BS EN 60794-5:2016

What is BS EN 60794-5- Microduct cabling about? 

BS EN 60794-5 is a safety standard on optical fibre cables. 

BS EN 60794-5 which is a sectional specification, specifies the requirements of microduct optical fibre cables, microduct fibre units, microducts and protected microducts for installation by blowing for outdoor and/or indoor use. The microduct optical fibre cables and microduct fibre units utilize the structure of the microduct or protected microducts to support installation and to provide protection over the design lifetime. 

Note 1: These products may be used for applications such as communication and transmission networks, transmission, telephone and data processing equipment, control, and monitoring applications.  

Note 2: The cabling structures described in BS EN 60794-5 are uniquely designed to facilitate and take advantage of installation by blowing into microducts. 

Who is BS EN 60794-5- Microduct cabling for?  

EN 60794-5 on the microduct cabling for installation by blowing is relevant to: 

• Optical fibre technicians 
• Suppliers of optical fibre 
• Testing authorities 
• Manufacturers of fibre cables 
• Installers of microduct 

Why should you use BS EN 60794-5- Microduct cabling? 

A protected microduct consists of one or more microducts, surrounded by a protective sheath and protected by a duct. 

The intent is that the microduct optical fibre cables, microduct fibre units, microducts and protected microducts shall be designed and manufactured for a predicted operating lifetime of at least 20 years. The tests of BS EN 60794-5 are intended to assess the performance of cables as manufactured and under agreed ageing and performance-limit tests.  BS EN 60794-5 provides guidance on the attenuation of cabled fibre of the single-mode and multimode fibres, the fibre bandwidth requirements of the single-mode and multimode fibres and polarization mode dispersion (PMD) requirements. It is possible to install or remove the microduct optical fibre cable or microduct fibre unit in or from the microducts by blowing during the operational lifetime.  

Overall, BS EN 60794-5 is useful as it assists with an optical fibre cable that is suitable for installation by blowing into a microduct. This contains cable elements and cable construction. 

What’s changed since the last update? 

BS EN 60794-5:2016 supersedes BS EN 60794-5:2007 which is withdrawn. 

BS EN 60794-5:2016 replaces the first edition published in 2006, and constitutes a technical revision. 

BS EN 60794-5:2016 includes the following significant technical changes with respect to the previous edition: 

• The addition of constructional requirements, including a reference to IEC 60794-3 for microduct optical fibre cables 

• The specification has been streamlined by cross-referencing IEC 60794-1-1