GO-ITS 580TES Cabling and Wiring for Voice and Data

1. Introduction

Government of Ontario Information Technology Standards (GO-ITS) are the official publications on the IT standards adopted through the Office of the Corporate Chief Information Officer (OCCIO) and IT Executive Leadership Council (ITELC) for use across the government’s information and information technology (I&IT) infrastructure.
These publications support the responsibilities of the Treasury Board Secretariat for coordinating the standardization of I&IT in the Government of Ontario. GO-IT Standards describe where the application of an IT standard is mandatory and specify any qualifications governing the implementation of the IT standards.

2. Summary

2.1 Standard Name and Description

This standard, GO-ITS Number 580TES Cabling and Wiring for Voice and Data defines the requirements for the cabling and wiring of data and voice communications in Government of Ontario buildings.

2.2 Background and rationale

This GO-ITS is established to define the design and minimum technical and quality requirements for the wiring of voice and data communications in all buildings that are managed by, or on behalf of, the Government of Ontario for the provision of government services by its Clusters and/or Ministries and all former Schedule I and IV provincial government agencies under their present classification (Advisory, Regulatory, Adjudicative, Operational Service, Operational Enterprise, Trust or Crown Foundation).

This GO-ITS defines specific categories of cabling, components, transmission performance, system models and measurement procedures - needed for verification of cabling performance - which are to be used at a minimum for any new or major retrofit wiring of data and voice communications in existing Government of Ontario buildings. These requirements are defined in the following core cabling and wiring standards:

• ANSI/EIA/TIA-568-0-D 2015 Generic Telecommunications Cabling for Customers Premises; including:
  • ANSI/TIA-568.0-E: Generic Telecommunications Cabling for Customer Premises
  • ANSI/TIA-568.1-E: Commercial Building Telecommunications Cabling
  • ANSI/TIA-568.2-D: Balanced Twisted-Pair Telecommunications Cabling and Components
  • ANSI/TIA-568.3-D, Optical Fiber Cabling and Components Standard
  • ANSI/TIA-568.4-D: Broadband Coaxial Cabling and Components Standard

In addition, coverage of the GO-ITS 580TES standard has been broadened to reference new developments and updates in cabling plants such as Power Over Ethernet (PoE) and IoT (Internet of Things) connected devices, datacentre specific standards, cabling for wireless access points and the administration standard for cabling plant management.

The expected benefits and results of the GO-ITS are:

1. Provide safe, reliable, uniform and up-to-date facilities for the convenient connection of telephones, computers, computer terminals and other communications-related technologies utilizing cabling and wiring in government offices.
2. Achieve significant cost-savings in the rearrangement of government offices and the relocation of government services and personnel by uniform and flexibly arranged communications connections.
3. Increase the value of the investment in the cabling infrastructure by reducing the labour expense of maintaining the system, extending the useful life of the system and providing effective service to users.

2.3 Target audience

The target audience for this document includes, but is not limited to:

• Technical implementers including:
  • OPS and BPS project managers
  • OPS and BPS IT staff
  • OPS and BPS accommodation staff
• Procurement

2.4 Scope

Main Highlights of this GO-ITS

1. Includes the cabling of buildings for wireless access points. The purpose of inclusion is to provide requirements and guidelines on the installation of a customer premises cabling system infrastructure for an array of coverage areas that form a wireless network grid within a building.  These requirements and guidance are to be found in CAN/CSA-ISO/IEC TR 24704-06 (R2016) “Customer Premises Cabling for Wireless Access Points” and in its updated versions/amendments. The cabling specified in this Technical Report is in addition to and not in place of the infrastructure specified in ISO/IEC 11801 “Generic Cabling for customer premises”. It is also applicable to all the balanced and optical fibre cabling classes specified in ISO/IEC 11801.
2. Includes data centres that are managed by or on behalf of the Government of Ontario. The purpose of inclusion is to provide requirements and guidelines for the design and installation of a data centre or computer room. These requirements and guidance are to be found in ANSI/EIA/TIA-942-B 2017 “Telecommunications Infrastructure Standard for Data Centers” which incorporates the contents of the previous edition ANSI/TIA-942-A including its addenda.
3. Specifies adherence to the IEEE 802.3bu-2018 standard for Ethernet Amendment_2 (Physical Layer and Management Parameters for Power over Ethernet over two-and four-pair and over single-pair Ethernet which was published in 2016) within the cabling plant owned by, or managed on behalf of, the Government of Ontario. The relevant standard is IEEE 802.3at “Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Detection (CSMA/CD) Access Method and Physical Layer Specifications - Data Terminal Equipment (DTE) Power Via Media Dependent Interface (MDI)”.
4. Specifies a uniform administration approach to the management of a telecommunications cabling system as found in ANSI/EIA/TIA-606-C 2017 “Administration Standard for Commercial Telecommunications Infrastructure”.

2.4.1 In scope

• Any reference to any technical standard in this document also includes any updates and addendums to these standards that are approved by the Canadian approval bodies and by Canadian federal and municipal laws
• Horizontal & Vertical (Backbone) Structured Cabling Platforms
• Data Centre Structured Cabling Platforms
• In-building facilities including:
  • Main Telecommunications Room
  • Telecommunications Rooms
  • Workstations
  • Ceiling cables used for connection of wireless access points

2.4.2 Out of scope

• Hydro and Electrical Cabling
• Distributed Antenna System (DAS)
• Coaxial TV distribution wiring
• Active Equipment and/or accessories

2.5 Applicability statements

2.5.1 Organization

All Ministries and I&IT Clusters are subject to the Government of Ontario IT Standards.

All adjudicative and advisory agencies are subject to the Government of Ontario IT Standards.

All other agencies that are using OPS information and information technology products or services are required to comply with Government of Ontario IT standards if they are subject to either the Governance and Management of Information Technology Directive or Government of Ontario IT Standards by a memorandum of understanding.

2.5.2 Other applicability

For the purposes of this document, any reference to Ministries or the Government includes applicable agencies.

Note: As new GO-IT Standards are approved, they are deemed mandatory on a go-forward basis (go-forward basis means at the next available project development or procurement opportunity). 
When implementing or adopting any Government of Ontario IT standards or IT standards updates, Ministries, I&IT Clusters and applicable agencies must follow their organization’s pre-approved policies and practices to ensure that adequate change control, change management, and risk mitigation mechanisms are in place and employed.

2.5.3 Requirement levels

Within this document, certain wording conventions are followed. There are precise requirements and obligations associated with the following terms:

Must - This word, or the terms "required" or "shall", means that the statement is an absolute requirement.

Should - This word, or the adjective "recommended", means that there may exist valid reasons in particular circumstances to ignore the recommendation, but the full implications (for example, business functionality, security, cost) must be understood and carefully weighed before choosing a different course.

3. Technical specification

The following requirements apply to all I&IT assets and operations within the scope of the Governance and Management of Information Technology Directive.

3.1 General

The contractor must provide a complete and operating Structured Cabling Platform to support existing and future communications systems in Government facilities. This includes all horizontal cabling for Voice/Data applications as well as a backbone (if required).

The structure for commercial building cabling is based on the generic cabling system structure specified in ANSI/TIA-568.0 and its updated releases. Performance and technical criteria for balanced twisted-pair cabling systems are specified in ANSI/EIA/TIA-568 C.2. Performance and technical criteria for optical fibre cabling systems are specified in ANSI/EIA/TIA-568.3-D. ANSI/TIA-568-1. D-1 “Addendum 1, Updated References, Accommodation of New Media Types” published in March 2018 and provides modification text to TIA-568.1-D to recognize category 8 balanced twisted-pair and OM5 multimode optical fibre media types

Any Structured Cabling Platform installed in a Data Centre must follow the mandatory requirements, guidelines and best practices for data centre cabling systems, pathways and design considerations found in ANSI/EIA/TIA- 942-B 2017 “Telecommunications Infrastructure Standard for Data Centers”,

Recognized cables, associated connecting hardware, jumpers, patch cords, equipment cords and zone area cords shall meet all applicable requirements specified in ANSI/EIA/TIA-568-C.2 and ANSI/EIA/TIA-568-C.3.

