Proper administration of the telecommunications cabling plant can reduce the labor expense of maintaining the infrastructure, extend the useful economic life of the system, and provide more effective service to users. A well-planned administration system is independent of supported applications, which may change multiple times throughout the life of the cabling plant. Administration guidelines apply to owners, end users, manufacturers, consultants, contractors, designers, installers, and others involved in the administration of the telecommunications infrastructure.
ANSI/TIA-606-C “Administration Standard for Telecommunications Infrastructure” was developed by the TIA TR-42.6 Infrastructure Administration Subcommittee and published in June, 2017. Significant changes from the previous edition include:
- TIA-606-B-1 content replaced with a reference to TIA-5048 (adaption of ISO/IEC 18598)
- Additional guidelines for administration of cabling supporting remote powering, including cable bundle identifiers, added
- The preference for an ISO/IEC TR 14763-2-1 compatible format for new administration systems was removed
- Identifier schemes for telecommunications bonding and grounding system elements changed to align with TIA-607-C as follows:
- BCT (bonding conductor for telecommunications) changed to TBC (telecommunications bonding conductor)
- RGB (rack grounding busbar) changed to RBB (rack bonding busbar)
- GE (grounding equalizer) changed to BBC (backbone bonding conductor)
- TGB (telecommunications grounding busbar) changed to SBB (secondary bonding busbar)
- TMGB (telecommunications main grounding busbar) changed to PBB (primary bonding busbar)
- Table summarizing variables used in identifier formats added
ANSI/TIA-606-C Content
- Classes of Administration
- Class 1 Administration
- Class 2 Administration
- Class 3 Administration
- Class 4 Administration
- Optional Identifiers for Infrastructure Elements
- Color-Coding Identification
- Permanent Labels
- Administration Systems Using Records, Linkages and Reports
- Automated Infrastructure Management Systems
- Annexes addressing Identification of Patch Cords, Equipment Cords, and Direct Equipment-to-Equipment Cables, Telecommunications Grounding System Identification Example, and Graphical, Symbology, Drawing Elements of Administration, and Administration of Remote Powering
ANSI/TIA-606-C Administration Systems
An administration system for telecommunications infrastructure within buildings and between buildings may include:
- assigning identifiers to components of the infrastructure
- specifying elements of information that make up records for each identifier
- specifying relationships between these records to access the information they contain
- specifying reports presenting information on groups of records, and
- specifying graphical and symbolic requirements
ANSI/TIA-606-C Administration Classes
Four classes of administration are specified in this Standard to accommodate the wide range of complexity present in the cabling plant. Class 1 contains the less stringent and Class 4 contains the most stringent administration requirements. The size and complexity of the cabling plant are the most relevant considerations in determining the minimum class of administration.
The four classes of administration are:
- Class 1 provides for the telecommunications infrastructure administration needs of a premises that is served by a single equipment room (ER)
- Class 2 provides for the telecommunications infrastructure administration needs of a single building or of a tenant that is served by single or multiple telecommunications spaces (e.g., an equipment room with one or more telecommunications rooms) within a single building
- Class 3 provides for the telecommunications infrastructure administration needs of a campus, including its buildings and outside plant elements
- Class 4 provides for the telecommunications infrastructure administration needs of a multi-campus/multi-site system
An administration system may be managed using a paper-based system, general purpose spreadsheet software, special-purpose cable management software, or Automated Infrastructure Management (AIM) systems.
ANSI/TIA-606-C Elements
This Standard specifies an administration system for the following elements of a generic telecommunications infrastructure:
- Cabling Subsystem 1, 2, and3 pathways and cabling
- Telecommunications bonding and grounding
- Spaces (e.g., entrance facility, telecommunications room, equipment room), and
- Fire-stopping
Representative Model of Typical Telecommunications Infrastructure Elements for Administration
Click here for archive information on ANSI/TIA-606-B.