Medical Office Building

This was the anchor project on a three-building medical campus in Pinellas County. TSS cabled Floors 1, 3, and 4 of a four-story medical office building. Floor 2 was tenant space — not our scope. The campus also included a parking structure with an imaging center and wound care center on the ground floor, plus a women's center that another contractor handled.

The customer hired TSS directly. Amsys, a technology project management firm, coordinated trades across the entire campus. We reported to the customer, and Amsys kept the schedule moving between us, the EC, mechanical, security, access control, and BAS contractors. That kind of coordination matters when six trades are working the same ceiling space.

Floor 1 got about 300 Cat6A drops plus nurse call cabling — the only floor on the project with a nurse call system. Floor 3 came in around 220 drops, and Floor 4 had another 300. Every TDR received redundant 24-count TerraSPEED singlemode fiber per design — that's 48 fibers per closet. We also ran 25-pair copper phone backbone between buildings and between stacked closets, RG11 backbone with RG6 to TVs in every space, composite access control cable to all doors, and Cat6A for wireless access points and cameras throughout all three floors.

The EC installed cable tray on main routes. Where tray ended, we installed Arlington loops and continued support from there. TSS built every TDR from scratch: racks, ladder rack, cable managers, patch panels, all terminations. The customer didn't provide any of it.

Floor 4 threw us a curveball. The ceiling grid went in before firesleeves were installed, which forced us to do above-grid work in areas that should have been straightforward. Weather delays pushed dry-in on other parts of campus, which cascaded into our start date by two to three months. The project end extended as well. Total duration ran roughly eight months, which gave us adequate time to do the work right even with the delays.

Every drop on this project is CommScope Systimax Cat6A. That's 820+ cables across three floors, terminated to Systimax angled patch panels in TDRs we built from the ground up. The fiber backbone is redundant 24-count TerraSPEED singlemode to each closet, which gives the customer 48 usable fibers per TDR. Redundancy at the backbone level means a single fiber cut doesn't take down a floor.

We ran 25-pair copper phone backbone between buildings and between stacked closets on each floor. RG11 coax backbone feeds RG6 drops to patient and waiting room TVs. Composite access control cable goes to every door on all three floors. Floor 1 also got nurse call cabling integrated into the structured cabling system — it was the only floor in this building that required it.

WAPs are installed throughout all three floors. Cat6A to every access point location, Cat6A to every camera location. Between-building cables are indoor/outdoor rated, with underground-rated cable where the path required it. When you're tying three buildings together on a medical campus, the cable spec has to match every environment it passes through.

Our start date moved two to three months because weather delays on other parts of the campus pushed back dry-in. That kind of cascading delay is normal on multi-building projects, but it compresses everything downstream. TSS adjusted crew scheduling and kept the same team assigned so we could ramp up fast when access finally opened.

Amsys kept trade coordination tight across the campus. On any given day we were sharing ceiling space with the EC, mechanical contractor, security installer, access control vendor, and the BAS team. Clear communication about who works where and when is the only way that works without trades stepping on each other.

Floor 4 had a sequencing problem. The ceiling grid was installed before firesleeves went in, which meant we had to work above the grid in areas where we should have had open access. It added time, but the work got done correctly. We don't skip firestopping steps because the ceiling made them harder to reach.

The EC installed cable tray on main routes, and TSS picked up from there with Arlington loops where tray ended. Every TDR on this project was a full TSS build — racks, ladder rack, horizontal and vertical cable managers, patch panels, fiber enclosures, and all terminations. The customer didn't supply any rack hardware. We provided everything.

Every Cat6A drop was tested with a Fluke DSX-8000 to Systimax channel requirements. All fiber strands were tested with a CertiFiber Pro. On a project with 820+ copper drops and 48 fibers per closet across multiple TDRs, testing takes real time. We don't rush it.

The customer received a full PDF test results package for every cable. That documentation feeds directly into the CommScope Systimax warranty submission. As-built drawings and cable schedules were delivered as part of the turnover package. The goal is a clean handover where the customer's IT team can pick up exactly where we left off without chasing down unlabeled cables.

TSS ran a 3-4 person crew on this project for the full eight-month duration. All W2 employees — no temps, no day labor. Every crew member is OSHA trained. The lead installer holds CommScope Systimax manufacturer training. Same crew from the first cable pull to the last termination.

On an eight-month medical campus project, crew consistency matters more than most people realize. The team learns the building, knows where every pathway runs, remembers which closets feed which zones. Swapping people in and out destroys that institutional knowledge and creates mistakes.

This project carries the CommScope Systimax 25-year extended warranty. After we completed all terminations and testing, CommScope sent an inspector to the site to verify installation quality against their published methods. That inspection covers cable routing, bend radius, support spacing, termination quality, and labeling.

Once the on-site inspection passed, we submitted the full certification package — every Fluke test result, fiber test result, cable schedule, and as-built. CommScope reviewed the package and issued the 25-year warranty directly to the customer. That warranty covers the installed cabling infrastructure against defects in materials and workmanship. It's tied to the building, not to TSS.

All structured cabling on this project meets ANSI/TIA-568 standards for commercial building cabling. Every cable route, support method, bend radius, and termination follows BICSI installer best practices. NEC compliance throughout, including proper separation from electrical, correct pathway fill ratios, and firestopping at every rated penetration per NFPA 70.

CommScope Systimax installation methods were followed on every termination and cable route. Those methods go beyond TIA minimums in several areas — particularly around cable dress at the patch panel and support spacing. OSHA safety requirements were maintained throughout the project, including fall protection for any elevated work and proper PPE in all construction areas.