Fibre Installation Scoping Form: What to Record Before You Quote

A fibre installation scoping form is the record of the survey visit you make before quoting to bring fibre into a building. It covers where the nearest network point is, how the cable will get from there to the building, how it gets in, the route inside, where the equipment will go, what permissions are needed and what could stop the job. It's the difference between a price you can hold and a variation you have to explain: almost every argument after a fibre install traces back to something that wasn't written down on the scoping visit.

This is the visit in the order you'd do it, from the street to the comms cupboard.

Why the scoping visit decides the job

A fibre installation looks simple on a map: a line from the pole or chamber to the building, and a box on the wall. On site it's a blocked duct, a wall that turns out to be a metre of stone, a landlord nobody has asked, a comms room on the other side of three fire compartments, and a building old enough that nobody should drill until someone has checked for asbestos.

The scoping form exists so that every one of those is found before the price is set, priced in, or written down as an exclusion. Each one missed comes back later as a variation, a delay or an aborted visit.

1. The customer and the service

• Customer, site address and site contact: the person who'll actually be there on install day, not just the person who signed the order
• The service ordered: residential full fibre, business fibre, a leased line, a backhaul circuit
• The building: house, flat, office, industrial unit, multi-occupancy block
• Who owns it: the customer, a landlord, a managing agent, a freeholder
• Building age: needed for the asbestos question in section 5

2. Permissions and wayleaves

Get this wrong and the job stops on install day with the van outside.

• Landlord or building owner consent when the customer is a tenant
• Wayleave needed if the route crosses land or a building the customer doesn't own: a shared drive, a neighbour's wall, a block's common parts
• Listed building or conservation area limits on fixing cable to the outside
• Street works: if the route needs digging in the road or footway, record it, because the permit, the traffic management and the lead time all follow from it
• Who to call to get each permission, and whether the customer has started

3. From the network to the building

• The nearest network point: pole, footway box, chamber or existing building entry. Record its location, its ID if it has one, and a photo.
• Distance from that point to the building entry, measured or paced
• Duct: is there an existing duct to the building? Does a rod go through, or is it blocked, collapsed or full?
• Overhead route: pole height and condition, the span to the building, anything in the way (trees, other cables, a road the cable must cross at a set height)
• Underground route: surface types (tarmac, block paving, garden, concrete) and the length of each, because each is priced differently to dig and reinstate
• Buried services: what's known to be there, and whether a cable scan is needed before anyone digs

4. The way in

• Entry point: where the cable meets the building, with a photo, and why that spot
• Wall construction and thickness: brick, block, stone, timber, cladding, curtain wall
• Drill size and depth you'd need
• What's on the other side of that wall inside: a kitchen unit, a wardrobe, a water pipe, the customer's best wallpaper
• Sealing: how the entry will be sealed against water and pests

5. Before anyone drills: asbestos

In older buildings, drilling is where the risk is. In the UK, asbestos wasn't banned until 1999, so any building built or refurbished before 2000 may contain it in wall boards, ceiling tiles, textured coatings, flues and cable routes.

• Non-domestic buildings: ask for the asbestos register or survey. The person who manages the building has a legal duty to manage asbestos and to tell contractors where it is.
• Homes: ask the owner what they know, and look for the obvious signs
• If in doubt, record it as a hold point: the route can't be confirmed until the material is identified

Never drill, cut or break into a suspect material on a scoping visit to "have a look".

