RE: Cat5 related regulations

["Hawes,Timothy Edward (GEG)" <haweste@xxxxxxx>]

Paul,

First things first, you can *never* have enough Cat5, just ask one of the
list's moderators  ;-)))))

I'd check out the IEEE wiring regs - now at the 16th edition IIRC. You can
get books entitled "Handy guide to ..." etc from libraries -
there were half a dozen to choose from when I last looked. While Cat5 may
not be explicitly covered (I really can't remember) it does talk about what
you can and can't do with mains wiring e.g. you can't run mains and LV in
the same conduit, they must be segregated. You can then get some guidance
by default.

My experience of official inspectors (DoT though, not Bldg Regs) is that if
you can demonstrate a neat, tidy, careful installation for the bits they
can see, they have more of a warm & fuzzy feeling about the rest of the
installation. All IME though.

Take care if you intend to install AV equipment in the loft - the more
insulation you put in the floor joists (to keep the house warm) the colder
(and hotter) the roof space will get. My wiring closet is under the stairs.
One of the options I considered for the loft was to build a small
"room" which had no insulation on the floor, but was insulated on
it's walls & roof - basically incorporating the closet into the
insulated envelope of the house.

I'm planning to install a fire/smoke detector in the wiring closet and
probably some temperature monitoring.

Anything else - just ask :-)

Cheers,

Tim H.

-----Original Message-----
From: Paul Robinson

Are there any regulations that I need to be wary of when laying cat5? At
last count, I'm planning on 3km with 138 cat5 cables terminated in node
zero. (This does seem like an unreasonably high number though!)

I'm thinking of both electrical regulations (not sure if they can apply to
cat5 given its limited power capacity) and fire regulations in particular.

NZ is going to be a loft area in my converted bungalow - most of the first
floor is living space, but there's an end part off my en-suite bathroom.
This will have floor boards, but currently no plans for insulating it. (I'm
a little concerned it may be too hot in summer for all the electronics I
don't yet own :-( so insulation may have to be added later)

Thanks,
Paul

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