|  | 8.2 | Planning Structured Cabling: Wiring Closet Specifications
| 8.2.8 | Cable access and support

If a wiring closet serves as an MDF, all cable running from it - to IDFs, computers, and communications rooms on other floors of the same building - should be protected by 10.2 cm conduit or sleeved core. Likewise, all such cable running into the IDFs should be run through the same 10.2 cm conduit or sleeved cores. The exact amount of conduit that is required is determined by the amount of fiber optic, UTP, and STP cable that must be supported in each wiring closet, computer, or communications room. Care should be taken to include additional lengths of conduit in order to provide for future growth. To meet this specification, a minimum of two excess sleeved cores or conduits should be kept in each wiring closet. Where construction permits, all conduit and sleeved core should be kept to within 15.2 cm of the walls.

All horizontal cabling that runs from work areas to a wiring closet should be run under a raised floor. When this is not possible, the cabling should be run through 10.2 cm sleeves that are placed above door level. In order to ensure proper support, the cable should run from the sleeve directly onto a 30.5 cm ladder rack in the room. When used in this manner, to support cable, the ladder rack should be installed in a configuration which supports the equipment layout.

Finally, any wall/ceiling openings that provide access for the conduit, or sleeved core, must be sealed with smoke and flame-retardant materials that meet all applicable codes.

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