Should I re-use existing cabling?

We’ve seen it in the last recession and we’ve seen it in this one—“I’ve leased a new office space and we are moving in a few months, can I re-use the existing cabling that was left behind by the previous tenant?”  Of course the short answer is “sure” however our team always wants to help you evaluate this structured cabling before making that decision on your own.  Unlike many of our competitors, we’ll take a look at it to see if it can be re-used.  Of course we’d like the “new wiring project” normally guaranteed by a tenant moving into a new space and yes, WA State law prohibits the previous tenant from leaving their cabling behind, but we’d be happy to take a look at the pre-existing cabling.  Questions we ask you or ask ourselves are;  What are your needs for performance?  Are you moving into the exact same offices/cubicles or are you changing the floor plan significantly?  How much moving of cables will be necessary and will they reach these new locations?  How old is the cabling infrastructure and will it satisfy your needs?  Is it well labeled?  Will it pass inspection?  If your firm is going to run a Gigabit Ethernet network or VOIP, and the existing cabling is poorly ran Category 5 cable, ITN would likely suggest replacement.  If your firm is tearing down many of the walls and re-designing much of the office space, it is likely that “re-using existing cabling” will begin to cost as much or more than installing a new AMP NetConnect structured cabling system.