The recognized media are:

• 100 ohm twisted-pair cable (ANSI/EIA/TIA-568-C.2), Category 6A (minimum) ANSI/TIA-568-C Family of Standards overview.  CAT8 where feasible.
• Multimode optical fibre cable OM4 (laser optimized) is minimum (ANSI/EIA/TIA-568-C.3); OM5 is recommended
• Single-mode optical fibre cable OS2 is minimum (ANSI/EIA/TIA-568-C.3)

Any Structured Cabling installation must be planned to enable the deployment of wireless infrastructure as per the guidance supplied in CAN/CSA-ISO/IEC TR 24704-06 (R2016) “Customer Premises Cabling for Wireless Access Points” and TIA TSB-162 -A “Telecommunications Cabling Guidelines for Wireless Access Points” and taking into consideration some of the best practices when deploying 802.11ac and 802.11ax Wireless Access Points cabling such as nbase-t Alliance white paper dated Feb 2019

The cabling plant that supplies Power over Ethernet (PoE) must be wired as per the guidance supplied in IEEE standard 802.3bt-2016 for Single-pair Ethernet and IEEE 802.3bt-2018 for Two and Four-pair Ethernet.

3.1.1 Telecommunications Rooms

Telecommunications Rooms provide many different functions for the cabling system and are treated as a distinct sub-system within a hierarchical cabling system. Standards coverage of this area of a structured cabling system is provided by ANSI/EIA/TIA-568-1-E 2020 (Commercial Building Telecommunications Standard).

Telecommunications Rooms must be designed and commissioned according to the requirements of ANSI/EIA/TIA-569-E 2019 Telecommunications Pathways and Spaces. Additional design considerations for grounding and bonding requirements in telecommunications and equipment rooms that must be followed are found in ANSI-J-STD-607 and ANSI/TIA-607-B 2011.

In the case of data centre installs, the requirements listed in TIA-942-A must be followed which provides data centre-specific guidance for Telecommunications Rooms regarding design, HVAC and electric power requirements.

3.1.2 Documentation

Documentation related to the installation, maintenance and disposal of the cabling plant must be created and maintained by the parties responsible for installing and maintaining the cabling infrastructure on behalf of the Government of Ontario. This administration of the cabling plant is governed by the mandatory use of the standard ANSI/TIA-606-C 2017 “Administration Standard for the Telecommunications Infrastructure” and the labelling conventions described in this document.

The following line items describe individual requirements that are to be applied to all Communications Cabling projects. The line items are meant to serve as a guideline for the Government of Ontario’s requirements.

The installation will be to locations identified by the Cluster/Ministry (Customer) who authorizes the work.

All horizontal cabling must be installed from the workstation location onto modular patch panels installed in racks or cabinets. For small sites, the Customer can specify wall-mounted patch panels in lieu of racks.

The cabling contractor will supply multi-pair backbone cabling including terminating hardware for a complete functioning Voice backbone (where required). Similarly, the Cabling Contractor will supply, install and test all fibre backbone and UTP copper cabling between Telecommunications Rooms for a complete functioning backbone.

3.1.3 Construction Requirements:

The CSI/CSC MasterFormat (2016). Construction must conform to the relevant Divisions and Sections of the MasterFormat 2016 document in its most updated form as applicable

3.1.4 Allowances

Devices, racks, cabinets, backboards or outlets may be relocated, prior to installation, from the location shown on the Contract Drawings to a maximum distance of 3.05m (10'-0') without adjustment to the Contract price.

3.1.5 Dimensions & Quantities

Dimensions shown on all drawings are considered approximate. All dimensions shall be verified by referring to shop drawings and field measurements. Quantities or lengths indicated in any Contractual Documentation are approximations and shall not be held to gauge or limit the work.

The cabling contractor shall be responsible for making any necessary changes or additions to the routing of cables, and pathways to accommodate structural, mechanical, electrical and architectural conditions. Where pathways or cables are shown diagrammatically run them parallel to building columns. If it is necessary to run cables otherwise, to accommodate acceptable cable lengths, written permission must be obtained from the Project Manager prior to installation.

3.1.6 Applicable Codes, Standards and Regulations

Equipment, material and installation shall conform to the latest version of the applicable Codes, Standards and regulations of authorities having jurisdiction. All references to Codes, Standards and regulations should first be made with respect to Canadian documents. In the case of conflict or discrepancy, the more stringent code shall apply.

3.1.7 System Description

The Cabling Contractor must supply and install a complete Structured Cabling Platform based on a physical star wiring topology that is designed in accordance with and supported by a manufacturer-backed Certification as specified herein. The Cabling Contractor shall include all communication outlets, terminating hardware and selected connectivity devices as outlined in this Specification.

3.1.8 Performance Requirements

The Cabling Contractors proposed solution offered must meet, at a minimum, all the performance parameters as defined in the tables in ANSI/EIA/TIA-568-.2-D ‘Balanced Twisted-Pair Telecommunications Cabling and Components Standard” and, where optical cabling is installed, ANSI/EIA/TIA-568-.3-D “Optical Fiber Cabling Components Standard”

3.1.9 Connectivity Database

The Cabling Contractor will be required to provide all patching for complete connectivity as required. The Cabling Contractor must provide a complete end-to-end mapping of all connectivity (including horizontal and vertical) at the end of each phase in both hard and soft copy format. Initial data capture will be using Microsoft Excel or any other tool that is readable by any of Microsoft Office 365 tools, enabling the subsequent upload of the data to a relational database, for information storage and profile generation.

For Voice connectivity, this is to include but not be limited to horizontal cable number, backbone pair, service provider demarcation pair(s), DID and LEN. For data connectivity, this is to include but not be limited to horizontal cable number, copper backbone cable (if required) and active equipment port. Also included will be fibre backbone connectivity, fibre cross connects or fibre patches.

3.1.10 Codes, Permits and Inspections

Any structured cabling installation must comply with the Ontario Hydro Electrical Safety Code, all local, provincial and federal laws, where applicable, and with requirements of the Canadian Standards Association (CSA). The Cabling Contractor is responsible for making any changes or alterations required by the authorized inspector of the authority having jurisdiction. The Cabling Contractor must obtain and pay for permits and inspection required for work performed.

Where materials are specified which require special inspection and approval of CSA and/or local authorities, The Cabling Contractor is to obtain such approval for the installation with the cooperation of the material supplier.

3.1.11 Delivery, Storage and Handling

The Cabling Contractor must arrange for the delivery of materials related to the Contract and related items, including unloading of the supplier's truck, elevator scheduling and placement on Customer premises as indicated on Contract drawings. The Contractor is also responsible for the complete storage, handling, delivery, and installation of all materials used in the performance of the work. Arrangements are to be made for the delivery and storage of all materials used for the project with the General Contractor/Site Superintendent.

The Contractor is permitted to store job boxes on the site during construction. The tools and the job box are the responsibility of the Contractor. The Customer and his representative are in no way responsible or liable for any tools of the Cabling Contractor.

The Contractor is responsible for assembling equipment/materials and protecting all items until the project cut-over. Any damage to equipment/material will be the liability of the Contractor. All damage must be repaired as per the Customer's request, the equipment must be replaced at no extra charge to the Customer.

3.1.12 Waste Management and Disposal

The Cabling Contractor must remove and dispose of all existing inactive Voice, Data and coaxial cabling unless indicated otherwise by the customer. If the Cabling Contractor is unsure of the status of a cable(s), they must confirm the removal with the Customer prior to performing and work.

3.1.13 Warranty and Certification

From the date of issuance of a 'Certificate of Substantial Performance', all equipment, materials and workmanship must be unconditionally Warranted for a period of one (1) year, or such longer periods as may be provided in the Warranty of the manufacturer of individual components, whichever is longer.

