That time I ran fiber through a 1970s office building in Austin and the fire marshal shut us down

Last month I had a job pulling fiber through an old high rise off 6th Street. Ceiling tiles from the 70s, original plenum. I was using standard cat6 because the spec sheet said it was fine for the air space. Fire marshal walks in during a random inspection, sees the cable jacket, and stops the whole job. Had to rip out 300 feet of cable and re-run with plenum rated. Lost a full day. Inspector was right though - I didn't check the local code update from 2022. Anyone else get burned by not checking city specific fire codes?

2 comments

2 Comments

kim_martin10d agoTop Commenter

Yeah that 2022 code change caught a lot of people off guard. Texas updated their fire safety rules specifically for old buildings with original plenum spaces, and the inspectors are really cracking down now. I had a buddy in Houston who got hit with a fine for using standard CAT6 in a 1980s office building because he didn't realize the local amendments were stricter than the national code. It's a pain but honestly those old ceiling tiles can spread smoke fast if a fire starts. Now I always pull the city's fire code PDF before starting any job in a pre-2000 building.

samthompson9d ago

@kim_martin makes a good point about pulling the local PDF first. Those old ceiling grids are no joke when it comes to smoke travel.