Following the recent quarterly meeting of the CT-001 Australian New Zealand cabling standards committee, BICSI’s representative on this committee – Ashley Martin, Technical Manager Au/NZ (Broadband Network Solutions) at CommScope – compiled the following report for BICSI members.
Most recently, CT-001 has been grappling various issues, all of which will have an impact on the wider cabling community. As always, this information is provided to ensure all BICSI members have the most up to date information as possible. Two main areas are proving to consume most of the Standards Committee’s time right now: Fibre Optic Testing, and Building Automation Systems.
As mentioned in the last update, a project proposal was put forward to adopt the now newly published ISO/IEC 14763-3:2014 Fibre Optic Test Standard to become an Australian Standard. This adoption, however, creates some headaches. For anyone who has read, or used, the latest edition of ISO/IEC 14763-3:2014, you will have noticed some confusion between test reference methods, and the newly devised Channel Test method. The AS/NZS adoption aims to include an Appendix ZZ (as done in the previous AS/NZS 2012 edition) to better clarify all three test reference methods (One Test Cord, Enhanced Three Test Cord and Channel Test) to make the document much easier for field testing of fibre optic cabling systems. This project has now been approved and is underway. It is anticipated an AS/NZS ISO/IEC 14763.3 document to be released sometime in mid-2016. I will notify all members when the public comment for this Standard becomes available.
I would also be mindful of the differences in testing between the 2014 ISO/IEC and the existing 2012 AS/NZS version of this fibre optic test Standard. Insertion Loss values, as an example, are different, and may cause compliance issues (contractual) if the wrong test limit is used.
The other major project underway is the local adoption of the ISO/IEC 14543-3-X series of Standards. These Standards deal with Home and Building Electronic Services – specifically those using the open KNX protocols. WG66 has reviewed all Standards and determined its suitability for the Australian and New Zealand landscape. As mentioned previously, the adoption of Part 7 was rejected due to conflict with wireless frequencies as directed by the ACMA. Issues have now arisen after public comments, whereby certain industry organisations do not agree to the adoption of this Standard – citing “restriction of trade” as one potential barrier. I do not believe this is the intent or representation of the Standard, however Standards Australia are now looking at any impact they may have. At present the documents are on hold until these issues are resolved. I will advise the status of them as they unfold.
As with any Standards update, I am always more than happy to provide more detail to any BICSI member. Please do not hesitate to contact your local BICSI Coordinator for more information.