Basic requirements for Telecom Closets

Basic requirements for Telecom Closets
Telecom Closet (TC) is a floor-serving room that houses:

- cross-connects between backbone and horizontal cables;
- terminations of backbone and horizontal pathways;
- floor-serving telecom equipment.


The basic facts and requirements for TCs are as following:

- There shall be minimum one TC for each floor;

- Plan for several TCs if the floor area exceeds 1000 sq.meters (10,000 sq. ft) or some the length of horizontal links exceeds 90 m (295 ft);

- Size of the is TCs based on the area served by it:
500 sq. m or less --> min. closet size: 3.0 m x 2.2 m;
> 500 sq. m and <= 800 sq. m --> min. closet size: 3.0 m x 2.8 m;
> 800 sq. m and <= 1000 sq. m --> min. closet 3.0 m x 3.4 m;

- If the served area is less than 500 sq. m, walk-in or shallow closets may be used. The minimum walk-in closet size is 1.3 m x 1.3 m (4.5 ft x 4.5 ft). The minimum shallow closet size is 60 cm x 2.6 m (2 ft x 8.5 ft);

- Maintain a minimum of 1 m clearance from equipment and cross-connect for ease of operation.

- The minimum ceiling height is 2.6 meters (8 ft 6 in);

- False ceilings in TCs are *not* permitted;

- All backbone pathways terminated in the TC shall be accordingly firestopped;

- If there are several TCs on one floor, they should be interconnected by an appropriate pathway (for example, trade size 3 conduit);

- Doors should be fully opening and lockable (min. width: 91 cm (36 in), min. height: 2 m (80 in)). Do not provide center posts or door sills;

- Door opening direction should not impact ease of access to the TC and equipment movement;

- Keep attention to dust and static electricity prevention;

- To minimize horizontal cable length, place the TC as close as possible to the center of the area served. The maximum horizontal cable length defining the area served by a TC is 90 m (295 ft);

- Provide appropriate grounding and bonding for equipment, metallic pathways and cable shields (consult the ANSI/EIA/TIA Standard 607);

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