About

# Why Work With Us

Every item below is written the same way: what it is, why it matters to the person managing the schedule, and which specific risk it takes off your desk.

Work with Strilla Communications Company when a build has to happen on schedule and close out cleanly. We own our equipment, employ our crews, self perform both aerial and underground scopes, give you one point of contact with daily reporting, and hand back as-built documentation that holds up under inspection and audit.

## Owned Equipment and Employed Crews

We own our drilling and aerial equipment and the operators are our employees. There is no rental yard between you and the machine, and no labor broker between you and the crew.

Why it matters: your mobilization date is only as reliable as the contractor's access to resources. Contractors who rent and broker are bidding on capacity they do not control, and when an upstream project runs long, the rig and the crew you were promised go to whoever is ready first.

Risk removed: schedule slip caused by resource competition. When we commit to a date, we are committing equipment and people we already have, which is also why we will decline a date we cannot hold instead of taking the award and renegotiating later.

## Aerial and Underground in One Contractor

We self perform directional drilling, conduit, and structure placement on the underground side, and strand, lash, overlash, and aerial fiber placement on the aerial side. Splicing, blowing, and pulling run across both.

Why it matters: routes change. A wetland, a rail crossing, undocumented utility congestion, or a make-ready delay can convert a designed underground segment to aerial, or the reverse. If your contractor only does one, that change becomes a procurement event, a new mobilization, and a new set of coordination meetings.

Risk removed: dead time and cost growth from route revisions. A design change becomes a field adjustment with the crew already on site, and responsibility for the transition point does not fall between two companies.

## Documentation-Focused Closeouts

As-built information, photos, splice records, and daily production data are captured by the crew during the work, then assembled into a closeout package that matches what was installed.

Why it matters: your closeout is what gets audited, funded, and used for the next twenty years of locates and repairs. Grant funded and municipal projects in particular can hold payment against a record package, and an incomplete one turns into weeks of chasing a contractor who has already demobilized.

Risk removed: payment delay, failed inspection, and future locate failures. You are not reconstructing a route from memory, and the person who has to locate that plant in eight years has a record that reflects reality.

## Daily Communication Through a Single Point of Contact

You get one contact who knows the route, the permit status, the crew assignment, and today's production. Reporting is daily and includes what was completed, what is planned, what is blocking, and what decision we need from you.

Why it matters: a project manager's real workload is not construction, it is reconciling conflicting information from several subcontractors and reporting a defensible status upward. A contractor who is hard to reach or vague about production forces you to build your own tracking system for their scope.

Risk removed: status uncertainty and late surprises. Problems reach you the day they appear, while options still exist, rather than in a week three explanation of why the milestone moved.

## Professional Restoration Standards

Sod, grade, driveway surfaces, and irrigation are restored to a standard that does not produce a callback, and sites are cleaned up daily rather than at the end of a run.

Why it matters: restoration is the part of a build that residents, code enforcement, city commissioners, and HOA boards actually see. Poor restoration generates complaints that land on the network owner or the municipality, not on the drilling contractor, and those complaints can slow permits for the rest of the program.

Risk removed: public complaint volume, damage claims, and the political friction that makes the next permit harder. A clean corridor keeps a program moving.

## Florida Soil and Permitting Familiarity

Coastal sand, high water tables, limestone, muck pockets, and congested legacy corridors each change how a bore is planned, how fluid is managed, and how much risk a given depth carries. Permitting is its own discipline, spanning county right of way, city engineering review, FDOT coordination, maintenance of traffic, and utility notification.

Why it matters: an out of state or out of region contractor learns Florida ground on your project. That education is paid for in frac outs, inadvertent returns into stormwater, stuck reams, and permit cycles that were not built into the schedule.

Risk removed: environmental incidents, regulatory exposure, and schedule assumptions that ignore local review timelines. We plan mobilizations around real permit cycles rather than hoping they compress.

## Emergency Restoration Readiness

We hold capability for emergency service restoration, storm response, outage restoration, and rapid mobilization, including locate and repair work on plant we did not build.

Why it matters: in Florida, a network will be tested by weather and by third party damage. The gap between a cut and a restored circuit is measured in customer credits, SLA exposure, and public attention, and that gap is decided by whether a contractor with the right equipment can be on site quickly.

Risk removed: extended outage duration and the scramble to find a qualified crew during the same event that everyone else is scrambling for one. A contractor who already knows your plant and holds your records restores faster than one starting cold.

