Cat 6 cable specification for domestic house. Do IEE Wiring Regs apply?

Also worth remembering that Electricity at Work Regulations applies to those working on domestic installations whilst at work, and , further electrical installation and data cabling installation work is construction work as defined in the CDM Regulations. Regardless of whether the project is notifiable, or whether there's a domestic client, CDM Regulations require installations to be designed and erected to be safe during maintenance.

Just another consideration when contemplating whether or not to follow the standards.

BS 6701, for example, states that the separation distance between telecomms and power cabling is required for safety.

I think that I must be a bit old-fashioned. We still have televisions with an aerial ... and a CRT, but I take your point.

Wired repeaters is an interesting idea. That way, they need not be in range of the master router. As it happens, the decorators finished doing our entrance hall and stairs last week so we still have bare boards. An ethernet cable could be thrown into the void along with the T&E. I have never had a look in there and given that we have hosted foxes, squirrels, and doubtless, smaller mammals, I am not sure that I want to.

Chris Pearson said:

So what do you do? Do you (and wpqs) have multiple routers dotted about the house?

Yes - wired repeaters would be another option, but the advantage of separate routers means easier option for fanning out wires locally too, which I use in the office, and for TV/gaming in other rooms (glitch-free 4K TV and also faster game downloads of game updates etc).

wpqs said:

Therefore it could be argued that BS6701 was not intended to cover a house rewiring project. This is also an argument for common sense as its requirements are too onerous for homeowners and add no value. In the words of Lord Denning, ‘Equity comes in, true to form, to mitigate the rigours of strict law’ I cannot imagine a successful prosecution being made against a homeowner for not complying with BS 6701 in respect of Cat5/6/7 wiring in their home. Does anyone know of such a case? It is enough that reasonable care was taken - see my list of proposals.

I disagree: the scope of BS 6701 does not exclude domestic premises. However, there is no statutory requirement to comply and failure to do so would not be an offence.

Yes, it is a defence in tort that reasonable care was taken. The advantage of complying with BS 6701 (or any other standard), and having evidence to demonstrate it (e.g. an EIC), is that it is so much easier to make one's case with as opposed to without compliance.

Equity, in the legal sense, has little or nothing to do with it.

So what do you do? Do you (and wpqs) have multiple routers dotted about the house?

We have one repeater, but more could be justified. Somehow, however, I don't find a need for my iPad in the kitchen just as much as I don't do any cooking in my office.

I was merely pointing out that no class of premises is excluded - there is no exemption; and if something does go wrong, and it was as a result of non-compliance, the contractor may be liable not only in breach of contract, but also in tort.

So, best to comply!

I suspect that BS6701 makes no explicit reference to installation, use, and maintenance of Cat5/6/7 in a domestic house, but does give details of such in factories, offices, hospitals, etc. Therefore it could be argued that BS6701 was not intended to cover a house rewiring project. This is also an argument for common sense as its requirements are too onerous for homeowners and add no value. In the words of Lord Denning, ‘Equity comes in, true to form, to mitigate the rigours of strict law’ I cannot imagine a successful prosecution being made against a homeowner for not complying with BS 6701 in respect of Cat5/6/7 wiring in their home. Does anyone know of such a case? It is enough that reasonable care was taken - see my list of proposals.

WiFi isn't a good solution in any room which is more than 15-20m from the Access Point, particularly for 5GHz. In property with thick walls it's even worse. My experience of WiFi extenders has been poor. There really isn't any substitute for wired ethernet in a largish house. I can't accept that use is decreasing.

Chris Pearson said:

Yes, the scope of BS 6701 is not limited to any particular class of premises.

The division of responsibility between the owner and installer is a matter of contract. So if the contract specifies that the telecoms equipment shall be installed i.a.w. BS 6701 and it is not, the installer is in breach.

I think it's a little more than that.

First, BS 7671 makes reference to BS 6701 for telecomms cabling, so you can't really comply with BS 7671 without BS 6701.

Second, the standard does contain some requirements for safety - so if anything does go wrong, and you didn't comply with BS 6701 (but doing so would have led to a different outcome) ....

Chris Pearson said:

That became obsolete when we got iPads so I would be surprised if the installation of networks is increasing.

Still needed in my house. Interior brick walls mean we need wired between parts of the house to make WiFi available everywhere ... and it's not that big either!