Provide a manufacturer-written certificate and Warranty that the Structured Cabling Platform is installed and fully operating in accordance with the manufacturer’s specifications.

The manufacturer is required to provide minimum 20-year parts and labour Warranty for the entire Structured Network Cabling System, including all installed copper and fibre cables and backbone(s). In addition, the manufacturer will be required to provide a lifetime application warranty that covers any current or future Category 6 and/or 6A applications recognized by standards bodies and user forums for use.

The Warranty must guarantee that the design or installation negligence on the part of the Cabling Contractor will not negate or void any portion of the certified system. The manufacturer must guarantee that all materials, components, and labour are covered in this circumstance for the full certification period. It must also guarantee that in the event a Cabling Contractor is no longer able to service the Warranty, the full certification remains valid and is the responsibility of the manufacturer.

If a Warranty issue arises for the cabling, the Warrantor must make arrangements to undertake the repair or replacement of Warranty issues within 24 hours of notification. This may require the repair/replacement of cabling components outside regular working hours at no additional cost.

The Warranty for the Cabling must be such that the cable meets or exceeds the requirements of ANSI/EIA/TIA 568-2-D ' Balanced Twisted-Pair Telecommunications Cabling and Components Standard' including all industry standards stated in this document.

The Structured Cabling Platform certification request form(s) must be forwarded to the proper authority. A Plaque and Certificate must be issued to the Customer along with the Structured Cabling Platform user manual. The successful bidder will provide a certification number within two weeks of the award of this project. Please note that the Plaque/Certificate must have the Customer’s name on the Plaque/Certificate.

The Cabling Contractor will provide letter(s) of Certification within two weeks of substantial completion of the project to the Customer. This document will include the following: verification of the performance of the installed system, identification of the installation by location and project number and a copy of the Warranty.

Upon award of the contract, the Cabling Contractor shall forward copies of the Structured Cabling Platform Request for Certification form complete with certification number(s) for the project to the Customer’s office within 7 days of the award of the contract.

Upon request and at no additional cost to the Customer the Cabling Contractor must provide a manufacturer's technical representative to conduct an on-site visit to ensure complete technical compliance.

The Cabling Contractor must supply a copy of an unexecuted Warranty statement (at the time of bidding) including all related terms and conditions. This copy will be the Standard to which the Warranty will be held. No changes will be accepted unless it is deemed to benefit the Customer. Any proposed changes to the Warranty must be submitted in writing to the Customer/their representative for review. The changes will then be accepted or declined by the Customer at their discretion. This is to remain valid for the entire Warranty period.

All Cabling Contractor’s technicians on site must be trained by the manufacturer of the Structured Cabling Platform being installed. Any defective or improperly installed products shall be replaced or correctly reinstalled at no cost to the Customer.

3.1.14 Testing and Commissioning

Provide two copies of testing and commissioning documentation for all items and their related components to the Project Manager prior to the completion of the project or at the Project Manager’s request. Include maintenance manuals and operating instructions for Customer's staff use.

3.2 Product Specifications

3.2.1 General

This document specifies the use of an end-to-end Structured Cabling Platform as manufactured and Warranted by a Single Manufacturer. No alternatives will be accepted except where noted or where the supply of the materials would compromise the schedule. If the supply of the materials is such that the schedule will be compromised, written permission from the Project Manager must be obtained before alternatives are purchased or installed. Bidders must identify alternative products with their bids including Manufacturer and Part Number.

The Cabling Contractor shall terminate a pre-determined number of horizontal cables to each specified user workstation location, or office as shown on the floor plans provided by the Customer. Every horizontal cable that is pulled must be terminated and tested.

3.2.2 Manufacturers

The Structured Cabling Platform in each building/site must be manufactured and warranted by a single manufacturer for all components of the Structured Cabling Platform including backbones.

The successful bidder must install a complete Structured Cabling Platform that is manufactured and warranted by a single vendor. The successful bidder must be currently authorized by the cable vendor to install and warranty the system. If a sub-contractor is being used for the installation, the sub-contractor must be currently authorized to install and warranty the system.

Retrofit Work:
When retrofit work is being undertaken, every effort must be made to continue with the same or better grade of cabling, from the existing cabling and infrastructure manufacturer, that pre-exists on the site with no impact to any prior performance testing or warranty.

3.2.3 Horizontal Cabling (Voice & Data):

All horizontal cabling must be at a minimum Category 6a. For larger scale, long-term cabling plants Category 8, UTP, 4 pair, 23 AWG is recommended where feasible. All horizontal cabling must support the following requirements:

• The full end-to-end 100-meter channel that includes a worst case of four terminations (including consolidation point and cross-connect) must meet all the criteria (as a minimum) as defined in Section 3.1.10 (Codes, Permits and Inspections).
• The Channel performance specifications for all the parameters in Section 3.1.10 (Codes, Permits and Inspections) must be tested (and published) up to and including 500 MHz and Warrantable up to and including 500 MHz for a minimum period of 20 years.
• All future references to 'Voice Cable' shall refer to the requirements as stated in this section. The cable must meet or exceed the requirements of EIA/TIA-568-.2-D. The cable must be CSA certified and stamped accordingly.
• All cables pulled and terminated for Servers are to be treated the same as any other horizontal cabling.

Note: 
For cabling implementations that exceed the maximum specified distance of twisted-pair cabling, in Data Centres or where other business/design requirements dictate, fibre optic cabling may be used for horizontal cabling.

3.2.4 Backbone Cabling

These are the major standards to be used as a base when designing, planning and building the overall performance of the cabling system:

1. Canadian Standards Association T529 is the equivalent standard for TIA/EIA-568-A (formerly EIA/TIA-568, first issued in July 1991), commercial building telecommunications cabling standard. This standard addresses the telecommunications wiring system requirements for commercial buildings that support various local area network, data, voice and image/video systems.
2. Canadian Standard Association T530 is the Canadian equivalent for EIA/TIA-569, a commercial building standard for telecommunications pathways and spaces. This standard defines the design and construction practices within and between buildings (primarily commercial establishments) that contain telecommunications media and equipment.
3. Canadian Standard Association T528 is the Canadian standard equivalent for TIA/EIA-606, design guidelines for the administration of telecommunications infrastructure in commercial buildings.
4. CSA T527 is the Canadian standard equivalent for TIA/EIA-607, commercial building grounding and bonding requirements for telecommunications.
5. TIA/EIA-568-A standard, which deals with twisted-pair and optical-fibre cable specifications.

3.2.4.1 Optical Cabling Backbone

All optical cables installed must meet the specifications of TIA 568 Standards and its updates and addendums as appropriate. With single-mode and multimode fibre, as well as indoor, outdoor and indoor/outdoor cable choices, optical fibre shall comply with TIA-492-AAAD for OM4 and TIA-492-AAAE for OM5 and its updates and addendums. Optical performance shall be compliant with IEEE 802.3z and its updates and addendums.

3.2.4.2 UTP Copper Backbone for Data Applications

All vertical 4-pair UTP copper backbone cables between each Telecommunications Room and the Main Telecommunications Room shall be the same product as the horizontal cabling specified in this standard. The UTP copper backbone must be terminated in the same manner as all the horizontal cables in the Telecommunications Room (i.e., following the TIA/EIA 568-D 2017 standard). ANSI/TIA-568 defines structured cabling system standards for commercial buildings and between buildings in campus environments. The bulk of the standards define cabling types, distances, connectors, cable system architectures, cable termination standards and performance characteristics, cable installation requirements and methods of testing installed cable. The main standard, ANSI/TIA-568.0-D defines general requirements, while ANSI/TIA-568-C.2 focuses on components of balanced twisted-pair cable systems. ANSI/TIA-568.3-D addresses components of fibre optic cable systems, However, a separate 48 port modular patch panel is to be supplied and installed in each closet for the UTP backbone. All unused modular ports are to be filled with blanks.

