If you attach equipment to a utility pole regulated by the FCC, the utility doesn't get to sit on your application. 47 CFR §1.1411 puts a clock on every stage of the process — and PoleDocket's calculator and pipeline tracker both run on the exact numbers below.
The Regular Order timeline
A "Regular Order" is an application for the lesser of 300 poles or 0.5% of the utility's in-state poles. It's the default class most single-utility applications fall into, and it's the baseline every larger order class is measured against.
| Stage | Clock | What has to happen |
|---|---|---|
| Completeness review | 10 business days | Utility deems the application complete and notifies you, or it's deemed complete automatically. A resubmission after rejection is deemed complete in 5 business days. |
| Survey / access decision | 45 days | Utility must grant or deny access within 45 days of a complete application. |
| Make-ready estimate | 14 days | Detailed, itemized estimate — pole-by-pole where requested — within 14 days of the survey response. |
| Acceptance / payment | 14 days | You accept and pay within 14 days, or until the utility withdraws the estimate, whichever is later. |
| Make-ready — communications space | 30 days | Utility's own make-ready work in the communications space. |
| Make-ready — above communications space | 90 days | Utility's own make-ready work above the communications space (power space). The utility may take +15 days. |
| Self-help remedy | triggers on miss | If the 45-day survey or make-ready deadlines are missed, you may use a utility-approved contractor — communications space only. |
Source: 47 CFR §1.1411; FCC 11-50; FCC 18-111 (2018 OTMR order); FCC 25-38, Fifth Report & Order.
Order-size classes change the clock
FCC 25-38 (effective May 7, 2026) introduced Mid-Sized, Large, and Very Large order classes on top of Regular — each with its own timeline and, for Mid-Sized and Large, an advance-notice requirement before you can even file.
| Order size | Survey | Estimate | Make-ready (comms) | Make-ready (above-comms) | Advance notice |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Regular | 45 days | 14 days | 30 days | 90 days | None |
| Mid-Sized | 60 days | 14 days | 75 days | 135 days | 60 days |
| Large | 90 days | 29 days | 120 days | 180 days | 60 days + 30-day meet-and-confer |
| Very Large | Good-faith negotiation — no automated shot clock | Encouraged, not required | |||
Large Orders also carry a 30-day contractor-approval window, deemed approved if the utility doesn't respond. Completeness review (10 business days) and acceptance/payment (14 days) are unchanged across Regular, Mid-Sized, and Large.
Why this trips people up: a lot of secondary sources (including some pre-25-38 write-ups) still quote Mid-Sized as running on Regular-Order timelines with only a shorter advance notice. That's not what the adopted rule text says — Mid-Sized gets its own longer survey and make-ready windows, and its advance-notice requirement is actually the same 60 days as Large, not shorter. If a spreadsheet or another tool is quoting different numbers, check it against the rule text directly.
What "self-help" actually unlocks
If a utility blows the 45-day (or class-adjusted) survey deadline, or the make-ready deadline in the communications space, you gain the right to complete that make-ready work yourself using a contractor the utility has pre-approved. It doesn't apply above the communications space — power-space work stays with the utility no matter how late they run.
In practice, self-help eligibility is easy to miss if you're tracking deadlines by hand across several utilities — which is the exact failure mode PoleDocket's pipeline is built to catch automatically.
Frequently asked
Not legal advice. This page summarizes 47 CFR §1.1411 and FCC 25-38 as publicly published. It is provided for planning purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Consult qualified counsel for any disputed application or jurisdiction question.