Jim Slaymon
usa Group
Indianapolis, IN
This industry is still in its infancy, compared to the electrical and heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning industries. These established industries have had time to set policy, develop national codes, and establish standards.
In the past, the telephone companies came in and put cable wherever they wanted. After divestiture of the Bell System, electricians and other installers began to put in these systems, looking at phone cable as a "no-brainer"--just pull it and terminate it.
As a result, no one group within the telecommunications industry has taken a strong lead in fighting the battle to make other, allied contracting industries and the government understand that there is more to pulling this kind of cable than simply throwing wire in the ceiling. I believe it will take a group that is supported--and by "supported," I mean "funded"--by the cable, component, and installation companies, as well as any other major players, to fight this battle.
bicsi is working on standards, but I don`t believe that it is fighting many battles on this front. This would seem to be the logical group to "hand off" the ball to. Why not put a lobbyist on its staff and let him or her fight the fight?
My personal feeling is that the letters "rcdd" do not mean a thing to architects, engineers, and contracting firms. This belief comes from working on an 18-month project with three architectural firms, two engineering companies, and two construction contractors. The word needs to be spread somehow that this is an industry that needs to be paid attention to.