3.2.4.3 Wi-Fi Cabling and Best Practices

OPS is heavily adopting the Wi-Fi latest technologies as a proven tool that allows for fast and reliable network connectivity, enabling mobility and delivering cost-effective connectivity to a broad range of devices. The rationale for this design recommendation is based on deployments of current Wi-Fi, as well as future Wi-Fi, technology, following the Cabling Standards recommendations, such as the TIA-568 and ISO 11801. To ensure that businesses can sustain this pace and avail themselves of the latest Wi-Fi technology, the cabling infrastructure that forms the backhaul between the Wi-Fi access point (AP) and access switch must be designed to accommodate current and future standards. To achieve this objective, and support advances in PoE technology, the recommended cabling design is two or more category 6A or higher rated shielded channels per Access Point, deployed as part of an overall zone cabling configuration, are provided to every 802.11ac (WiFi 5 and Gigabit WiFi) or 802.11ax (WiFi 6 or High Efficiency) or higher access point connection for three very important reasons:

1. TSB-162-A, “Telecommunications Cabling Guidelines for Wireless Access Points”, as well as in CAN/CSA-ISO/IEC TR 24704:06 “Customer Premises Cabling for Wireless Access Points”, expressly provides the following recommendation and note: “Cabling for wireless access points should be balanced twisted-pair, category 6A or higher, as specified in ANSI/TIA-568-C.2, or two-fibre multimode optical fibre cable, OM4 or higher, as specified in ANSI/TIA-568-C.3. Category 6A supports both 10GBASE-T, as well as remote powering up to 71W in compliance with the recently published 4-Pair PoE standard IEEE 802.3bt. Typical Category 6A cabling provides superior PoE performance compared to typical Category 5e and 6 due to its construction allowing better thermal performance”

NOTE:

• The use of category 6A (or higher) twisted-pair and OM4 (or higher) optical fibre cabling is recommended to support higher data rates, and, in the case of twisted-pair cabling, lower temperature rise when remote power is applied.

• Zone Cabling: A zone cabling design – as defined by Cabling Installation & Maintenance - consists of horizontal cables run from the floor distributor in the telecommunications room (TR) to an intermediate connection point that is typically housed in a zone enclosure located in the ceiling space, on the wall, or below an access floor. The name of this intermediate connection point depends on the types of end-point device connections it serves, and on the applicable regional structured cabling standard (see Table below)

  Connection	ISO/IEC 11801-2 (pending) or ISO/IEC 11801-6 (pending)	ANSI/TIA-568-0.0 or ANSI/TIA-562-B
  Intermediate connection location in a zone cabling topology supporting a building device	Service concentration point (SCP)	Horizontal consolidation point (HCP)
  Intermediate connection location in a zone cabling topology supporting a voice/data service	Consolidation Point (CP)	Consolidation Point (CP)
  Outlet connecting to a building device	Service Outlet (SO) [optional if an SCP is present]	Equipment Outlet (EO) [optional if an HCP is present]
  Outlet connecting to a voice/data device	Telecommunications Outlet (CO) [required even if a CP is present]	Telecommunications Outlet (CO) [required even if a CP is present]

2. Temperature rise resulting from Type 2 PoE and PoE+, Type 3 POE++ and Type 4 PoE used to power 802.11ac and 802.11ax or higher such as 802.11ay and EHT (Extreme High Throughput) access points should be considered.  Shielded cabling, which has superior heat dissipation properties compared to UTP cabling, significantly reduces or eliminates concerns of excessive temperature build-up in cable bundles, especially for cable bundles installed in hot environments.  The use of solid equipment cords, which exhibit better thermal stability and lower insertion loss than stranded conductor cords, is recommended for access point connections for this same reason.
3. Deploying a minimum of two category 6A shielded channels will support link aggregation ranging from 100M to 10G in 802.11ac and 802.11ax implementations or higher such as 802.11ay and EHT.   It also allows for an easy upgrade to newer technology. The legacy APs will run on Category 6A cable, while future APs may utilize both cables through link aggregation when requirements exceed 10 Gigabits. Additionally, provisioning two Category 6A cables allows for easy swapover in case of failure, to get networks back up and running quickly
4. Wi-Fi cable termination should be on separate patch panels in the communications closet, designated for Wi-Fi APs only. The other end of Wi-Fi AP cable terminations must be on data jacks in the ceiling and must conform to the specifications described in the “Termination Hardware – Access Point End” section of this standard.  
5. A minimum of 4 meters of spare cable is recommended to be left at each access point location to allow for easy repositioning of access points to tune Wi-Fi performance.
6. Cable drops for AP placement should be located throughout the workplace, with a minimum of one double cable drop every 40 square meters.
7. Cable drops for AP placement in meeting rooms should be based upon seating with one double cable drop for every 15 seats.
8. Ceiling cable terminations for APs must be clearly marked with the jack ID of the cable and according to the “Labelling” specification provided in this standard.  Where there is a dropped ceiling hiding the data jack/cable termination, the jack-id must be marked on the T-Bar directly below the data jack so it may be easily located.
9. Additional requirements and guidance are to be found in CAN/CSA-ISO/IEC TR 24704:06 “Customer Premises Cabling for Wireless Access Points” and TIA TSB-162 “Telecommunications Cabling Guidelines for Wireless Access Points”.

3.2.5 Termination Hardware – Workstation End / Access Point End

All UTP male connectors and female jacks shall be an 8-pin modular jack wired in T-568A sequence. The jacks must accept either RJ45 or RJ11 male plugs without causing any damage or degradation to the connectors. The UTP modules must be matched appropriately with the horizontal cables to ensure that end-to-end Vendor Warranties will be applicable.

Outlet Module Position:
The orientation of the modules located at the workstations from the perspective of the user is as indicated below:

Note: The cabling contractor must provide blank filler plates for all unused modular jack positions on faceplates/outlets.

3.2.6 Termination Hardware – Remote Distribution Terminal

Remote Distribution Terminal (RDT) concept is to be used in areas where access flooring is provided, and in open office spaces where open systems furniture is expected to be moved or reconfigured routinely.

Provide and install all materials for the installation of Voice/Data bayboxes as described herein.

The bayboxes shall consist of assemblies of the following components:

• All cables are to be terminated on 8-pin UTP modules, inserted into 24/48 port modular patch panels (compatible with standard 19" equipment racks) and placed in communications racks in the Telecommunications Room for that floor. The 24/48 port modular patch panel should minimize the rack space used; it cannot exceed 3 rack units in height. A total of 24 horizontal cables are to be connected to the Telecommunications Room from the Remote Distribution Terminal.
• Provide an environmentally sealed metal enclosure, complete with hinged lids with neoprene sponge and frame to house and protect the 24/48 port patch panel from dust and/or water hazards.
• The metal enclosure shall be constructed with a minimum of 16-gauge galvanized steel, it shall be equipped with feet or offsets to raise the box above the concrete floor. The enclosure shall be complete with a grommeted cable entrance opening, cable tie hole, and labels showing baybox zone number and port designations. The enclosures shall be designed to be installed in the ceiling space and/or in access flooring to suit the project requirements.

3.2.7 Communication Outlets and Accessories

The use of single gang Decora Style straps (insert plates), Surface Mounted Boxes or Furniture Adapters are allowed. The initial intended use of outlets is described below.

3.2.8 Wall and Ceiling Outlets / Floor Boxes

All horizontal cabling installed using wall outlets/floor boxes are to use single gang Decora style straps. The cover plates are to be single gang (or double gang if required - assume worst case) and they are to match the Decora straps. Each Decora-style strap is to have a minimum of 3 positions for communications modules. Each outlet is to be equipped with the appropriate modules as indicated in Section 3.2.5. Any unused communication positions in wall outlets must be filled with a blank. The colours of the UTP modules and furniture adapter plates may be changed at the discretion of the Project Manager.

