Fiber projects reward discipline. Each stage below has a clear output, and skipping one usually shows up later as rework, high loss or missing records.
1. Route survey
Walk or drive the full route. Record existing ducts and poles, crossings (roads, rail, water), access constraints and risk points. Output: a surveyed route map with photos and a draft bill of quantities.
2. Permissions and planning
Identify every authority and landowner whose approval is needed and plan work around their timelines. Output: a permissions tracker and a sequenced work plan.
3. Installation
- Respect the cable’s minimum bend radius and maximum pulling tension.
- Leave planned slack at joints and termination points.
- Mark and label routes as you go — not at the end.
4. Splicing and termination
Fusion splicing quality drives the loss budget. Keep fiber preparation clean, follow the splice plan core-by-core and record each splice location.
5. Testing and acceptance
Test every core with an OTDR — ideally bi-directionally — and confirm end-to-end loss with a light source and power meter. Compare results against the agreed loss budget before handover.
Untested fiber is an assumption, not an asset.
6. As-built documentation
Hand over route maps, splice records, OTDR traces and test summaries in a format your operations team can actually use for fault-finding.
Planning a backbone, campus or FTTH build? Talk to our fiber team about survey-to-acceptance delivery.