// STUDY TRAINING · TR-05 · 3 DAYS · FOUNDATIONS
Datacom Fundamentals for Electricians
Three days for electricians and electrical contractors who are asked to pull, terminate, and hand over the data and low-voltage cabling on the same job as the power. Category cable to the standard, fibre basics, low-voltage systems that behave differently from the panel, testing that the IT department will accept, and enough network to know what you just connected.
What you will be able to do
- Pull and terminate Cat6 and Cat6A to TIA-568 and pass a certification test, with the untwist, bend radius, and separation from power handled on the first pass.
- Know where a structured cabling job differs from a branch circuit: topology, lengths, pathways, labelling, and the test report the customer expects.
- Handle fibre from the box to the patch panel: types, connectors, cleaning, pre-terminated assemblies, and a light-source test.
- Size and wire low-voltage power for access control, cameras, and intercom, including voltage drop and battery backup.
- Read PoE classes, understand what a switch port expects, and talk to the IT contact in their terms.
- Estimate datacom scope with the right allowances for testing, labelling, and documentation.
Day by day
Copper, the datacom way
- Morning What changes from power work
Star topology, the 90-metre channel, Cat5e through Cat6A, shielded and unshielded, plenum and riser, bend radius, pull tension, separation from power, and TIA-568 as the reference.
- Afternoon Termination and test lab
Jacks and patch panels to T568B, why plugs on solid conductor fail, and certification on a Fluke DSX. Each participant terminates and certifies 6 runs and reads the failures.
Fibre and low voltage
- Morning Fibre basics
Single-mode and multimode, OM3, OM4, and OS2, LC and SC, loss budgets, pre-terminated versus spliced, inspection and cleaning, and a light-source test versus an OTDR trace.
- Afternoon Low-voltage systems lab
Access control, cameras, and intercom power. Supplies, battery backup, voltage drop, gauge, fusing, and the door hardware that electricians are usually handed with no drawing. Grounding and bonding as the AHJ requires.
Pathways, network, and handover
- Morning Pathways, racks, and documentation
Conduit fill for data, J-hooks and tray, firestopping, rack layout, labelling, and the as-built and test report package the IT department signs off on.
- Afternoon Enough network to be dangerous
IP addressing, VLANs, PoE classes and budgets, what a switch port does, and the questions to ask IT before plugging anything in. Ends with a documented, tested, labelled mini-site built by each team, and an estimating exercise for the same job.
Who this is for
Licensed electricians, apprentices, and electrical contractors adding datacom and low-voltage scope, and the estimators pricing it.
Prerequisites. Electrical background assumed. No networking or datacom experience needed.
What is included
- Tools, cable, jacks, panels, fibre assemblies, and test equipment for the labs
- The termination and testing checklists, the labelling scheme, and the estimating worksheet as files
- A copy of the free Network Primer course for review afterward
- Certificate of completion with contact hours
Group and corporate bookings
The Datacom courses are built to run for a whole room at once: union halls and training centres, electrical distributors hosting their contractor customers, and alarm, CCTV, and access control companies putting a crew through together. Group and corporate rates apply, and the labs come to your site.
Send the group size, the location, and the rough timing, and the group rate comes back with the quote. The labs are sized to the room, so a hall of 20 gets 20 spools and 20 testers on the bench.
What this is not
Not a code course and not a licence. Electrical code, fire alarm, and anything the AHJ reserves stay with your licence and your AHJ. The course covers the datacom and low-voltage scope that sits beside the electrical work.
Free courses that pair with it
Reserve a seat
Reserving costs nothing and commits you to nothing. You get the next cohort dates for this course first, and the invoice only once the dates are confirmed. Groups of 6 or more can ask for private delivery on their own site.