BS EN 50173-4:2018

This standard BS EN 50173-4:2018 Information technology. Generic cabling systems is classified in these ICS categories:

• 33.040.50 Lines, connections and circuits

1.1 Scope

This standard specifies generic cabling for homes. A home can contain one or more buildings or can be within a building that contains more than one home.

It covers balanced cabling, optical fibre cabling, and coaxial cabling.

This standard specifies generic cabling for two groups of applications:

• Information and Communications Technologies (ICT);

• Broadcast and Communications Technologies (BCT).

This standard specifies directly or via reference to EN 50173-1 the:

• structure and minimum configuration for generic cabling within homes;

• interfaces at the telecommunications outlet (TO) and broadcast outlet (BO);

• performance requirements for cabling links and channels;

• implementation requirements and options;

• performance requirements for cabling components;

• conformance requirements and verification procedures.

This standard has taken into account requirements specified in application standards listed in EN 50173-1.

Safety and electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) requirements are outside the scope of this standard and are covered by other standards and regulations. However, information given in this standard can be of assistance in meeting these standards and regulations.

1.2 Conformance

For a cabling installation to conform to this standard the following applies.

1. The configuration and structure shall conform to the requirements of Clause 4.

2. Channels shall meet the requirements of Clause 5.

   This shall be achieved by one of the following:

   1. a channel design and implementation ensuring that the prescribed channel performance of Clause 5 is met;

   2. attachment of appropriate components to a permanent link design meeting the prescribed performance class of Annex A. Channel performance shall be ensured where a channel is created by adding more than one cord to either end of a link meeting the requirements of Annex A;

   3. for E₁ environments, using the reference implementations of Clause 6 and compatible cabling components conforming to the requirements of Clauses 7, 8 and 9 based upon a statistical approach of performance modelling.

3. The interfaces to the cabling at the TO and BO shall conform to the requirements of Clause 8 with respect to mating interfaces and performance;

4. Connecting hardware at other places in the cabling structure shall meet the performance requirements specified in Clause 8 independent of the interface used;

5. The requirements of EN 50174 series standards and EN 50310 shall be met;

6. Local regulations, including those concerning safety and EMC, shall be met.

This standard does not specify which tests and sampling levels should be adopted. Test methods to assess conformance with the channel and link requirements of Clause 5 and Annex A respectively are specified in EN 50173-1. The test parameters to be measured, the sampling levels and the treatment of measured results to be applied for a particular installation shall be defined in the installation specification and quality plans for that installation prepared in accordance with EN 50174-1.

In the absence of the channel, the conformance of the link shall be used to verify conformance with the standard.

Specifications marked “ffs” are preliminary specifications, and are not required for conformance to this standard.