3.2.9 Workstation Outlets

All horizontal cabling that is to be installed into furniture must use flush furniture plate(s), supplied, and installed by the Cabling Contractor. If surface-mounted boxes are required, they must have a minimum of 2 positions (but not more than four). The colour of the surface mount boxes is to be Black. Each outlet is to be equipped with the appropriate modules as indicated in Section 3.2.8. Any unused communication positions in workstation outlets must be filled with a blank. The colours of the UTP modules and furniture adapter plates may be changed at the discretion of the Project Manager.

3.2.10 Dust Covers & Icons

All Communications modules must be installed with Dust Covers and labels. Any unused communication positions in workstation outlets must be filled with a blank.

3.2.11 Termination Hardware – Telecommunications Room(s) 

3.2.11.1Horizontal Cables

All horizontal cables are to be terminated on 8-pin UTP modules, inserted into 24/48 port modular patch panels (compatible with standard 19" equipment racks) and placed in communications racks in the Telecommunications Room for that floor. The 24/48 port modular patch panel should minimize the rack space used; it cannot exceed 3 rack units in height.

3.2.11.2 Fibre Patch Panel(s) (Telecommunications Room(s))

If required by the Customer, the total number of strands to be supplied and installed is to be a minimum of 12, but preferably 24. The Project Manager will determine, in consultation with the Customer, the quantity and type of fibre to be installed.

All Fibre Backbone is to be terminated using a fibre patch panel on a communications rack. The 12/24 strands of fibre, as indicated in Section 3.2.4, must be installed in the fibre patch panel (compatible with standard 19" equipment racks and cabinets) and placed in a rack in the Telecommunications Room for that floor. The fibre patch panel should minimize the rack space used; it cannot exceed 3 rack units in height (3U). The fibre patch panel must be serviceable from the front by allowing the fibre patch panel to slide or pivot away from the rack. The fibre patch panels are to be mounted at the upper most position on the racks of each floor.

Provide all necessary accessories for a complete fibre patch panel including but not limited; to clear cover plates, mounting brackets and hardware, LC duplex fibre bulkheads (adapter sleeves-plates/couplers), LC connectors and fibre cable management.

The 12/24 strands of fibre must be terminated using LC connectors that are consistent with the fibre being installed. All 12/24 strands are to be terminated at both ends and the terminated fibres must be connected to LC Duplex bulkheads in the fibre patch panels.

The physical fibre optic cabling topology and the type of fibre connectors (SC) to be used on site prior to ordering or installing are to be determined.

Note: If fibre cabling is being installed, one additional fibre patch panel for the Main Telecommunications Room is to be installed. This is to include all components described in this Section.

3.2.11.3Cabling requirements for PoE, PoE+ and PoE Ultra and IoT Devices

IEEE802.3at, IEEE 802.3bt Type 3 and Type 4 Standards should be followed. All cabling to support Access Point 802.11n or higher devices, Advances Network Cameras, IP Video phones and IoT devices should enable higher PD’s (powered devices) to allow for continuous power output from 12 watts to over 70 watts of power per port for up to 100M from the PSE (Power Sourcing Equipment). All Cabling should enable Mid-Span PSEs to support 1000Base-T connections

3.2.12 Connectivity Items 

3.2.12.1 Cross Connect Wire (4-pair)

Supply and install ANSI/EIA/TIA-568-.2-D 2018 compliant Cross-Connect Jumper Wire for Voice equipment fields to the distribution fields.

The Cabling Contractor must provide a complete end-to-end mapping of all connectivity (including horizontal and vertical) at the end of each phase in both hard and soft copy format.

3.2.12.2 Patch Cords (Telecommunications Room(s))

One patch cord per outlet on site is to be installed. The patch cords will be 8-pin modular/8-pin modular patch cords. The patch cords are to be Category 6A or higher and have 23/24 AWG stranded copper conductors (straight through mapping) consisting of 4 pairs that are twisted to form a cable core. The patch cords are to be CMR-rated FT4 and stamped accordingly. The 8-pin modular/8 pin modular patch cords are to be consistent with the grade and manufacturer of the cable that is being warranted.

The Project Manager shall determine the modular patch cord lengths.

If the Channel Performance Warranty requires solid conductors for the patch cords, these must be used to maintain the Warranty.

3.2.12.3 Patch Cords (Workstations)

Although workstation line cords do not form part of the scope of this work, it is strongly recommended to follow the minimum cable standard mentioned above which is 6A or higher

3.2.12.4 Fibre Patch Cords

All Fibre Patch Cords shall be connected to the Customer-supplied active equipment using LC duplex zip cords. The Fibre Patch Cords are to be CMR-rated FT4 and stamped accordingly. LC duplex zip cords are to be consistent with the grade and manufacturer of the Fibre cable that is being warranted.

The Customer reserves the right to switch the above Fibre Patch Cords connector types to SC/ST or SC/SFF configuration as required, at no extra cost, 10 days prior to delivery to the site.

3.2.13 Communications Racks & Cabinets

All racks and cabinets to be supplied and installed are to be free-standing, 19" floor mounted with a minimum of 42U of rack mounting space. Both racks and cabinets must be tapped (both front and back) with mounting holes as per EIA- 310-C, size 10-32, as well as include a ground lug to accept a #6 AWG grounding wire.

In addition to the specifications above cabinets should include:

• Minimum dimensions of 24"W x 42"D x 84"H
• Front and rear rails (back rails moveable for depth to accommodate various equipment)
• Two 8" cable managers
• Two Power Distribution Units with 10-foot minimum power cords and reset breakers (mandatory in data centre installations)
• Ventilated and reversible front & rear doors

Each cabinet and/or rack supplied must come complete with the following:

Vertical Cable Managers

Each cabinet and/or rack shall come complete with two vertical cable managers installed (one mounted on each side). The vertical cable managers must run the full height of the rack mounting space and provide 8 inches wide x 7 inches deep of cable management space. The vertical cable manager must have a hinged front door(s), and back and side cutouts to allow for Patch Cords. It must also have lancets along the back of the cable manager to allow for the fastening of the horizontal cable to the outside of the manager itself.

Overhead Cable Managers and Chimneys

Each cabinet and/or rack shall come complete with a hinged overhead cable manager installed, with minimum dimensions of 8 inches wide x 7 inches deep. Where racks are ganged, the overhead cable manager is to be continuous across the gang of racks; both ends of the ganged racks are to be completed with end caps. At the right side of each rack, a cable management chimney must be installed. They must extend from the top of the overhead cable manager to the underside of the ladder tray/ceiling tile above.

Horizontal Cable Managers

For all cabinets and/or racks containing horizontal structured cabling, horizontal cable managers (compatible with standard 19" equipment racks) are to be provided. The horizontal cable managers are to be hinged at the front with vertical access to the patch panel above and below. Each horizontal cable manager is to be 2 rack units (2U) in height. For each cabinet and/or rack a total of two horizontal cable managers, per patch panel, is to be supplied plus one additional horizontal cable manager.

Equipment Shelves

Each cabinet and/or rack is to be supplied with, at a minimum, one equipment shelf; this is to be installed at the direction of the Customer. The equipment shelf is to be centre-mounted and have a minimum of 18 inches of depth.

Power Bars

Outside data centres, each cabinet and/or rack is to come complete with two PDUs or two vertical power bars mounted to the back of the rack. Each power bar or PDU is to have a minimum of 8 outlets. Power bars and PDUs will be rated at a minimum of 110V, 20A. The power bars and PDUs are to have a minimum power cord length of 10 feet.

The Customer may require additional power requirements over and above what is detailed above. It is the responsibility of the Project Manager to provide these requirements to the Cabling Contractor.

3.2.14Wall Mount Network Shelves & Cabinets

Wall-mounted shelves should be a minimum of 18” D and 20” W. Wall Mounted Cabinets based on space allowance minimum 14U. Inside the Cabinet, measurements should be a minimum of 24.5"H x 19"W x 14"D.