6. The route inside

• The path from the entry point to the termination point: walls, floors and ceilings it crosses, and whether it runs in trunking, a ceiling void or a riser
• Fire compartments: every wall or floor the cable passes through that's a fire barrier needs fire-stopping afterwards. Record each one, because it's work and material you have to price.
• Distance inside, and the cable fixing method
• Access: ceiling heights, loft hatches, risers, locked rooms, and who holds the keys

7. Where it terminates

• Location of the termination point and router or network equipment: comms room, cabinet, cupboard, wall position the customer has agreed
• Power: a socket within reach, or does one need adding (and by whom)?
• Space: room in the cabinet, rack units free, ventilation for the equipment
• Onward connection: how the customer's own network connects to it, and whose job that is
• Customer agreement: the customer has seen and agreed the position, with a photo of the exact spot

8. Hazards and access on the day

• Work at height: ladders, a tower or a lifting platform? Is the ground firm and level for it?
• Chambers and footway boxes: confined space rules if anyone has to enter
• Traffic: work on or near a road needs traffic management
• The site: occupied home, live workplace, hospital, school. Times when work can and can't happen.
• Parking and access for the van and any plant

9. Assumptions and exclusions

The last section is the one that protects the price. Write down what the quote assumes:

• That the existing duct is clear (if you couldn't rod it)
• That consent and wayleaves will be in place before install day
• That the wall is the construction you saw, and no asbestos is found along the route
• That power at the termination point is provided by the customer
• What's not included: civil works beyond a set length, reinstatement beyond a set standard, internal network cabling

An exclusion written down before the job is a sentence. Discovered on install day, it's an argument.

What scoping visits usually miss

The photos that matter. A photo of the building is nice. The photos that settle disputes are the network point, the duct entry, the wall at the entry point inside and out, the termination spot, and every fire barrier on the route.

The second permission. The customer said yes. The landlord, the managing agent or the neighbour whose drive the cable crosses didn't get asked.

Measurements guessed in the van. "About 30 metres" becomes 55 when someone actually walks the route.

The form lives with one person. The surveyor knows the duct is blocked. The installer on the day doesn't, because the survey never reached them. The scoping record should travel with the job.

Doing it on site

Scoping visits are on a pavement, up a ladder and in a ceiling void, with a tape in one hand and a torch in the other. Writing it up in the van afterwards is where the details leak out.

Speak while you walk, and the document the law or the client wants writes itself. Say what you see at each point — "Network chamber outside number 14, lid ID on the photo. Duct to the building, rod stopped at about eight metres, blocked. Entry at the rear wall, solid brick, about 350 mil. Inside: kitchen, behind the tall unit. Building's 1970s, asked for the asbestos register." — and the scoping record is written, measured and photographed before you've driven off. The installer gets the same record, not a phone call.

Related

• The telecom field engineer visit report that gets you paid — the report at the end of the job, not the start
• Asbestos inspection guide — what an asbestos survey is, and when you need one
• Telecom field inspection — free template for field visits
• Working at heights inspection — free template for ladders, towers and platforms

Frequently asked questions

What is a fibre installation scoping form? The record of the survey visit before quoting a fibre installation. It captures the customer and service, permissions and wayleaves, the route from the network to the building, the entry point, the internal route, where the equipment will terminate, the hazards, and the assumptions the quote rests on.

What should be checked on a fibre site survey? The nearest network point and the distance to the building, whether an existing duct is clear, the route surface or overhead span, the entry point and wall construction, asbestos in older buildings, the internal route and fire barriers it crosses, power and space at the termination point, and access and hazards for install day.

Do you need a wayleave for a fibre installation? Often, when the cable crosses land or a building the customer doesn't own, such as a shared drive, a neighbour's property or the common parts of a block. Landlord or building owner consent is also needed when the customer is a tenant.

Why does asbestos matter for fibre installations? Fibre installs involve drilling through walls and running cable through ceilings and risers. In buildings built or refurbished before 2000, asbestos may be present in those materials. Installers should check the asbestos register for non-domestic buildings and must not disturb suspect materials.

What is fire-stopping and why does it matter for cabling? When a cable passes through a wall or floor that forms a fire compartment, the hole must be sealed with fire-stopping material afterwards so the barrier still works. Each crossing is work and material that should be identified and priced at the scoping stage.

What's the difference between a scoping visit and an installation report? The scoping visit happens before the quote and records what the job will need. The installation or visit report happens at the end and records what was done, with test results and sign-off.