This Standard provides specifications for the planning and installation of a structured cabling system for healthcare facilities and buildings. Included are requirements for cabling, cabling topologies, cabling distances, pathways and spaces (e.g., sizing and location), and other ancillary requirements. Guidance on selection of media and network design is provided and of particular importance for larger healthcare facilities, which may have a useful life far longer than traditional office-oriented commercial buildings.
ANSI/TIA-1179-A “Healthcare Facility Telecommunications Infrastructure” was developed by the TIA TR-42.1 Commercial Building Cabling Subcommittee and published in August, 2017. This Standard specifies recognized cabling and cabling category recommendations for healthcare facilities. In addition to IT systems, the structured cabling specified by this Standard is also intended to support a wide range of clinical and non-clinical systems such as non‑IP and IP‑based RFID, BAS, nurse call, security, access control, and pharmaceutical inventory.
Significant changes from the previous edition include:
- Minimum category 6A cabling is specified for use in the horizontal and backbone cabling systems
- Minimum 850 nm laser-optimized 50/125 μm OM3 is recommended for use in the horizontal and backbone cabling systems
- Multimode and singlemode optical fiber cabling shall support at least 2-fibers
- Array connectors are now permitted for optical fiber cabling in the work area
- The minimum size of the Telecommunications Room has been increased to 16 m2 (170 ft2) or larger
- Additional requirements for pathways and spaces, bonding and grounding, firestopping, support of broadband coaxial cabling, and multi-tenant building spaces have been added
- Additional recommendations for wireless access points and distributed antenna systems have been added
ANSI/TIA-1179-A Content
- Telecommunications Cabling System Structure
- Topology
- Entrance Facilities
- Equipment Rooms
- Telecommunications Rooms and Telecommunications Enclosures
- Backbone Cabling (Cabling Subsystem 2 and Cabling Subsystem 3)
- Horizontal Cabling (Cabling Subsystem 1)
- Work Area
- Multi-Tenant Building Spaces
- Cabling Installation Requirements
- Cabling Transmission Performance Requirements
- Intelligent Building Systems
- Educational Facilities
- Cabling for Wireless Access Points
- Cabling for Distributed Antenna Systems
- Grounding and Bonding
- Telecommunications Pathways
- Firestopping
- Security
- Administration
ANSI/TIA-1179-A Significant Differences from TIA-568.0-D
- The size of the Telecommunications Room is increased
- The recommended minimum number of outlet per work area is dependent upon healthcare service area and, typically, greater than two (2)
ANSI/TIA-1179-A Recognized Horizontal and Backbone Cabling Media
100-ohm balanced twisted-pair cabling
- Category 6A or higher
- Categories 3, 5e, and 6 are not recognized
Multimode optical fiber cabling
- OM3, OM4, or OM5, 2-fiber or higher fiber count
- 850 nm laser-optimized 50/125 μm OM4 or OM5 is recommended
- OM1 or OM2 is not recommended per TIA-568.3-D
Singlemode optical fiber cabling
- OS2, 2-fiber or higher fiber count
- OS1 is not recommended per TIA-568.3-D
ANSI/TIA-1179-A Telecommunications Room Design
Basic healthcare facility telecommunications room (TR) design shall comply with TIA-569-D. In addition,
- The design should not allow routing of non-telecommunications services (e.g., medical gases, fluids) in TR’s or TE’s
- Due to the numerous services present in healthcare facilities (e.g., nurse call, patient tracking), the TR should be larger for an office-oriented commercial building
- The TR shall be 16 m2 (170 ft2) or larger
ANSI/TIA-1179-A Recommended Work Area Outlet Densities
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