“Passing acceptance” sounds like bureaucracy until it decides whether your site goes on air this month or next quarter. Here’s what reviewers actually look at — and how to pass on the first submission.
The checklist behind the checklist
- Sweep traces: return loss and distance-to-fault, every line, in spec.
- PIM results with the test carriers and threshold recorded.
- Grounding photos — every bond, every bus bar.
- Weatherproofing and color coding to the carrier’s standard, photographed.
- Torque marks visible on every structural and RF connection.
- As-built configuration matching the RFDS, deviation-flagged if not.
How we build the package
Photos are taken during the work, not staged after — you can’t photograph a torque sequence retroactively. Files follow the carrier’s naming convention from day one, one package per sector, assembled the same day the crew leaves the site. The reviewer should never have to ask a question the package already answers.
First-time pass rate is a choice
Sites fail acceptance for boring reasons: a missing photo, an unlabeled jumper, a trace saved under the wrong ID. None of that is technical difficulty — it’s discipline. Choose crews that treat the closeout as part of the work, not an afterthought.