3.3Miscellaneous Hardware and Materials

3.3.1 Cable Support

Caddy hangers are to be installed at 3-foot intervals (maximum). Attaching to any T-bar support rods is not acceptable. Anchors for hangers must not be drilled into post-tensioned beams under any circumstances. The sizes of the J-hooks are to suit the number of cables in runs used for distribution.

3.3.2 Velcro tie wraps

It should be noted that only Velcro tie-wraps are acceptable, under no circumstance are traditional ty-wraps to be used. Velcro tie-wraps are to be used to neatly dress cables; they are to be placed at a maximum of 3-foot intervals for horizontal distribution. Velcro tie-wraps are also to be used to dress horizontal cables into racks. For each row of the patch panel cables are to be dressed horizontally (from the middle to the left and the right) to the vertical cable manager (maximum spacing of 3 inches). Maximum spacing of Velcro for horizontal cables into or along vertical cable managers is to be no more than 6 inches; this includes cabling dropped from the ladder tray or ceiling above.

3.3.3 Spiral Wrap

Cables running from system furniture feed points to the system furniture shall be neatly wrapped. Match the colour of the spiral wrap with the system furniture manufacturer's power feed. Spiral wrap is to be butted so that no cables are exposed. Size the spiral wrap according to the number of cables being fed into the system furniture. A split duct style of wrap is not acceptable.

3.3.4 Inner-Duct

Non plenum rated cables passing through an air plenum must be run through an Inner duct to a minimum of 6 inches on either side of the plenum space. The Inner duct must be securely fastened to the wall on either side of the plenum space. The Inner duct must be solid and may not be greater than 1 inch in outside diameter.

All fibre optic cables must be pulled through the inner duct as they exit the EMT conduit system and are routed to the fibre patch panel. The inner duct must extend the entire length of the fibre. The Inner duct must be solid and may not be greater than 1 inch in outside diameter. An inner duct must be used for all fibre optic cable that is pulled through conduits that are 2 inches or greater in diameter.

3.3.5 Backboard (All Telecommunications Room(s))

Backboards shall be constructed of 2 - 4' x 8' (3/4 inch) fire-rated plywood sheets. Each plywood sheet must be placed vertically, and the sheets must be placed immediately adjacent to each other. The backboard shall be mounted on 2-inch x 6-inch studs to offset it from the room wall.

3.3.6 Riser Backboard (All Telecommunications Room(s))

Riser Backboards shall be constructed of a minimum of 1 - 4' x 8' (3/4 inch) plywood sheet (or size to suit location). The plywood sheet should be placed vertically. The backboard is to be painted with 2 coats of white fire-retardant paint and mounted directly on the wall.

3.3.7 Labelling

All labelling shall adhere to ANSI/TIA-606-C: Administration Standard for Telecommunications Infrastructure and ANSI/EIA/TIA-568.1-D &.1-D-1 2018 Commercial Building Telecommunications Cabling guidelines for colour coding. All adhesive cable labels shall meet the legibility, defacement, and adhesion requirements specified in UL 969 (Ref. D-16). In addition, the labels shall meet the general exposure requirements in UL 969 for indoor use.

Cable Labels shall be of self-laminating vinyl construction with a white printing area and a clear tail that self-laminates the printed area when wrapped around a cable. The clear area should be of sufficient length to wrap around the cable at least one and one-half times. All labels must be machine printed using a laser/inkjet printer. Hand-written labels are not permitted.

The Cabling Contractor shall supply and install 15 additional labels (per floor) of ½ inch lettering height (up to 25 letters each label) for use on cabinets, racks, patch panels or active equipment to be used at the Project Manager’s discretion.

3.4 Execution

3.4.1 General

The Project Manager will determine, with the concurrence of the Customer, if the Communications Cabling will be running through plenum or non-plenum spaces. Where the installation is into a plenum space, in part or whole, the Project Manager will specify that FT6 (CMP) rated cables must be used unless they are installed in an end-to-end EMT conduit system that extends beyond the plenum on both sides. Otherwise, FT4-rated cables will be acceptable.

At least two cables will be pulled down and terminated at each communication outlet unless otherwise specified. All cabling will run through office furniture, where necessary, to the point of termination.

All cables and components are to be supplied, installed, tested and terminated in accordance with the requirements outlined in this document for Category 6A, and optical cabling. Particular attention must be given to maintaining the integrity of the pair twists, and bend radius and ensuring proper distance is kept from fluorescent light fixtures, electrical cables or any other source of EMI.

Ensure installation practices are detailed in ANSI/EIA/TIA-568-C.2, ANSI/EIA/TIA-568-.3-D, ANSI/EIA/TIA-942 standards for Datacenter’s cable, are followed. Cables are to be combed and bundled in a neat and organized manner. The maximum horizontal run length is not to exceed 90 meters.

All cables and pathways such as conduits, cable trays or other systems used for communication cable distribution are to be run parallel or perpendicular to building lines.

Any deviation from the cable routing, outlet and equipment locations shown on drawings must be approved by the Project Manager and documented on as-built drawings.

Provide 3.0 m (10'-0") of slack at both ends of each cable to permit future outlet relocation. Neatly coil slack in ceiling space.

Utilize all indicated and available cable pathways such as cable trays, conduits, ducts, raceways, and furniture system channels except where otherwise noted. Exercise caution when pulling cables in such pathways to avoid damage to any existing cables and follow the manufacturer's maximum pull-force and minimum bend radios. Cable pulls must be made continuous and steady between pull points. Do not interrupt the pull unless necessitated by excessive tension on the cable.

3.4.2 Installers

All products installed must meet or exceed all local, provincial and federal building, fire, health, safety and electrical codes.

3.4.3 Examination

Before acceptance by the Project Manager, all the equipment and cabling must be cleaned and tested. At points of termination, all cabling and terminations must be free of any cable-pulling lubricants before acceptance by the Project Manager.

3.4.4 Installation

All cabling must be terminated using ANSI/EIA/TIA 568-C.2-2 2014 configuration parameters and connecting hardware meeting IEC 60603-7-2020 electrical and mechanical specifications unless specifically noted otherwise. All cabling must be bundled using Velcro tie-wraps.

The Cabling Contractor must supply and install cabling as detailed on the floor plan(s). Where the cables leave the cable tray and extend to the termination point, they shall use the J-hooks specified in this document or the conduit provided.

Locate racks as shown on the contract drawing, and anchor racks securely to the floor (all four corners). Bolts/anchors used to mount must be made flush and any sharp edges must be removed. Mount equipment in racks or cabinets as shown on detailed sketches.

Ground racks, patch panels, cabinets, metal raceways and equipment to building ground busbars (provided by others) using minimum #6 AWG insulated ground wire. Ground cables shall be insulated green jacket, and braided copper wire installed in each Telecommunications Room that connects to the building ground system. The minimum wire size shall be #6 AWG for Telecommunications Rooms and #1/0 for Main Building Communications Room.

The grounding system for the Main Building Communications Room shall be designed such that the individual grounding runs to each piece of equipment do not exceed 5' from the main loop. Grounding is to tie into a single ground point only.

If any walls on site have security mesh, cables are to be installed through the walls containing security mesh with an EMT sleeve through the secure wall. The EMT is to extend to a minimum of 4 inches on either side of the security wall. The EMT shall be between 2 and 4 inches in diameter (size to suit), and it must be securely anchored to the slab above. Soundproof/fire-stopping material is to be installed to re-establish the integrity of the barrier in the wall after all cables have been installed.

When bundling Category 6A cables, installers must comply with the manufacturer's recommended bundling practices for installation. Ensure that excess pressure is not placed on the cable at any point that may result in the compression or deformation of the cable jacket and internal pair/conductor geometry. Neatly bundle and tie-wrap all cables using Velcro tie-wraps.

Proper installation and termination practices shall be followed for Category 6A cabling (as per ANSI/EIA/TIA and other related industry standards. Do not kink or exceed the cable minimum bend radius or maintain a minimum of four (4) times the cable diameter as a bend radius if no bend radius is specified by the manufacturer. For fibre optic cables maintain a minimum of ten (10) times the cable diameter or 30 mm (1.2 inches) whichever is larger for a bend radius.