## Schedule Discipline

We size a bid against the crews and equipment we control, we commit to dates we can hold, and we flag slippage from outside factors as soon as it is visible.

Why it matters: a program schedule is a chain of dependencies. Your splicing crew, your make-ready, your inspection window, and your service turn up dates all key off construction completion. A contractor who quietly runs late does not just cost their own days, they cost every downstream trade.

Risk removed: cascading delay through the rest of your program, and the credibility cost you carry when you have to move a date you already reported upward.

## Safety Culture

Locate verification before equipment moves, hand exposure in congested areas, site specific tailgate briefings, and stop work authority for any crew member. Stopping work is never treated as a performance problem.

Why it matters: a utility strike on your project becomes your incident. It brings outage liability, emergency repair cost, regulatory attention, and in the worst case an injury, and it typically brings a stand down that costs more schedule than the careful approach ever would.

Risk removed: strike liability, incident driven work stoppage, and the reputational damage that follows a preventable event on a public right of way.

## What This Adds Up To

The pattern across all of it is the same: we structured the company so that the things that usually go wrong on an outside plant scope are inside our control rather than someone else's.

If you are evaluating contractors, ask each of them who owns the equipment, who employs the operators, what the closeout package contains, and who you call at 4 p.m. when production stopped. The answers separate the field quickly.

To start a conversation about a route, call (386) 396-2033 or email hello@strillacommunications.com. Send the design, the counties involved, and the schedule you are working against, and we will tell you plainly whether we are the right contractor for it.

## Key takeaways

- Strilla owns its equipment and employs its crews, so a committed mobilization date rests on resources it already has.
- Self performing both aerial and underground work turns a route revision into a field adjustment instead of a new procurement.
- Closeout records are captured by the crew during the work, which protects payment on grant funded and municipal projects.
- A single point of contact with daily reporting means problems reach the project manager the day they appear.

## Key terms

**Make-ready**: Make-ready is the work needed to prepare existing utility poles for a new attachment, such as moving existing cables, replacing poles, or adjusting clearances. It is often coordinated among several pole owners and attachers, and delays in make-ready are a common cause of aerial schedule slips.

**Daily production report**: A daily production report records what a crew completed that day, including footage placed, structures set, and splices made, along with what is planned next, what is blocking progress, and what decision is needed from the owner. It is the basis for schedule tracking.

**Route revision**: A route revision is a change to the designed path or placement method of a fiber route after construction begins, often caused by a utility conflict, wetland, rail crossing, or make-ready delay. It may move a segment from underground to aerial or the reverse.

**Inadvertent return**: An inadvertent return is drilling fluid that escapes the bore and reaches the surface, a storm drain, or a waterbody. Florida's sandy soils and high water tables raise this risk, which is managed through bore planning, fluid control, and monitoring along the path.

*Owned and self performed versus rented and brokered contractor models*

| Factor | Owned equipment, employed crews | Rented equipment, brokered labor |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Mobilization date | Set against resources the contractor controls | Depends on rental and labor availability |
| Crew continuity | Same crew from start to closeout | Crew may change between phases |
| Route change to aerial | Handled by the crew on site | Often requires a second contractor |
| Field records | Captured by the people doing the work | Often assembled later by the office |
| Point of contact | One contact for the life of the job | Several parties to reconcile |
| Correcting defects | Contractor returns with its own crew | Depends on who is still available |

## What this means for your project

Most of the risk on an outside plant scope sits in the gaps between companies, not in the drilling or splicing itself. Every handoff is a place where a date can slip, a record can go missing, or responsibility can be argued. Choosing a contractor that controls its equipment, its crews, and its records removes most of those gaps from your scope.

On cost, the cheapest bid is often the one built on capacity the bidder does not control. When that capacity disappears, the savings go with it, and your program pays in delay to every downstream trade. Compare bids on what the contractor owns and what the closeout contains, not only on unit price.

