When taking on a task characterized by any degree technical complexity, the importance of adhering to a strict sequence of steps is difficult to overstate. This maxim applies doubly to electrical installations, as the reliable functionality of a given hardware system may very well hinge upon the precise arrangement and ordering of various components.
Furthermore, where setups requiring intricate power supply arrangements and the routing of wires is concerned, safe installation is a priority of the highest order. All of this brings us to the necessity of keeping handy a fiber optics installation checklist when arranging even the most modest of fiber optic networks.
Proper setting up of a fiber optic cabling network requires the intersecting skill-sets of numerous service providers and experts, to say nothing for the host of requisite materials demanded by fiber optics arrangements of all sizes. It is therefore essential than any such undertaking be safeguarded from delays and potential disaster by simply referring to a fiber optics installation checklist throughout the process.
Such checklists are necessarily organized in accordance with the four phases of installation which rightly guide the fiber optics installation process. These are 1) a pre-installation items, 2) before beginning the installation steps, 3) during the installation guide, and 4) a post-completion system review.
Use the below checklist in a sort of orientation/compass capacity, as the particular details of a given project may deviate in ways large and small from the prescribed ordering as listed below. But bear in mind that the below-listed items are generic by design and intended to provide a comprehensive blueprint for the facilitation of a standard fiber optics installation process. Though suitable as is for a majority of such projects, deviation at various points within the checklist may be necessary at times. Otherwise, the four sections below are broadly relevant and applicable.
Pre-installation Items:
- Select your primary point of contact and/or project manager
- Required link communications established
- Equipment/component requirements determined; vendors selected
- Selected link route, permits in hand
- Components of cable plants, and vendors determined
- Complete coordination with facilities and electrical experts
- Installation documentation completed, prepare plans for preliminary restoration
- Completed test plan
- All parties made aware; installation schedule and start dates set
- Delivery dates in hand for ordered components, receiving plans for materials determined (time/place,) security arranged for outdoor deliveries, if necessary
- Start date selected with chosen contractor/installation expert
- Tour link route with contractor(s)
- Review construction plans with contractor(s)
- Review components with contractor(s)
- Review schedule with contractor(s)
- Review safety rules with contractor(s)
- Excess restoration materials (kept for restoration) reviewed with contractor(s)
- Test plan reviewed with contractor(s)
Before starting the install:
- All permits made available for inspection
- Site is prepared, power is available
- Components are on-site, inspected; if necessary, 24-hour security is arranged
- Contractor availability confirmed
- Notify relevant personnel
- Post safety rules on job site(s); review with supervisors and installation personnel
During The Installation:
- Inspect all workmanship
- Review process, progress, and test data daily
- Notification and solution of problems, shortages, et cetera, immediately
After completion of cable plant installation:
- Inspect workmanship
- Test data reviewed on cable plant
- Setup and testing of communications system
- Documentation updated and completed
- Restoration plan updated, completed
- Restoration plan, documentation, and components stored for safekeeping
This fiber optics installation checklist, or, rather, this set of four installation checklists, should serve as a process-guiding roadmap when preparing for any such undertaking. As observable therein, the checklist is characterized by both specificity and flexibility. The guidelines and sequencing are perfectly suitable for fiber optics installation projects of any scale, all while allowing for considerable modification, item re-ordering, and project-specific prioritization. Of course, installation professionals will themselves bring considerable knowledge and oversight to the project, but a checklist (when adhered to) ensures an orderly application of said professionals’ time and talent, as technical labor is heavily sequence-dependent.
What is important to remember, regardless of one’s specific fiber optics installation scenario, is the essential of simply having such a checklist on hand. The fiber optics space is inherently complex and dependent upon the knowledge and vetting processes of various experts, to say nothing for the very specific materials and installation measures which characterize all fiber optics cabling infrastructures.