All cables and components shall be grounded to the manufacturer's specifications and standard practices. All pairs of cables shall be terminated. All spare cables shall be terminated in the Telecommunications Room and the service point shall be stored in a neat coil in the ceiling space.

3.4.5 Labelling

Labels should be attached to the front of the workstation faceplate, one to the front of the distribution connector/IDC field or patch panel, and one at each end of the cable (within 4 inches of the end). Cables should also be labelled at the grid point just before the cable coil.

Horizontal Cable: D/VaX-z

D/V Indicates Data or Voice
a Indicates the floor ID (2 digits). Add alphabetical closet identifiers for multi-closet floors.
X Indicates the Telecommunications Room identifier (A or B) if more than one TC per floor (optional).
z Indicates the cable number.

Example (Data): D04-019
D Indicates Data
04 Indicates 4th Floor.
019 Indicates the 19th cable.

Example (Voice): V04-020
V Indicates Voice
04 Indicates 4th Floor.
020 Indicates the 20th cable.

Inter-floor Cable (Fibre): C-z

C Indicates the originating floor.
z Indicates the strand number.

Example: 02.06

02 Indicates the 2nd Floor.
06 Indicates the 6th strand

Inter-floor Cable (UTP Copper Backbone): (IF-a-z)

IF Indicates Inter-floor Cabling.
a Indicates the originating floor.
z Indicates the cable number.

Example: IF.04.06
IF Indicates Inter-floor Cabling.
04 Indicates the 4th Floor.
06 indicates the 6th cable

Inter-Building Cable (UTP Fibre Backbone): (IBF-z)

IBF Indicates Inter-Building Fibre Cabling.
z Indicates the strand number.

Example: IBF.06
IBF Indicates Inter-Building Fibre Cabling.
06 Indicates the 6th strand.

Inter-Building Cable (UTP Copper Backbone): (IBC-z)

IBC Indicates Inter-Building Copper Cabling.
z Indicates the pair number.

Example: IBC.100
IBC Indicates Inter-Building Copper Cabling.
100 Indicates the 100th pair.
 

3.4.6 Working Drawing and Documents

Where the word 'HOLD' appears on Drawings and other Contract Documents, the work is included in the Contract. Execute the work only after verification of dimensions and materials and obtain the Project Manager’s written permission to proceed.

3.4.7 Special Techniques

• Avoid scraping, denting, or otherwise damaging cables, before, during or after installation.
• Ensure that all cable lengths are sufficient to allow for slack, vertical runs, wastage, connectorization and future moves.
• Bush, ream and remove any sharp projections on all conduits prior to installation of communications cables.
• When terminating copper cables remove only enough cable jackets to perform termination and untwist pairs a maximum of 13 mm (1/2 inch) for Cat 6A cables.
• Apply the manufacturer's recommended lubricant to cables to reduce friction between the cable and the duct.
• Cable grip to be attached to the sheath and its strength members so that no direct force is applied to the conductors/fibres. The cable grip shall have a ball-bearing swivel to prevent the cable from twisting during pulling.
• Station personnel at each access point (i.e., Handhole, manhole, etc.) to observe and lubricate the cables being pulled.
• Cable passing through manholes to have sufficient slack for expansion/contraction and to be mounted with clips to prevent sagging.
• Do not exceed the copper/fibre cables’ maximum tensile rating during installation. Monitor the tension of the cable during installation.
• Minimum bend radius to be as per manufacturer's recommendations.

3.4.8 Co-ordination with Other Work

• Carefully examine work and Drawings of all related trades and thoroughly plan the work to avoid conflict or interference with other services. All defects that would adversely affect work must be reported. Do not commence installation until defects have been corrected.
• Coordinate the work of this Contract such that items will properly interface with the work of other Contracts. Prepare installation drawings of critical locations and submit them to the Project Manager for review.
• Cables cannot at any point rest on acoustic ceiling grid panels, lighting, mechanical devices or supports. Ensure the EMI/RFI separation distances are maintained.
• Cables in the ceiling shall be installed above sprinkler systems, and shall not rest on or obscure any valves, fire alarm cables, or other mechanical or control devices.

3.4.9 Duct & Conduit

Each section of duct must be cleaned out by pulling a steel wire brush and mandrel of the correct size through the duct before pulling cables. When cleaning ducts, if obstructions are encountered which cannot be removed, the Project Manager must be notified of the problems encountered. Cables in underground duct banks must be pulled in continuous lengths, splicing of any kind will not be permitted.

Cables must be pulled through the bottom ducts first, leaving the top ducts for future use.

3.4.10 Site Tolerances

To minimize any possibilities of disruption, maintain the following minimum clearances from electrical and heat sources, pipes and conduits when routing cables.

3.4.11 Repair and Restoration

Damages include chipping, breaking or fingerprints. Final decisions for any damage to ceiling tiles will be made by the Project Manager.

Cables through the full-height walls are to be installed. Openings through every wall are required to pass cables through. Soundproof/fire-stopping material to re-establish the integrity of the wall sound barrier is to be installed. The maximum opening size is to be 3" x 3". Cables cannot be passed between the deck pan and the top of a wall unless there is a 3" x 3" opening.

3.4.12 Field Quality Control

Submit tension pull calculation for installation of cables to the Project Manager. Use a dynamometer to record installation tension. Use a tension limiting device to prevent the exceeding of maximum pulling tension specifications during installation. The tension limit shall be set at or below the manufacturer's limit. The cable is to be taken up at intermediate pulling points with an intermediate take-up device as approved by the Project Manager, to prevent over-tension on the cable.

3.4.13 Site Tests and Inspection

The Customer prior to the commencement of all field testing may perform a visual inspection. The installation will be validated for compliance with industry standards. Particular attention will be given to the following criteria:

• Cable jacket removal and connector termination. Routing and pathway support.
• Cable bend radius and cable tie slack.
• Neatness, clamping, and harnessing of cabling and wiring. Wire and cable identification and labelling.
• Nameplates, identification, plates, and markings.

The Project Manager must approve the testing procedure prior to testing commencing and may request to be present during the initial testing.

A Level 3 tester that can test the specified cable to the performance level(s) indicated in this document is to be used. The tester is to use the latest version of firmware and software to test the UTP cabling system and an Optical Loss test set for all fibre optic testing.

Test patch cords for portable testers must be designed for testing by the manufacturer. Patch cords must be factory-made; field-assembled patch cords will not be accepted. Field testers must use the appropriate jack/tester adapter specified for use with the cabling jack(s) specified within this document.

The nominal velocity of propagation (NVP) must be set specifically for each cable manufacturer before testing. The portable tester used is to be calibrated at a minimum on an annual basis.

Testing of all horizontal cables is to be completed in accordance with the following test criteria. The testing must be completed on the Channel Level. Testing is to be completed from both ends of the installed cable. The cables specified in this document are to be tested according to the applicable standards.

Testing of the cabling must conform to the following Standards:

• ANSI/EIA/TIA 568-C.2 Category 6A 'Balanced Twisted–Pair Telecommunications Cabling and Components Standard’.

Test each strand of fibre with an Optical Time Domain Reflectometer for length and attenuation. Performance test must be below the total return loss budget for the cable connectors. Provide comprehensive optical time domain reflectometry (OTDR) testing for fibre runs greater than half a kilometre. Include a hard copy chart recording with the test documentation

Test each strand of fibre with a Power Meter / Light Source combination operating at wavelengths of 850 nm and 1300 nm for multimode fibres and 1310 nm and 1550 nm for single-mode fibres. Perform these tests in both directions. These tests are to be completed after cable installation, splicing and connectors are installed.

Tabulate and include test results with test documentation. A test report based on the cable schedules is to be produced. The report should indicate for each cable the values of all measured parameters when it was tested successfully and the signature of the technician that performed the test, location, cable type, cable number and tester make and model.