## Related reading

- [Questions for any drilling contractorA checklist for comparing HDD bidders.](https://strillacommunications.com/blog/how-to-evaluate-a-directional-drilling-contractor)
- [Before you hire a fiber crewWhat to ask about equipment, crews, and records.](https://strillacommunications.com/blog/questions-to-ask-before-hiring-a-fiber-construction-team)
- [What a closeout package should holdThe record set a project manager should receive.](https://strillacommunications.com/blog/what-project-managers-should-expect-from-a-closeout-package)
- [Make-ready coordination supportHelp preparing poles for new aerial attachments.](https://strillacommunications.com/services/supporting-services/make-ready-support)
- [For project managersHow we report and escalate on your schedule.](https://strillacommunications.com/industries-we-service/project-managers)
- [Our equipment and crew structureThe resources behind our schedule commitments.](https://strillacommunications.com/about/equipment-and-crews)
- [Request pricing on a routeSend a design, jurisdictions, and target dates.](https://strillacommunications.com/request-a-bid)

## Frequently Asked Questions

**Can you work under our contract documents and reporting formats?**: Yes. We work inside a general contractor's or network owner's program, matching submittal formats, production tracking, and inspection cycles rather than asking you to adopt ours. Send your reporting template and closeout standard with the bid package. We will confirm in writing which formats we will deliver, so the records arrive ready for your file without rework on your end.

**What does your closeout package include?**: A closeout package includes as-built information, photo documentation of crossings, structures, and restoration, splice and test records, and the daily production history for the job. Permit closeout documents are included where we hold the permit. Format is matched to your requirements, whether that is a GIS template, a drawing standard, or a grant program's record checklist.

**How quickly can you mobilize for an emergency?**: Mobilization time depends on location, access, and conditions, so we do not quote a generic number. Emergency restoration is available 24/7, emergency calls are answered directly, and mobilization is coordinated on the call. Call (386) 396-2033 and we will give you a straight answer for your specific situation, including what crew and equipment can reach the site.

**Do you take small scopes, such as a single road crossing?**: Yes. Single crossings, driveway bores, and short conduit runs are routine work, and they are often how a longer relationship starts. A small scope gets the same locate verification, bore log, and closeout records as a long route. Send the location, the product size, and the permit status, and we will tell you how soon it fits our calendar.

**Are you licensed and insured?**: Yes. Strilla Communications Company is licensed and insured for outside plant construction. Certificates of insurance are issued on request, contract wording such as additional insured status is confirmed in writing, and license and prequalification details are provided in prequalification packages on request. We send current documents directly so your vendor file reflects status on the day it was issued.

**Can you meet the documentation rules on grant funded broadband projects?**: Yes. Grant funded and municipal programs often tie payment to a complete record package, so we capture as-built data, photos, and test results in the field and deliver them in the format the program requires. Send the program's documentation checklist with the bid. We will confirm which items we produce and flag anything that depends on another party.

**Can we speak with references before we hire you?**: Yes. References from past project owners are provided on request during prequalification. We share them directly with your team rather than publishing quotes on the website, so you speak with the person who managed the work and can ask your own questions. Ask also for a sample daily report and closeout format, which show how we work more clearly than any quote.

## Related services

- [Horizontal Directional Drilling (HDD)HDD crews for fiber and utility conduit across Volusia County and Central Florida. Pilot bore, reaming, and pullback with logged depth and as-built records.](https://strillacommunications.com/services/directional-drilling/horizontal-directional-drilling)
- [Road CrossingsPermitted road crossing bores in Volusia County and Central Florida. FDOT, county, and city right of way, traffic control, verified cover, restored shoulders.](https://strillacommunications.com/services/directional-drilling/road-crossings)
- [Aerial Cable ConstructionPole line construction, strand placement, lashing, and aerial fiber installation with make-ready coordination and NESC clearance verification.](https://strillacommunications.com/services/aerial-cable-construction)
- [Make-Ready SupportField survey, documentation and coordination support for pole make-ready, with honest reporting when make-ready is the item holding your schedule.](https://strillacommunications.com/services/supporting-services/make-ready-support)
- [Emergency Service RestorationUnplanned repair work that puts a damaged fiber or conduit network back in service after a cut, a storm, or a failure, followed by permanent repair and a documented closeout.](https://strillacommunications.com/services/emergency-service-restoration)
- [As-Built DocumentationAccurate as-built records captured in the field during construction, not reconstructed afterward. Coordinates, depths, photos and reconciled footage.](https://strillacommunications.com/services/supporting-services/as-built-documentation)
- [Outside Plant ConstructionTurnkey OSP construction that carries a fiber build from permitting and boring through aerial, splicing, restoration, and a documented closeout.](https://strillacommunications.com/services/outside-plant-construction)
- [Daily Production ReportingEnd of day reports covering production, next day plan, field conditions and blockers, so progress is visible without anyone having to chase it.](https://strillacommunications.com/services/supporting-services/daily-production-reporting)

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Source: https://strillacommunications.com/about/why-work-with-us