry and category conformity from the patch-cord through the entire cable plant and the final connection.
All components in a cable plant must be the same category or the network defaults to the lowest category in the link.
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An example of this is if we install a category 6 network then everything used in the network must be category 6.
That means patch-cords, jacks, cable, patch panels, consolidation points and equipment must all be CAT 6 compliant.
If CAT 5e patch-cords are used on a CAT 6 network then the network is considered a CAT 5e network, (an expensive CAT 5e network).