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Cable Standard 1
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daronwilson
Vendor
I can't find any requirements in the EIA/TIA standards for no carpet in the room. However, in the BICSI Telecommunications Design Methods Manual 9th Edition, with regard to telecomunications rooms:
Avoid dust and static electricity by:
- installing tile instead of carpet
- treating floors, walls and ceilings to minimize dust
from: BICSI TDMM 9th Edition Chapter 7, Telecommunications Rooms
Hope that helps!
It is only my opinion, based on my experience and education...I am always willing to learn, educate me!
Daron J. Wilson, RCDD
daron.wilson@lhmorris.com
Avoid dust and static electricity by:
- installing tile instead of carpet
- treating floors, walls and ceilings to minimize dust
from: BICSI TDMM 9th Edition Chapter 7, Telecommunications Rooms
Hope that helps!
It is only my opinion, based on my experience and education...I am always willing to learn, educate me!
Daron J. Wilson, RCDD
daron.wilson@lhmorris.com
Sorry there is not a lot of help out there. Ran into the same problem before with "consultants" and the carpet.
Last time we negotiated for the customer to install a humidifier/dehumidifier unit and have the IT department spray the carpet with static shield spray each week. Haven't had any problems yet but the customer has assumed all responsibilty for all environmental conditions within the room and there is a ground bar outside the door to "discharge" prior to entering.
The customer's IT equipment, servers, switches,etc., share the room, they(the IT guys) did not want carpet either but the consultant, architect and general contractor was able to persuade the CFO and CEO that many of their Server/Comms rooms are carpeted.(It's the only customer we have with carpet)Good Luck, see if you can negotiate the liability issue first then the environmental. Jerry Pannell
techs@sclb.com
Last time we negotiated for the customer to install a humidifier/dehumidifier unit and have the IT department spray the carpet with static shield spray each week. Haven't had any problems yet but the customer has assumed all responsibilty for all environmental conditions within the room and there is a ground bar outside the door to "discharge" prior to entering.
The customer's IT equipment, servers, switches,etc., share the room, they(the IT guys) did not want carpet either but the consultant, architect and general contractor was able to persuade the CFO and CEO that many of their Server/Comms rooms are carpeted.(It's the only customer we have with carpet)Good Luck, see if you can negotiate the liability issue first then the environmental. Jerry Pannell
techs@sclb.com
Please don't disparage "consultants" so strongly -- we're all not as ill-informed or irresponsible as those you folks have had to put up with. Sorry.
I don't have my National Electrical Code handy, but I believe that it and the NFPA standards will give you some support. The newest NEC puts more constraints on the SCS, including server rooms and "closets." They consider them electrical equipment rooms. The discussions on the next standard will be even more grevious for us.
The 20+ server rooms (325-1200 sq ft each) I have designed in the past 3 years I have specified them to have CONDUCTIVE VINYL flooring with the ground strap connected to the SCS ground buss. If the Owner doesn't want to spend that much money he should at least use static resistant vinyl (there are 3 levels of anti-static standards). Even the work chairs are conductive and have conducting rollers. Carpet is simply out of the question.
In Colorado it is easy to illustrate to Owners and the Architect what static does -- we live with it all the time. Then show them the classic 3M micropictures of static-caused craters in microelectronics. Remind them that the craters grow with time. Then remind them of the cost of their LAN/WAN/Server equipment!
Then educate them as to the destruction to equipment and electronic equipment warranty voidance that occurs from heat caused by dust -- the natural result of carpeting. If they think they want to accept the risk of getting caught they should know that managed LAN/WAN/Server equipment has temperature monitoring/recording capability. I have seen Cisco and Altigen pull warranties because of heat. When opened, the equipment had a pile of dust.
Talk to the voice vendors (major PBX providers like Avaya, NEC or Nortel) -- they won't put their equipment in a carpeted room.
I cannot remember a time in the last 20 years when there was any differential in the cost of carpet vs. vinyl tile so I don't understand why they give you experts such a hard time.
Good luck (more to the Owner rather than you) - thanks for standing up for what is right!!!
I don't have my National Electrical Code handy, but I believe that it and the NFPA standards will give you some support. The newest NEC puts more constraints on the SCS, including server rooms and "closets." They consider them electrical equipment rooms. The discussions on the next standard will be even more grevious for us.
