A new publication offering installation standards for commercial building telecommunications cabling is designed to eliminate confusion, open business opportunities and improve practices in a growing sector of the industry.

The ANSI/NECA/BICSI 568-2001 standard is the first to tackle the installation of telecommunications premises systems, including cabling, pathways and spaces. "It will be especially useful for contractors who are new and trying to get involved in this," says Carl Johnson, vice president and general manager of Teledata at Cache Valley Electric, Logan, Utah. He says the quality of installations he sees varies widely, but says voice and data cabling has become "a very big piece of our business."

The publication is the work of the American National Standards Institute, Washington, D.C., the National Electrical Contractors Association, Bethesda, Md., and Building Industry Consulting Services International, Tampa, Fla. "I think it ought to be adopted easily," says Johnson. "It's a straightforward publication with nothing really controversial about it."