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32 E L EC TR I C AL CONNEC T I ON
W I N T E R 20 1 6
BREAKING THE CODE
W
e rely on the internet,
and the communications
infrastructure that
underpins it, for everything from alarm
systems to virtual meetings. Digital
technology is an integral part of our
personal and business lives and this
fact makes ensuring that cabling is
installed according to regulations of
paramount importance.
To further this goal, the Cabling
Advisory Group (CAG) has created
a draft Industry Code that aims to
guide telecommunications and data
cabling businesses in the delivery of
fit-for-purpose cabling installations and
quality maintenance practices. Once
established, the Code will also serve as
a way for reputable installers to identify
themselves to customers.
The Code is essentially an updated
version of an original document that was
drawn up around 15 years ago under
the then Minister for Communications,
Information Technology and the Arts,
Richard Alston.
“It was a code for businesses and
enterprises. It was designed so when
a business signed up to the Code,
the ACMA as the regulator would
exempt that business from audits
and inspections – unless of course
there was a report of malpractice. In
essence, enterprises would agree to
use registered cablers and to install
in accordance with standards. There
was a checklist they would check off to
demonstrate that they were compliant,”
says TITAB Australia Secretariat
Kevin Fothergill.
Obviously, our dependence on data
cabling has developed significantly in
the past 15 years and because of this the
original Code needed to be reworked.
But the process for approval of a new
code is a convoluted one and involves
getting the document signed off by a
widespread group of industry players,
before going through a committee which
ensures that any suggested regulatory
change or code to be introduced is not
an extra impost on industry.
CAG has, however, drafted the
document and circulated it around to
key industry bodies and is now ready to
submit the code for committee approval.
“We’ve put it to the Australian Digital
Telecommunications Association
(ADTIA), which is an industry association
with a membership that includes all
the big contractors who do large scale
installations such as the NBN and they
have signed off on it,” Kevin says.
“The next step is to write up a
covering sheet that explains that the
document has been canvassed around
the industry, has been drafted by
industry members over the last 18
months and is an update of an existing
document. It has been modernised as
far as its language goes and the notion
is that it’s part of self regulation.”
Because the
Industry Code for
Telecommunications and Cabling
Enterprises
needs to operate within the
self regulation framework, it needs to
be something that businesses in the
industry will sign up to; essentially
agreeing to carry out installations in
accordance with the regulations and
employ staff who are properly trained
and registered with the ACMA to do
their cabling.
According to Kevin, companies that
are doing their job properly should
have no problem complying with the
new Code. The most important part,
he says, is to operate in accordance
with technical standards, which in itself
should ensure quality assurance for
the customer.
“If companies deal with customers and
perform installations in accordance with
the standards, while using staff who are
registered and trained to do the work,
they should be 90% there,” says Kevin.
Keeping staff up-to-date however, is
also part of the regulatory equation. There
is a reasonable amount of flexibility in how
employers continue to develop their staff
professionally but because installers who
don’t receive professional development
will invariably fall behind, it is seen as a
necessary part of the Code.
“The way it’s going to work in the
longer term is that we are going to have
a committee in the ADTIA. They will
assess the applications and once we’ve
got businesses signed-up there will be
a process where those businesses self
accredit and if there’s any discrepancy
they will have to have one of our
members perform the check.
“If the attitude to self regulation
THE CABLING ADVISORY GROUP
HAS DRAFTED AN INDUSTRY
CODE FOR TELECOMMUNICATIONS
AND CABLING ENTERPRISES TO
PROMOTE UNIFORMITY WITHIN
THE INDUSTRY. KEVIN FOTHERGILL
SPOKE WITH
JACOBHARRIS
TO EXPLAIN.
CABLING
The process for approval of a new code is a
convoluted one and involves getting the document
signed off by a widespread group of industry players.