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Report to the BOMA
Telecommunications Task Force
January 12, 2004
Presented by: Darlene Pope
Notes/Comments
on the 2002 NEC Regulations
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National Electric
Code is a nationally recognized “standard” for electrical and fire
safety.
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In order to
become a requirement of local building codes, the NEC must be
adopted at a state or local level by each municipality.
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The 2002 NEC
requires the removal of abandoned cabling from commercial office
buildings; this includes risers, plenum, walls – both in common
areas and tenant spaces
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Abandoned cabling
is defined as “installed communications cable that is not
terminated at both ends at a connector or other equipment, and not
identified for future use with a tag.” (2002 NEC, Section 800.2)
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In some cases,
the 2002 NEC may be adopted as part of building codes, but may
exclude the requirement for removal of abandoned cabling.
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Contact your
local Fire Marshall or Electrical Inspector’s office and inquire
as to whether the 2002 NEC has been adopted into local building
codes, including the provisions requiring removal of abandoned
cabling.
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Regardless of
whether the 2002 NEC is part of local building codes, abandoned
cabling is considered a fire hazard and should be removed
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Owners are
advised to revise tenant lease language to require tenants to
remove cabling upon vacating leased premises (see
sample lease
language)
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Owners are
advised to revise telecommunications license agreements to require
telecom providers to remove unused cabling at termination of
license agreement.
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ACTION:
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National survey
to be conducted at the local level to develop a comprehensive
list of where the 2002 NEC has been adopted into code
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National effort
to encourage cabling audits and removal of abandoned cabling
from office buildings.
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RESOURCES:
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CRE Partners has been tracking
state and local activity regarding adoption of the 2002 NEC as
part of local building codes at
www.crepartners.com/resources.html.
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Article by
Manuel Fishman, Bartko, Zankel, Tarrant & Miller (read
it here)
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Article by Gerry Lederer, Miller &
Van Eaton (read it here)
Notes/ Comments on In-Building Emergency Communications for First
Responders
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Many local fire
departments are spearheading efforts to change local building
codes to require buildings to support public safety personnel to
utilize effective and reliable radio communications while they are
within buildings; this is typically in the form of an in-building
wireless system.
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Fire, police and
EMS around the country are working on inter-operability between
emergency personnel, upgrades from 400Mhz systems to 800MHz
systems, and installation of in-building communications support.
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An in-building
system would typically consist of a Bi-Directional Amplifier (BDA)
on the roof of the building and a fiber/copper infrastructure with
distributed antennas throughout the property.
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Cost of such a
system for a commercial office building is estimated to run $.50
to $1.00 /s.f. (of covered area).
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Building code
requirements may be applicable initially to new construction – but
efforts are underway in many areas to have these code changes
apply to existing buildings as well.
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PROBLEMS /
CONCERNS:
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For a new
building, the system must be designed for coverage of the entire
building to meet permitting requirements
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However, once
the building is built, coverage may only be required for a
portion of the building (depending on where the building can
pick up signals from the outside network)
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Cost is a major
concern for building owners
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If the system
fails, who is liable?
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FUNDING?
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Government
grants through Homeland Security – doubtful
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Proffers –
decision on a state or local level
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Installation of
broadband wireless systems to support both emergency
communications and commercial applications; collect lease fees
from wireless carriers and WiFi providers for coverage in the
building
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RESOURCES:
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For a list of state and local
legislative activity, visit CRE Partners web site at
www.crepartners.com/resources.html.
There is also a link to the actual code language for each
jurisdiction.
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