California has some of the strictest codes, and there are communities that are tougher still. Generally speaking, the stronger the Union town, the tougher the code / laws.
Aside from the Building cabling code, there are a number of rules and guidelines from running cable. For example, there's a maximum putting force you can apply to the cable, there's a minium bend radius that must be observed, there are termination rules for how much of the pair can be exposed outside the jacket, how much it can be untwisted ... there are rules for how much punch force to apply to jack the wires into the panel, there are specific color-pair orders that must be observed.
Since it's a commercial install, you should be able to certify that the installation meets the Category spec you're installing. The higher the spec (Cat 6 versus Cat5e versus Cat5), the tougher the guidelines and rules. You need to hit specific specs for attenuation, crosstalk, ACR, FeXT, NeXT, Power Sum .... (lots more).
Next, you should totally forget that shielded twisted pair (screened twised pair, etc) exist. It's RARELY ever needed (virtually never, unless you wanna believe some marketing guys), and if you don't terminate the shield/screen properly, and / or fail to use component from end-to-end that are made to handle shielded / screened cable, then you have installed what amount to really fancy PHONE cabling (p!ss-poor data cabling).
I'm saying run away from this because you do not know what you are doing. You'd be doing the customer a major disservice and exposing yourself to some potentially serious liabilities. You understand that if you were to nick a water pipe (or gas pipe, or power line) while installing ... YOU are responsible for the repair and replacement of all damaged stuff. Building insurance usually does not cover damage caused by out-of-code, out-of-spec installations. That means that if they could tie a building fire to your install, you are on the hook for full damage.
People that do this professionally know what permits must be files, what inspections (if any) are necessary, and are (which no exceptions that I know of) Bonded and Insured to cover collateral damage from the install. They have the equipment to properly certify and warranty the installation. That's why they cost more.
If you wanna play "wire geek" at home at your own risk, I have nothing against that ... you gotta learn somewhere. To play Wire Geek as a professional, when you don't even know basic cabling practivces, is seriously flirting with disaster. You don't even know what you don't know (which is alot).
I'm not trying to run you down on this, I'm just trying to give you the reasons why, IMHO, you'd be making a serious mistake.
To put it in perspective: Would you want a mechanic to work on your (loved one's) car who has the same relative experience with cars that you have with cabling .... even at one-tenth the cost? (I'd hope not).
Go to the Anixter web site (
www.anixter.com), go to the Technical Library, and read some of the white papers posted there ... get an idea of how complex cabling solution can be. It ain't rocket science, but there's WAY more to it than most people know or understand. Home stuff, who cares. Commercial stuff, messing with a company's profits ... it's a big deal, and it's YOUR tail on the line.
That's my .02 / FWIW
Good Luck
Scott
Facebook
Twitter