The 20+ server rooms (325-1200 sq ft each) I have designed in the past 3 years I have specified them to have CONDUCTIVE VINYL flooring with the ground strap connected to the SCS ground buss. If the Owner doesn't want to spend that much money he should at least use static resistant vinyl (there are 3 levels of anti-static standards). Even the work chairs are conductive and have conducting rollers. Carpet is simply out of the question.
In Colorado it is easy to illustrate to Owners and the Architect what static does -- we live with it all the time. Then show them the classic 3M micropictures of static-caused craters in microelectronics. Remind them that the craters grow with time. Then remind them of the cost of their LAN/WAN/Server equipment!
Then educate them as to the destruction to equipment and electronic equipment warranty voidance that occurs from heat caused by dust -- the natural result of carpeting. If they think they want to accept the risk of getting caught they should know that managed LAN/WAN/Server equipment has temperature monitoring/recording capability. I have seen Cisco and Altigen pull warranties because of heat. When opened, the equipment had a pile of dust.
Talk to the voice vendors (major PBX providers like Avaya, NEC or Nortel) -- they won't put their equipment in a carpeted room.
I cannot remember a time in the last 20 years when there was any differential in the cost of carpet vs. vinyl tile so I don't understand why they give you experts such a hard time.
Good luck (more to the Owner rather than you) - thanks for standing up for what is right!!!
daronwilson
Vendor
Please don't disparage "consultants" so strongly -- we're all not as ill-informed or irresponsible as those you folks have had to put up with.
I'm sure you are correct, I think the majority of us have had a few negative experiences with consultants. I've done a bit of consulting, but I rarely charge for it because I would like to do the work for the customer so I don't feel I can charge for consulting if I have a product or service to sell. I generally encourage the customer to hire us to design/build them a solution. Allows us to work directly with them to get them what they want AND holds us liable for a complete functional system. Often the consultant approach seems to be to walk in, tell them they should do it this way, get paid (whether it works or not) and then we have to adjust it to make it work. It's just the way it works many times.
I appreciate your point about education, but I think the guys point is that the consultant is wrong. He is supposed to already be educated, and they are often like architects (not what you call willing to take constructive critisizm or correction).
I'm not in a real high static electricity area, but I know of one Lucent Definity switch and two Nortel Option 11's that are in carpeted rooms. Go figure.
One more suggestion, the NEC is a code not a standard, designed only to provide safe installations, not functional systems. The NFPA has mounds of codes, most of which are in the National Fire Code, I don't believe they are a standards approving body. States as well as local jurisdictions adopt various codes for enforcement, and many of them amend or modify the NEC.
Forgive me, it's 5 am and BC (before coffee) but what the heck is an SCS? I did a quick search of the EIA/TIA standards, but no match. It is only my opinion, based on my experience and education...I am always willing to learn, educate me!
Daron J. Wilson, RCDD
daron.wilson@lhmorris.com
I'm sure you are correct, I think the majority of us have had a few negative experiences with consultants. I've done a bit of consulting, but I rarely charge for it because I would like to do the work for the customer so I don't feel I can charge for consulting if I have a product or service to sell. I generally encourage the customer to hire us to design/build them a solution. Allows us to work directly with them to get them what they want AND holds us liable for a complete functional system. Often the consultant approach seems to be to walk in, tell them they should do it this way, get paid (whether it works or not) and then we have to adjust it to make it work. It's just the way it works many times.
I appreciate your point about education, but I think the guys point is that the consultant is wrong. He is supposed to already be educated, and they are often like architects (not what you call willing to take constructive critisizm or correction).
I'm not in a real high static electricity area, but I know of one Lucent Definity switch and two Nortel Option 11's that are in carpeted rooms. Go figure.
One more suggestion, the NEC is a code not a standard, designed only to provide safe installations, not functional systems. The NFPA has mounds of codes, most of which are in the National Fire Code, I don't believe they are a standards approving body. States as well as local jurisdictions adopt various codes for enforcement, and many of them amend or modify the NEC.
Forgive me, it's 5 am and BC (before coffee) but what the heck is an SCS? I did a quick search of the EIA/TIA standards, but no match. It is only my opinion, based on my experience and education...I am always willing to learn, educate me!
Daron J. Wilson, RCDD
daron.wilson@lhmorris.com
jeffmoss26
Technical User
Structured Cabling System is the only usage I have seen for 'SCS' (As in the AVAYA Systimax SCS)
has many results for SCS
jeff moss
jeffmoss26@adelphia.net
has many results for SCS
jeff moss
jeffmoss26@adelphia.net
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