A new draft of Communications Alliance’s ‘best seller’ – the telecommunications customer premises wiring rules – has been released for public consultation.

The AS/ACIF S009 Installation Requirements for Customer Cabling (Wiring Rules) Standard (in its various guises) has been the backbone of the cabling industry in Australia for several decades.

The objective of the Standard is to set out the minimum requirements to ensure the safety and integrity of a cabling installation in customer premises and of the telecommunications network to which it is connected. It is enforced by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) and the nation’s 65,000 registered cablers treat it as their cabling ‘Bible’.

In 2011, Communications Alliance invited representatives from the industry and the ACMA to review the Standard and to verify whether it continues to fulfil its purpose under the regulatory compliance arrangements. John Stanton, CEO of Communications Alliance, said the review process was extensive and benefited from expert input from more than 20 stakeholder organisations and individuals across the communications and broader industry.

“The cabling sector touches the lives of every Australian and it is important that Standards remain ‘fit for purpose’, particularly as the roll-out of the National Broadband Network gathers pace,” Mr Stanton said.

The Working Committee responsible for the revision was chaired by Mr Murray Teale from VTI Services and has produced a revised draft which reflects the quality of the feedback received from the review. The Draft Standard proposes new and revised requirements in a number of key areas, including:

• expanded provisions covering cabling in hazardous areas and explosive atmospheres.
• new requirements for the separation of customer cabling from non-electrical hazardous services.
• expanded requirements for optical interface cleaning and inspection.
• new provisions for the labelling of panels, enclosures and outlets in optical fibre systems updated guidance for caling in domestic installations, including the installation of Category 5 cabling as a minimum.
• new requirements for cabling between buildings to address potential hazards associated with lightning activity and power earth differentials.
• additional requirements for cables that are immersed in water within a conduit or duct.
• generally prohibiting the connection of plugs to fixed or concealed cabling, to prevent unplugging by the user.

The draft Standard is available from the public comment area of the Communications Alliance website. Comments on the draft are invited with a closing date of 12 November 2012.