Infrastructure Cabling and Wiring Standards

12/19/2011

Any contractors installing fiber optic and network cabling on a UA Little Rock campus must use the Horizontal Link Cabling worksheet to identify and label cables.

The following information is provided to inform and guide University staff, consultants, contractors, and third-party personnel involved in any actions affecting or impacting UA Little Rock’s telecommunications and network critical physical infrastructure.

Use of this Standard, and those codes and standards referenced within this document, is intended to increase the value of the system owner’s investment in the infrastructure by reducing the labor expense of maintaining the system, by extending the useful economic life of the system, and by providing effective service to users. Adherence will also ensure UA Little Rock is in compliance with national and State of Arkansas legal and regulatory standards, and is capable of supporting UA Little Rock’s mission and vision for growth.

1. 1. 1 General guidelines
      1. 1.1 Specification of criteria, terms, acronyms and abbreviations
      2. 1.2 Major renovation and new construction
      3. 1.3 Minor renovation and new construction
      4. 1.4 Telecommunications room planning
   2. 2 Codes and standards
      1. 2.1 List of relevant codes and standards
      2. 2.2 Professional workmanship
      3. 2.3 Standards precedence and conflict resolution
      4. 2.4 Applying the standards
   3. 3 Specific guidance
      1. 3.1 General planning guidance for UA Little Rock work areas
      2. 3.2 Cable and wire infrastructure
   4. 4 Documentation
      1. 4.1 Installation, testing, and maintenance records
      2. 4.2 Cable plant records
      3. 4.3 Labeling requirements
   5. 5 Outside plant
      1. 5.1 Tunnels, manholes and duct system requirements
      2. 5.2 Outside plant plan review
      3. 5.3 Funding for cable plant modifications
   6. 6 Quality Assurance standards
      1. 6.1 Infrastructure cable testing and standards
      2. 6.2 Testing documentation
      3. 6.3 Testing standards
      4. 6.4 Cable testing requirements
      5. 6.5 UA Little Rock standardization
      6. 6.6 Warranty and certification
2. 7 Wireless infrastructure support
   1. 7.1 Wireless Access Point (WAP) installation
   2. 7.2 Appropriate use of wireless networks

1 General guidelines

Information Technology Services is responsible for overseeing installation, maintenance and administration of all UA Little Rock campus telecommunications and network critical physical infrastructure. This responsibility includes ensuring that each building’s infrastructure is planned to support adequate telecommunications rooms, ductwork, cabling and wiring within the buildings, and cabling between buildings to support UA Little Rock’s diverse requirements for voice, data, multi-media, surveillance, electronic control, and monitoring systems.

1.1 Specification of criteria, terms, acronyms and abbreviations

This document conforms to EIA Engineering Publication, EP-7B language used for criteria. Two categories of criteria are specified; mandatory and advisory. Mandatory requirements are designated by the word “shall”. Advisory requirements are designated by the words “should”, “may” or “desirable”, and are used interchangeably in this Standard.

Mandatory criteria generally apply to protection, performance, administration and compatibility. They specify the absolute minimum acceptable requirements. Conformance with the additional advisory criteria of this Standard can be expected to enhance the performance and usability of the cabling infrastructure.

The definitions of terms, acronyms or abbreviations used within this document can be found in the glossary of ANSI/TIA/EIA-606-A.

1.2 Major renovation and new construction

The architect/engineer for major renovation and new construction projects shall work very closely with the end user, Information Technology Services, and Physical Plant during the initial (Schematic, Preliminary) planning stage. Close coordination between the architect/engineer and these departments is essential to protect the university’s initial capital investment and to minimize operating support costs associated with the project. Ensuring requirements are clear and standards are incorporated in the design phase significantly reduces the risk of costly revisions later. These departments are key stakeholders in helping the end user ensure their requirements are understood and met, that applicable codes and standards are appropriately reflected in the design phase, and the resulting project is sustainable over the course of its planned lifecycle.

1.3 Minor renovation and new construction

Information Technology Services personnel shall be consulted during the planning stages of any building construction or building renovation to identify the impact of new uses/requirements on current telecommunications distribution facilities, and assess what needs to be done to accommodate changes in the use of building space.

1.4 Telecommunications room planning

Space for connection of the building communication cable to the outside plant must be provided as a separate room and not shared with other utility services, particularly the electrical service. When possible, this room will not be adjacent to the electrical distribution room.

2 Codes and standards

Information Technology Services recognizes and implements national codes and standards as a means to provide for and administer the critical infrastructure necessary for daily information technology use here at UA Little Rock. Contracted personnel hired to develop designs, perform renovations, construction, or any actions impacting UA Little Rock’s telecommunications and network infrastructure shall be required to adhere to the codes and standards listed in this section.

2.1 List of relevant codes and standards

This document is intended to raise awareness of these codes and standards and to provide additional guidance on their implementation here at UA Little Rock. This Standard does not replace any code, either partially or wholly. The reader shall consult the Authority Having Jurisdiction concerning applicable codes that may impact the use of this Standard. In all cases, the following installation, documentation, component and system industry specifications shall be met or exceeded:

2.2 Professional workmanship

The list of codes and standards (2.1) have specific applications to the planning, design, development and maintenance of UA Little Rock’s infrastructure. It is not all inclusive. Personnel acting in any professional capacity have a responsibility to comply with and perform their work in accordance with all applicable national, state and local codes governing their profession.

