Landlords and Tenants Wrestle With Wiring
By TERRY PRISTIN
In many offices today, the space above the ceiling tiles or below the flooring where air recirculates is crammed with tangled bundles of spaghetti-like cables, much of it outdated and no longer in use for data transmission.
In less than a decade, the number of strands of communication cable packed into these spaces has grown by staggering proportions as the information superhighway has evolved - from an estimated 5 billion feet in 1991 to as much as 45 billion feet in 2000, according to Building Operating Management, a monthly trade publication.
A recently issued fire-safety standard has resulted in new pressure to remove abandoned cable. This has led to a new issue in commercial lease negotiations: whether the landlord or the tenant should bear the removal costs.
Many in the real estate industry say the provision about abandoned cable is long overdue. The cables are low voltage and not likely to be a fire source.
But though flame-retardant materials encase the newer cables, that material could still catch fire in an extensive blaze, distributing smoke and toxic gases throughout a building.
Cable is accumulating as a result of constantly improving transmission speeds. Because the latest software may not function with old cables, companies find themselves having to rewire frequently, and new tenants almost always want their office space equipped with the most up-to-date technology.
In many cases, new wiring has simply been added, while the unused wiring remains in place.
But concern about the accumulation of millions of miles of cable unsheathed in a protective metal conduit has resulted in a new national standard developed by the National Fire Protection Association, a non-profit fire prevention advocacy organization in Quincy, Mass.
Under the organization's 2002 National Electrical Code, cable that is no longer being used - or has not been earmarked for future use - must be removed from these areas, known in the building industry as plenum spaces.
[delete to end]
