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What are the most important certifications to consider, when looking for brands of UTP to cable a building. (racks, vertical cabling, horizontal cabling). Im trying to find good quality at a decent price, and there seems to be lots of competitors in the market. I´m looking at Legrand, Siemon, 3M, AMP, Leviton.

Thanks,

Benjamin Ortuzar
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Cat6 is Cat6, if it meets the spec, it's good. The requirements of your local laws, commonly fire code in particular, usually up the requirement. Cables running through plenum spaces (above drop ceiling in offices) have to be fire retardant for instance. There could be a million different laws that we'd be completely unaware of. They're your responsibility to follow, or you can sub it out to a contractor...

Chris S
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    +1 for comments about local legal laws and fire codes. Running cable inside a building can also require a general contractor's license or a low voltage electrician license. – Scrivener Jun 17 '11 at 14:57
  • So who certifies that a brand of cable meets the spec? – Benjamin Ortuzar Jun 19 '11 at 12:54
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    It's a bit of self regulation. The manufacturer tests their own products using [TIA](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telecommunications_Industry_Association) standard procedures. To produce a cable and call it certified requires a licensing agreement from them. If you're products are found to not meet the spec lawsuits, huge fines, injunctions (so you can't produce more) ensue. Their competitors would be more than happy to report any of the products failing to meet the standards. As for plenum and fire ratings, UL test and certifies the product, and it's a similar agreement. – Chris S Jun 20 '11 at 01:03