Legally, hiring someone licensed in the safest way.  And most expensive.  And for a lot of us, the silliest way.

If you are the homeowner and it is your primary residence, you get to do a lot more.  I just can’t find a citation that explicitly says you can do your own low-voltage stuff.

The big gotcha is when a buddy who has “done lots of cat5” comes over to help, they are not legally allowed to the work unless they’re licensed.  (And could in theory be fined for doing so, although someone would have to complain first so not usually a big risk.)

Then, insurance companies will use any excuse to limit your claims, so make sure you’re coloring inside the lines when you do your own work.

Finally, dying of toxic smoke because you were to cheap to buy less-toxic cable would be a REALLY stupid way to go :-(.   I forgot about suspended ceilings – they count as plenums whether they’re performing that function or not.

Not sure about Cat5, but when I buy single-mode fiber cable, the plenum-rated stuff is usually about 10% more, and the only way I can tell the difference is to examine the printing on the cable.

-Adam

 

 

From: Kevin McGregor <kevin.a.mcgregor@gmail.com>
Sent: Saturday, October 26, 2024 2:42 PM
To: Adam Thompson <athompso@athompso.net>
Cc: Continuation of Round Table discussion <roundtable@muug.ca>
Subject: Re: [RndTbl] Re: Network cabling (Cat 5e)

 

Are you kidding? I *always* have time for reading! :-)

 

Reading between the lines (do correct me) I should hire a duly certified and licensed person to run my new cables as I'm unqualified.

 

As an aside (not really relevant) I have never and would never run any kind of cable in air ducts. It just feels wrong to me. I did run a fair bit of Cat 5e some years ago in my previous house, but in walls and above the suspended ceiling in the basement. There is some existing network and coax run here and there in my current house; I have no idea who would have run it or what kind of cable they used.

 

On Sat, Oct 26, 2024 at 1:00 PM Adam Thompson <athompso@athompso.net> wrote:

(If you don't have time to read it all, just read 3c, 2a, and 2d in that order.)


1. In any sort of catastrophic loss, especially fire, home insurance carriers will look for convenient excuses to deny or restrict your coverage.  Self-installed low-voltage cabling with the wrong rating has been used as an excuse in the past.  Losing our home without insurance would bankrupt most of us.  (I've even heard of insurers that will deny e.g. flood claims because of improper electrical installs - remember insurance carriers are actually in the business of *not* paying you.)


2. The three general categories of cable ratings, from worst to best from fire & code perspective, are General/CM, Riser/CMR, and Plenum/CMP.  General is usually cheapest, Plenum is usually the most expensive.

2a. AFAICT, you need riser/CMR-rated (or the more expensive plenum/CMP) cable inside your walls.  In most residential construction, your air ducts are the only plenums you have; if you are running cable through an air duct (feed OR return) then it should be plenum-rated.

2c. A large percentage of Cat5e/Cat6/etc cable sold is already riser-rated, you don't necessarily have to spend more money on it.  Plenum/CMP usually costs more.

2d. Remember these guidelines are "written in blood" - riser and plenum ratings exist to **save your life**, not to make someone more money.  (Mfgrs usually make *less* profit on Plenum and Riser, in fact, despite the higher cost.  General/CM cables could be made with a mixture of PCBs, lead, and Klingon blood for all you know - they're almost completely unregulated in practice.)  General/CM cables, when burning, can emit toxic gasses that will kill you before you notice the cable is on fire.  Riser/CMR will not emit anything that, as it seeps through walls, will kill you immediately.  Plenum/CMP will not emit anything that will kill you immediately, period.


3. There are also restrictions now on who is allowed to do low-voltage cabling even in residential settings.  Again, fires & insurance...

3a. See the (IMHO) money-grab details, particularly the "M-V" license, at https://www.gov.mb.ca/asset_library/en/labour/docs/its/its_21_036_electrician_licences.pdf.

3b. Since https://legacy.winnipeg.ca/ppd/Documents/Brochures/Electrical-Installations.pdf says you don't need a permit for voice/data/video wiring, I'm *assuming* you don't need the M-V license either, but cannot confirm that.

****
**** MOST IMPORTANT POINT OF THIS ENTIRE EMAIL:
****

3c. So if someone lacking an M-V license (and/or any qualifications as a licensed Electrician) is helping you do wiring work in your home, remember: YOU DID ALL THE WIRING YOURSELF.  They were just your helper, passing you tools & supplies, keeping the area clean & tidy, and ensuring a steady supply of beer and definitely not doing any wiring for you.


Additional references to cable type:
For more info, Belden has a decent explainer: https://www.belden.com/blogs/do-you-know-what-is-printed-on-your-cable-jacket
Also: https://www.truecable.com/blogs/cable-academy/the-ultimate-guide-to-plenum-rated-riser-rated-and-lzsh-cables-know-the-difference
Or: https://www.en.adiglobaldistribution.ca/cable-ratings-substitutions


-Adam


-----Original Message-----
From: Trevor Cordes <trevor@tecnopolis.ca>
Sent: Friday, October 25, 2024 9:30 PM
To: Kevin McGregor <kevin.a.mcgregor@gmail.com>
Cc: Continuation of Round Table discussion <roundtable@muug.ca>
Subject: [RndTbl] Re: Network cabling (Cat 5e)

On 2024-10-24 Kevin McGregor wrote:
> Is anyone handy at running residential Cat 5e? I have done it in the
> past, but I'm not super motivated to do it again, at least without
> help. Compensation of some kind is negotiable. I could just buy some

When running new cable, always run CAT6 (or better!) for
future-proofing.  No one ever wants to re-run cable, and the price
difference is not terribly important.
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