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Your data cabling is a long-term investment which should easily last for up to 25 years if correctly designed and installed. However, by choosing an electrician to install your data cabling may potentially cost you more than anticipated.

Although many electricians offer data cabling alongside their core services, their competence is often questioned. Common mistakes include poor cable terminations, excessive untwisting of pairs, incorrect cable sequencing, and improper labeling.

While electricians may have the technical ability to install data cables, they typically don't have the specific qualifications or industry training required. In layman's terms, would you hire a plumber who isn't gas registered to install your boiler? The same logic applies when choosing an electrician to install your data cabling.

Poor Installation Practices

The correct installation of data cabling is governed by industry bodies such as ISO, BSI and TIA/EIA 568. These standards ensure the installation of data cables meet specification and performance requirements.

Terminating data cables such as Category 5e (Cat5e), Category 6 (Cat6) and Category 6A (Cat6A) require specialised knowledge and adherence to precise installation practices, otherwise if not adhered to, can result in degraded signal quality, slow network speeds or complete failure.

The most common data cabling mistakes by electricians are:

• Excessive untwisting of pairs upon termination points such as patch panels, keystones and modules. This significantly reduces the cable's performance by increasing crosstalk and signal interference, potentially leading to poor cable performance and data transmission speeds.
• Over-tightening of cable zip ties can potentially damage the cable's insulation, leading to signal degradation, poor connection quality, and even complete failure due to the excessive pressure put on the wires inside the cable.
• Inconsistent cable sequencing and labelling reduces network efficiency while having to tone and trace each cable, whilst increasing risk of errors by accidently disconnecting the wrong cable or connecting the wrong device, potentially causing major disruptions or downtime.
• Exceeding cable bend radius can cause the conductors to stretch or compress, increasing resistance and signal attenuation. Especially when installing fibre optic cables, it can damage the cable if the curvature of the bend is too small.
• Running data cables alongside electrical cables or too close to power cables can lead to signal interference and potential data corruption due to electromagnetic interference (EMI).

Buy Cheap, Buy Twice

The cost of data cabling is typically around 15% of the total network infrastructure cost and if correctly designed and installed should easily last up to 25 years. However, in an industry that is highly competitive, customers can be persuaded into choosing price over quality.

This may seem obvious although cutting corners on the quality of materials can have a detrimental effect on your cabling network. Many electricians will often use whatever cable is cheapest and available from their local electrical wholesaler. These cables are often from obscure manufacturers who have no formal compliant certification for their products.

The quality and performance of your cabling system can suffer immensely because of cheap cabling, resulting in slow data transmission speeds, alien crosstalk (interference from other nearby cables) and increased risk of fire hazards.

Since the amendment of BS6701, data cables are now required to be labelled with a Construction Product Regulation (CPR) EuroClass rating to indicate its fire properties. This change means that all data cabling installations must meet a minimum EuroClass of Cca, S1b, D2, a2 construction in the permanent installation of both copper and fibre optic cables within a building.

Warranty

Most cabling manufacturers offer a free 25-year warranty as standard to end-users, although this requires the cabling installer to follow an application process based around technical and commercial capability and, commitment to undergo extensive training and sit an exam to demonstrate a complete understanding of the cabling manufacturers products and how to design, install and test systems in accordance with the manufacturer's guidelines, best practice and above all standards compliance.

Since not many electricians have the required accreditations to apply for a manufacturer’s warranty, the customer has no guarantee and potentially having to pay for labour costs and replacement of materials in the future. Click here to find out more about cabling warranties.

Testing and Certification

Following on from the above, most cabling manufacturers will only issue a warranty upon receiving sufficient documented proof of test results that certify all installed cables have been tested in accordance to the manufacturers standards and using industry approved equipment.

Cable testing is a thorough process performed by a trained professional and requires using certification products such as Fluke Networks, the worldwide leader in tools for data cabling professionals. Cable certification products are not cheap pieces of equipment either and can cost anywhere between £6,500 for a copper only and up to £25,000 for both copper and fibre.

Due to the cost of this equipment, it’s highly unlikely for an electrician to invest in these state-of-the-art cabling essentials; meaning the customer will be left with a poorly installed, uncertified cabling system. However, electricians may utilize certified cabling specialists for this resource.

Standards

As few electricians are aware of the relevant industry standards defined by BSI, ISO, CENELEC, TIA/EIA, many are incompetent of correctly designing and installing data cabling and often have poor termination practices.

A common poor practice from electricians is excessive untwisting of pairs upon terminations. This practice is in conflict with installation recommendations as per TIA/EIA-568 commercial building wiring standard and will introduce Near-end Cross Talk (NEXT) and most likely fail upon testing and certification.

For ultimate cable performance, cable twists should be maintained as close as possible to the point of termination. To find out more about Near-end Cross Talk click here.

Comfinity works exclusively through subcontractor partnerships with many leading mechanical and electrical contractors, supporting them with complete structured cabling solutions from the initial tender stage right through to the final handover. Whether you require labour only, consultancy or are looking for a quotation for a current project tender, Comfinity can offer price competitive packages covering all aspects of data cabling from design and installation to testing and certification.