We have a slew of larger projects in the hopper, and I think it's time to establish a better method of identifying wiring during rough-in. What do you guys do? I would think each room gets a number/letter, then location or plate within that room gets a number/letter, and so on..... You'd have a spreadsheet which lists those by actual room name perhaps, and you'd need a way to indicate a particular wire's intended purpose (i.e. is this Category cable for data, or a video extender, or IR, etc.). Any tips would be appreciated.
I think this sounds like a good plan. I have seen too many recently with 2 or 3 different names for the room depending on who pulled the wire. Maybe when doing the walkthrough write the number/letter on the stud at each wall plate next to the list of what wire is getting pulled to that plate for the "challenged" duo. I can make a nice spreadsheet and lay everything out if we sit down with a set of plans. And I need to do the network designs...
I do a Near / Far labeling scheme on each end. Then, there is no confusion on either end what the wire is where it goes and where it came from. For example:
I do a Near / Far labeling scheme on each end. Then, there is no confusion on either end what the wire is where it goes and where it came from. For example:
A good answer is easier with a clear question giving the make and model of everything. "The biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place." -- G. “Bernie” Shaw
I bring labeling schemes in from commercial/hospitality and large scale residential that mimic commercial more than they do residential. Residential projects that had a headend plus three to four IDF rooms...labeling and proper planning are crucial. That labeling scheme scales no matter the size of project and is not short-sighted in nature. Anyone can walk up to any wire on any end, compare to the cable plan and know exactly where it goes and where it comes from.
My labels show rack space #, not a device which can change. If a cable happens to change rack space, it gets re-labeled and the plan in updated.
Traditional residential label schemes fail here:
You have a cable labeled "DVD SPDIF". 5 years later someone shows up and there isn't a DVD player to be found in the rack.
You have a cable labeled BR2 Bed Left. 10 years later and two new homeowners...that bedroom is now Her fur storage closet.
You have a cable labeled Timmy's TV...you're fired, new company, new homeowner...who the hell is Timmy?
Our labelling standard uses a numbering schematic. Level/area first (we identify a theater as its own area and separate the outside areas), next is the room number (we decide this based on the drawings and use the drawing's room names). Next will be the termination location, then the cable at that location, and if required a specific wire/s if multiple wires are being used for different purposes (this is more so for bundled cables of 2 RG6 and 2 Cat5).
For example 101-001-001-001 1 - Level/area (Main Floor, Garage, Home Theatre) 01 - Room (Foyer, Mud room, master) 001 - termination location (Left of door, Right of Door, Ceiling) 001 - Device (Crestron, Networking, Audio, Security, Door Station) 001 - Cable (what cable if multiple pulled to same location)
We also separate our Device numbering so that we can quickly identify what the cable is being used for base on the 100 that the device number falls under.
All this information is saved in an excel document and is created prior to going to site and updated as needed. A hard copy is also sent with the techs for updating when they are onsite if needed.
Where XXX is a 3-letter room identifier and the ### is the wire number.
Make up a room identifier that's intuitive. MBD = Master Bedroom, KIT = Kitchen, etc... Keep it simple.
The number 'series' correlates to a wire type. To make it easy to remember, I start with the most common type of wire and work my way to the least common type.
100-series = category 5/6 wire 200-series = speaker wire 300-series = coax 400-series - usually ends up being a catch-all for the other types.
So, a label that says LIV-201 would be a speaker wire run that goes to the living room. BD3-104 would be the 4th cat5/6 in bedroom 3. (which implies that for a given type, I start at (for example) '101', not '100', just because if you're making numbered jumpers, you never have 'wire number zero'.)
Of course, I also have a wire list that provides additional details (namely the intended purpose for each run), but the idea is to be able to walk on a job site, look at a wire and know where it goes even if I don't have the list. It works pretty well for me.
We do 6 digits. First three are room number, last three are wire number.
First of the 3 digits is the floor so if Kitchen is on the first floor its number might be 101. If the speaker cable is wire 009 then the speaker wire label will be 101-009.
Room numbers are usually decided by the architect or we just number them randomly on the print. Wire numbers are randomly created as wires are added to the print.
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