2.3 Standards precedence and conflict resolution

The latest edition of these referenced standards shall be the controlling document. In the case of proposed standards, the latest available draft shall be the controlling document. Where the standards appear to conflict with one another, the one with the most stringent requirements shall be applicable. If recommended vendor’s standards conflict with these standards, then industry standards will apply.

2.4 Applying the standards

There is latitude within the standards to expand or vary implementation, apply more stringent criteria, and to specify organizational guidance on how these standards shall be applied and administered. The remaining sections of this document provide amplifying information on how these standards are to be followed at UA Little Rock.

3 Specific guidance

3.1 General planning guidance for UA Little Rock work areas

This section is intended to convey the most current information technology infrastructure guidelines for the work areas typically found at a university. These are the minimum initial planning requirements to design and build the appropriate infrastructure to support the foreseeable use of the intended facility. For each type of work area listed in this section, the end user shall consult with Information Technology Services to help determine the specific configuration necessary to meet work area requirements. The use of a Multi-Use Telecommunications Outlet Assembly (MUTOA) is encouraged wherever it is possible to consolidate data and voice wiring into one location.

3.2 Cable and wire infrastructure

This section addresses intra-building cables between telecommunication spaces, station (or premise) wiring from these telecommunication spaces to the user’s wall outlets, and their wiring paths.

4 Documentation

4.1 Installation, testing, and maintenance records

All initial installation and modifications to cable paths, backbone cabling, cross-connects, fire stops, horizontal wiring, termination, and testing are to be documented in accordance with ANSI/TIA/EIA 606A standards. Information Technology Services maintains this documentation.

4.2 Cable plant records

All cable and station wiring that is to be connected to, or disconnected from, the campus communication network must be reported to Information Technology Services for approval. This must be submitted in writing so that accurate infrastructure records can be maintained.

4.3 Labeling requirements

All the information to label wall plates, horizontal cabling, patch panels and distribution frames shall be included in Information Technology Services cable management records system. The naming and labeling conventions in this section identify specific methods of implementing ANSI/EIA/TIA-606-A Standard. The 606-A identifiers are shown in italics. Each character in the identifier represents a key piece of information. The 606-A Standard allows administrative flexibility to accommodate variations in naming conventions format (Sections A2 and A5), such as alpha designations for floors. Alphanumeric designations for spaces, though not addressed in 606-A, are a UA Little Rock-specific expansion of 606-A to accommodate existing UA Little Rock spaces with alphanumeric identifiers. Brackets identify expansions to the ANSI/EIA/TIA-606-A Standard.

• f = [alpha] numeric character(s) designating the floor
• s = alpha [numeric] character(s) uniquely identifying the telecommunications space
• a = one or two alpha characters uniquely identifying the patch panel/cross-connect
• n = two to four numeric characters designating the port

5 Outside plant

5.1 Tunnels, manholes and duct system requirements

All new building construction planning must include a cable path into existing tunnels or manholes, or new manhole/duct system included as part of the new construction. The size of the cable path will be based on the requirements of the facility. This path will be used exclusively for data, voice, low voltage control/alarms, and video cables.

5.2 Outside plant plan review

Information Technology Services is the control entity for campus telecommunication facilities and will review drawings and specifications on construction and renovation projects for compliance with University telecommunications/network infrastructure standards and user specifications.

5.3 Funding for cable plant modifications

Any project that requires moving or rerouting of telecommunication cables will bear the cost of said moves.

6 Quality Assurance standards

6.1 Infrastructure cable testing and standards

6.2 Testing documentation

All infrastructure testing results will be documented. Paper and electronic copies of all testing documentation is to be provided to Information Technology Services at the conclusion of testing.

6.3 Testing standards

Testing shall be performed in accordance with the following standards:

6.4 Cable testing requirements

This document provides required test values at specific discrete frequencies. The tabulated values are intended for reference only. All UTP cable and patch cordage shall be swept-tested through a prescribed frequency range. University of Arkansas at Little Rock requires 100% compliance throughout the specified range of frequencies tested. By convention, all values of electrical characteristics, while predominantly negative numbers (representing losses), are expressed as absolute values (positive numbers).

6.5 UA Little Rock standardization

Selection of specific equipment, installation methods and maintenance requirements impact the staff’s ability to manage and grow the technical infrastructure. There are many solutions that meet the standards-based compliance requirements mentioned previously in this document, but will not integrate well with UA Little Rock’s infrastructure. During its requirements review, Information Technology Services will base its specific recommendations and approval of proposed projects on compatibility with the existing and planned infrastructure, legal requirements, mandatory use of state contracts,
warranty and certification requirements, maintenance and overhead costs and other factors affecting the total cost of ownership.

6.6 Warranty and certification

All wiring is to be warranted for 15 years and certified to EIA/TIA 568 and NFPA standards for Category 6 data/telephone and plenum cabling.

7 Wireless infrastructure support

7.1 Wireless Access Point (WAP) installation

Wireless access point installation locations shall be documented on plans. Each wireless access point shall have Category 6 wiring pulled back to the floor’s wiring closet.

7.2 Appropriate use of wireless networks

Wireless networks shall be installed only as extensions or additions to hard-wired networks, and not as a replacement for cabled data, telephone, or CATV networks.