This past week's East Coast 5.8 earth rattling event set in motion the need for customer site reviews. Unlike the West Coast, some folks here in the East don't have any inkling about measures to prevent injury and property loss caused by earthquakes and other potentially catastrophic events. We were later hit with Hurricane Irene and fortunately in my area most of the issues were minor flooding, power outages, downed trees, disrupted aerial Telco cables, and just one of our customers had complete loss of Internet access and dial tone. Still, I've been coast to coast and find similar issues in infrastructure and installation practices that expose customers to unnecessary harm and property loss.
One of our jobs scheduled for a campus involves installation of a fiber backbone network. We visit a site to determine switch locations, estimate lengths and other requirements for each project. We always do a second visit with notes from the first and review what it is we want to accomplish. The photographs are a means to document for visual reference and then to ask pertinent questions. Once you leave a site or an area, your notes can fail you just like your memory.
The photo below is revealing.
The plywood used isn't fire rated. Fire rated plywood was a requirement adopted back in the early 1990s in most Maryland counties. A lot of gear for telecom, data, alarm, video and building support equipment is mounted on plywood. While it's always difficult to control contractors' lack of housekeeping, it remains a neglected area that wastes prime real estate space in utility rooms, electrical and telephone closets that house critical telecommunications facilities and infrastructure.
Let me briefly define "housekeeping" in case there's any doubt. Optimal organization of gear and wiring to maintain a serviceable and safe environment is what I mean by "housekeeping." Of course it must look visually appealing and this is where many sites fall short from neglect, poor practices and contractors that don't care. Then, I've posted plenty in the past about electrical protection and EMP (electro-magnetic pulse). The earlier versions of whole panel protectors have a tendency to catch fire and these units are commonly mounted on plywood next to service panels. Other powered gear can suffer lightning damage (that is heat) that tends to melt insulated jackets between wires that can short and burn up gear. So anything electrical mounted to plywood surfaces must be mounted or attached to fire rated plywood. Fire rated plywood has a stamp and you must be sure to use what the code calls for.
The second offense is the cabling shown on either side of the steel electrical conduit. White cabling (voice drops), blue cabling (LAN drops), black cabling (Video distribution) and the lone gray cable dropped behind the video cable is a classic case of contractors gone wild. What the photo doesn't show is the corner (to the left a few feet) of the wall where the drops should have been placed using the corner’s dead space to route the cabling instead of the prime real estate. Each contractor dropped in cable in the middle of the plywood that is prime real estate space for gear. All the drops have excessive tails that wind around either to the left or right and reach their terminations in the middle or slightly right on the plywood.
The blatant disregard for fire code and misapplication of technology is the notable third offense. Note the PVC conduit with the orange flex duct (sub-ducting). The yellow substance that appears bubbling is a product known as "Great Stuff" sold at hardware stores. The Great Stuff used is not intended for fire stop. Fire stop is a caulk used to provide a barrier to flame, smoke and water. The warning label on Great Stuff states, "Cured foam is combustible and may present a fire hazard if exposed to flame or temperatures above 240 degrees Fahrenheit." So connect the dots to plywood that isn't fire rated with installed gear and conduits foamed with a flammable polymer. The misapplication is that this Great Stuff isn't for fire stopping applications but for sealing gaps and cracks to fight air penetrations. The giveaway is the color of the cured foam. Dow Chemical is the manufacturer of Great Stuff and they do make a fire insulating foam for residential applications that cures the same way but is orange in color. Misguided intentions ended up being the wrong application for the wrong environment that isn’t residential. The steel conduit has no fire stopping and the pipe acts as a raceway for smoke and the other end of the pipe ends up in the computer room. The computer room has pretty decent airflow and air conditioning that is an excellent source of oxygen for a fire on the other end of the conduit.
Years ago I received a call to re-wire an 1800s era town home in D.C. that caught fire. The source of the fire was the gas water heater in the basement. The pilot on the water heater was blown out by severe winds. A homeless person seeking shelter from the bitter winter winds broke into the basement. What ignited the gas wasn’t much of a mystery. The destroyed Comdial phone system typical of most phone systems with relays and ring generators was mounted on a small piece of plywood next to the gas water heater. All PBXs are capable of creating a spark and now you know never to install telephone systems (or 2500 sets) in the same space as natural gas. Back in 1989, the Loma Prieta 6.9 earthquake in California caused natural gas leaks and fires with the loss of lives and property. Still, people forget, contractors untrained or uncaring continue to ignore best practices and building codes and the vicious cycle of loss of life and property continues.
There's more in this picture that leads to more discussion. The kinds of questions when eyeballing this photo?
* How to best utilize the space?
* Does it meet code?
* What is the application?
* What problem am I trying to solve?
* What kinds of materials are used and when new materials are introduced? Are they compatible with existing materials?
* Would you put your signature on this work? (Not in the physical sense)
Next time I hope to talk more about my adventures on the road. Take for granted your infrastructure and you can be sure to encounter troubles later. Never assume too much when it comes to your key assets related to your infrastructure--if it doesn't look right it probably isn't. Even if you don't know what to look for, ask questions and get other opinions.
