Running CAT5 in new building - code?

[Transition]

I've done quite a bit of work with wiring and the such, but never actually wired a building by myself. The building i'm supposed to wire is in the framing stages and their supposed to put up the drywall sometime later this week, which leaves me one day to get my stuff straight.

It's a relatively small office which will have 3 offices and a city desk which will have 2 terminals. I'll probably end up doing 8-10 drops total including the warehouse equipment. The thing i'm concerned about is...

A.) What grade cable should i use?
I was planning on using plenum grade Cat5e.

B.) Should the cable be secured/ran in conduit inside the walls?

C.) I'd like to have a small 2' x 2' or so box secured to the wall that houses all of the network components (router/patch panel/hub & csu/dsu if necessary). Is this a good/bad idea?

Well i think that's about it for now. Any help is appreciated!

Edit: Something like this for the network components (except cleaner!) small closet picture

- RJ

 

[MysticLlama]

If you're running all of the stuff while you still have access in the framing stage, then definately do conduit if you can.

It's not so much about the wire being protected, IMHO, but being able to rewire or add wires at a later date considerably easier.

Check around to see if you really need the plenum cable. If you don't need it, you probably should just get a higher quality CAT5 or 6 cable, and you'll save quite a bit. Most of the plenum I looked at was at least twice as much. This may not matter though with the small amount of runs you are doing, I had to buy several boxes, so it was a much bigger deal.

Out in the warehouse I have one of those boxes exactly as you describe. Our maintenance guy at the time built it, and used some rack rails cut to fit on the sides of it, and put a fan in. It's not closed in the front (we tucked it in an office instead of out in the warehouse itself), but the patch panel and switch mount cleanly, up out of the way, and it has ventilation. Definately the way to go. There are also 13U wall racks from APC for around $350ish if you want to go that route, a little bigger than what we were looking for though.

 

[hjo3]

That's some expensive cable you're looking at there. Ought to work nicely. A 2' x 2' x 4" box should work well for switches and things.

Sounds like you covered everything well.

EDIT: nm, someone who posted 2 min. before me covered the conduit situation better.

 

[hjo3]

I think you only need plenum wire if you're running it between a ceiling and a floor. If the building's only 1 story, it probably isn't necessary.