Correct all cable faults. Splicing of any cables will not be permitted, for any reason, unless prior authorisation is received in writing from the Project Manager.

3.4.14 Protection

Following the installation of all cables, all duct entrances into the building are to be sealed with duct sealing compound to prevent ingress of moisture, foreign material and rodents. Exposed cable ends must be protected from moisture ingress.

3.4.15 Schedules

All work is to be performed during normal working hours when possible. Some work will be permitted after hours and on weekends, or only at certain times of the year, upon Customer approval.

Security clearance for personnel from a contractor with a valid vendor ID must be obtained before the commencement of work. Many Government locations deal with highly sensitive information and/or have a requirement to ensure that anyone working on that Site has a security clearance at the proper level. In no case may an individual work at designated sensitive Sites without this security clearance being by the relevant OPS authority.

3.4.16 Cut-Over Support

The Project Manager will identify in advance of each Cut-Over how many technicians are required on which day(s). The technicians must be available to provide services to the Customer as required. This may involve additional testing, relocation or pulling down/up of cables or other tasks as required.

3.4.17 Fire Stopping

Follow the criteria set by ULC Standard CAN4-S115 for fire-stopping requirements. Supply and install non-permanent CSA-approved intumescent fire stopping, to cap all empty sleeves and around cabling passing through sleeves or walls. All fire-stopping must maintain a minimum one-hour rating and must meet applicable Federal, Provincial and Local building/fire codes.

4. Related standards and impacted infrastructure

4.1 Impacts to existing standards

Standards that reference or are referenced by this standard and description of impact.

4.2 Impacts to existing infrastructure

Applications, systems, solutions and technology platforms that could be affected by this standard and description of impact.

5. Compliance requirements

In order to manage the effectiveness and implementation of this standard, Ministries, I&IT Clusters and applicable agencies are expected to adopt and monitor compliance.

6. Roles and responsibilities

Accountable Role (Standard Owner) Definition 
The individual or committee is ultimately accountable for the effectiveness of a standard and its full life cycle, including development, reviews, revisions, updates, evaluations, and rescindment. Where a committee owns the standard, the committee Chair is accountable for the standard. There must be exactly one accountable role identified.

Accountable Role:

Title: Director, Telecommunications Services Branch 
Ministry/ I&IT Cluster: Ministry of Public and Business Service Delivery
Division: Infrastructure Technology Services

Responsible Role Definition

The organization(s) responsible for the development of this standard. There may be more than one responsible organization identified if it is a partnership/joint effort. (Note: the responsible organization(s) provides the resource(s) to develop the standard).

Responsible Organization(s):

Ministry/ I&IT Cluster: Ministry of Public and Business Service Delivery
Division: Infrastructure Technology Services
Branch: Telecommunications Services Branch

Support Role Definition

The support role is the resource(s) to whom the responsibility for maintaining this standard has been assigned. Inquiries, feedback, and suggestions should be sent to this resource.

Support Role (Editor):

Ministry/ I&IT Cluster: Ministry of Public and Business Service Delivery
Division: Infrastructure Technology Services
Branch: Telecommunications Services Branch
Section: Technical Services
Job Title: Senior Manager, Modernization 
Name: Charles Wang
Phone: 416-573-5964 
Email: Charles.Wang2@ontario.ca

2nd Support Role 
Section: Enterprise Strategic Planning, Design & Services
Job Title: Manager, Infrastructure Delivery Services

Name: Alan Matsumoto
Phone: 416-994-7322 
Email: Alan.Matsumoto@ontario.ca

3rd Support Role 
Section: Enterprise Strategic Planning, Design & Services
Job Title: Technical Architect

Name: David Lin
Phone: 416-520-3730 
Email: David.Lin@ontario.ca

7. Consultations

Areas consulted as part of the development of this standard. Include individuals and committees, councils and/or working groups:

8. Document history

9. Glossary

Cabling Contractor

The successful bidder to the Tender Document is responsible for the supply and installation of the Structured Cabling Platform and the Copper and Fibre backbones (if required).

Project Manager

All references to the Project Manager are to an individual or group who is to oversee the Structured Cabling Platform installation. This person will be determined on a project-by-project basis.

Customer

The Project Managers' Customer (usually Cluster/Ministry) will hereafter be referred to as the 'Customer, the Customer will own the Structured Cabling Platform at the end of the Project.

Project

Supply and install a complete Horizontal Structured Cabling Platform, and Copper and Fibre backbone (if required) to support Voice and Data applications as described in this document.

Telecommunications Room(s)

The Telecommunications Room is where horizontal cabling is terminated for every floor. Floors may contain multiple Telecommunications Rooms depending on building size and requirements.

Main Telecommunications Room(s)

The Main Telecommunications Room is where the primary telecommunications equipment is housed for the facility’s operation. This is also the room where all external connections (circuits and or trunking) are located. Each of the Telecommunications Rooms has their backbone cabling fed back to the Main Telecommunications Room.

10. Appendices

10.1 Normative references

Governance and Management of Information Technology Directive (for OPS employees/internal users).

GO-IT Standards.

• American National Standards Institute
• Canadian Standards Association
• Construction Specifications Institute/Construction Specifications Canada
• European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization (ECES)
• International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC)
• International Organization for Standardization
• Internet Engineering Task Force
• IEEE
• Telecordia Technologies Inc.
• Telecommunications Industry Association
• Underwriters Laboratories Inc.

Note:  a normative reference specifies a supporting document or GO-IT Standard (in the case of the Government of Ontario's I&IT infrastructure, often another OPS I&IT authorized publication) that must be read to fully understand or implement the subject matter of the main GO-IT Standard. Such authoritative or de facto references may be external and may, or may not be, owned/controlled by the GO-IT Standard owner.

10.2 Informative references

10.2.1 Breakdown of TIA Standards for Telecommunications Cabling

TIA’s standards for telecommunications cabling infrastructure fall into three main categories:

1. Common Standards
   • ANSI/TIA-568.0-E Generic Telecommunications Cabling for Customer Premises
   • ANSI/TIA-569-E Telecommunications Pathways and Spaces
   • ANSI/TIA-606-C Administration Standard Telecommunications Infrastructure
   • ANSI/TIA-607-D Generic Telecommunications Bonding and Grounding (Earthing) for Customer Premises
   • ANSI/TIA-862-B Structured Cabling Infrastructure Standard for Intelligent Building Systems
2. Premises Standards
   • ANSI/TIA-568.1-E Commercial Building Telecommunications Infrastructure Standard
   • ANSI/TIA-570-D Residential Telecommunications Infrastructure Standard
   • ANSI/TIA-758-B Customer-Owned Outside Plant Telecommunications Infrastructure Standard
   • ANSI/TIA-942-B Telecommunications Infrastructure Standard for Data Centers
   • ANSI/TIA-1005-A Telecommunications Infrastructure Standard for Industrial Premises
3. Component Standards
   • ANSI/TIA-568.2-D Balanced Twisted-Pair Telecommunications Cabling and Components
   • ANSI/TIA-568.3-D Optical Fiber Cabling Components
   • ANSI/TIA-568.4-D Broadband Coaxial Cabling and Components

10.2.2 Optical Fiber Cabling Standard

TIA’s Optical Fiber Cabling Component Standard was first developed in 1991, known today as ANSI/TIA-568.3. According to TIA’s Fiber Optics Tech Consortium, the bulk of the standards define cabling types, distances, connectors, cable system architectures, cable termination standards and performance characteristics, cable installation requirements and methods of testing installed cable. The standard was revised in 1995 (revision B), again in 2009 (revision C) and finally in 2016 with the publishing of ANSI/TIA-568.3-D. TIA is currently crafting new guidelines that will be released as ANSI/TIA-568.3-E.

10.2.3 Applicable Standards

Note: an informative reference is not normative; rather, it provides only additional background information.