We made the Telecommunications (Types of Cabling Work) Declaration 2024 to replace the Telecommunications (Types of Cabling Work) Declaration 2013. The declaration came into effect on 5 March 2024.
This decision follows our consultation on remaking the declaration, which closed on 27 November 2023.
The declaration specifies that all cabling work is a type of cabling work covered by the regulatory arrangements in the Telecommunications Act 1997, except for the kinds of cabling work listed in Schedule 1 to the declaration.
Under the Telecommunications Act, cabling work (that is not listed in Schedule 1 to the declaration) must be performed by, or under the supervision of, a registered cabler, in accordance with the Telecommunications Cabling Provider Rules 2014.
The declaration is part of our customer cabling regulation. This is designed to manage 2 key risks:
- electrical safety – particularly the protection of end-users and telecommunications workers
- protecting the integrity of telecommunications networks.
The new declaration is mostly the same as the previous one. Minor changes include:
- Specifying that the re-purposing of existing cabling – such as through the installation of an Ethernet over Coax (EoC) adapter – is a regulated type of cabling work. This means it must be performed by, or under the supervision of, a registered cabler if it converts that cabling into customer cabling and connects to a telecommunications network (see note 2 in section 7 of the declaration).
- New definitions of ‘contracted service provider’ and ‘subcontractor’. These relate to cabling work performed by (or on behalf of) a broadcaster or narrowcaster, as referenced in item 1 of Schedule 1 to the declaration.
- Expanding the list of items covered in item 4 of Schedule 1 to the declaration. This enables end users to perform simple low-risk tasks involving the connection of certain associated customer cabling products or items of customer equipment, provided no part of the connected cabling is concealed in a building cavity.
- Improving the clarity of certain provisions and updating references to 2 industry standards and one industry guideline.