A Record-Keeping Reality Check

Looking at the average pole, you might see anywhere from one to half a dozen attachments, power lines, secondaries, a neutral, a streetlight, a transformer, a riser, and cutouts. 

That’s a LOT of equipment on one pole– a lot to keep track of, a lot to manage, and a lot to maintain. 

When we think about grid maintenance and management or talk about upgrades, we have to start with the current state of infrastructure and assets. Before we can deploy new technologies or improve services, we need a realistic and accurate understanding of the real state of our equipment, and we need records to work from. 

Reality is Hard 

Unfortunately, keeping data accurate and clean is really hard. We might have records from 2021 that say a streetlight should exist on a pole, but photos gathered last week show that no streetlight was ever installed. A transformer is listed as replaced back in 2013, but field techs recorded that the one in the field is only a couple of years old. 

To really start improving and upgrading our grid, we need to: 

1. get a real sense of the state it’s in,

2. use that data to update our records,

3. and keep updating and validating those records against reality. 

Taking Stock of What Exists

Step one starts with inventories. Most inventories are time-consuming, costing teams hours in both field collection and review as back office staff filter through and clean up manually collected data. To true up records to reality, we need to gather better data about real conditions faster. 

Instead of using disparate and varying data, teams can build one workflow that lets field techs gather exactly the right data every time. Having an agreed-upon process means that field crews know exactly what’s asked of them and can deliver it the same way every time. 

If you don’t need heights of attachments and equipment, this process can actually go really fast. Using photo documentation, one person can collect hundreds of photos on foot or by vehicle. Two people can collect even more in a vehicle, one person driving while the other grabs pictures. This makes the whole field process a lot faster, and by ensuring all the data is uniform, it speeds up the back office timeline too. 

Closing the Gap Between Real and Recorded 

Once field data has been collected, office staff have to compare what’s documented with what’s recorded. Auditing does take time, but it’s made far easier and faster when the data is uniform and standardized. Instead of having to pick through data in various forms and mediums, office staff can clearly see what supposedly exists and what’s really in the field.  

Plus, photo documentation helps assess and audit equipment state, install date, specs, and more. Not only can you true up records as to whether equipment exists, but you can also use accurate records to plan upgrades, flag areas in need of pole inspections, review for attachment violations, and more. 

Keeping Records Alive 

As records are used to plan and deploy engineering, construction work should also be used to update records. With field conditions constantly changing, we need to employ the right processes to keep data “alive.” 

Living records aren’t siloed or static—they’re constantly being updated and verified as work progresses. This requires teams to use data management systems that work with one another, sharing relevant data across departments so that everyone operates from the same data. 

Post-construction inspections are a great way to do this. When new attachments are added to the pole, field crews are sent out to collect PCI, making sure that what was designed was actually built and updating the database with the most recent conditions. But pole inspections, utility surveys, reliability efforts, and pole replacements can also feed records.

Collecting inventories and conducting audits does take time and energy, no matter what way you slice it. However, we also need inventories and audits to keep improving the grid and serving clients well. With the right tools and processes, we can deliver better results and ease much of the pain to create records we can trust. 

Thanks for reading! Conducting inventories or audits? Our team can help you deliver better data and create the best records for future work! https://www.katapultengineering.com/get-started