Independent audits for the attacher's side of the pole

The utility writes your make-ready invoice. Then grades its own homework.

Overcharges hide in the make-ready bill, and no builder has time to catch them pole by pole. We do. We read every estimate and invoice against your agreement and the rules that govern each charge, flag what you were overbilled, and hand you a packet ready to dispute. On contingency. Find nothing, pay nothing.

Fiber ISPs · electric cooperatives · municipal & Tribal broadband · BEAD, RDOF & ARPA builds · results by email, no account required for the free check
Make-ready invoice
MR-4471 · reviewed line by line
Audited
ChargeBilledShould be
Pole replacement, full cost$17,840$14,610
Flagged. Billed you for a whole new pole. You owe the incremental cost of making room, not the replacement.
Make-ready engineering$6,220$6,220
Rearrangement, existing attacher$610$0
Flagged. Not your attachment. That charge belongs on another party's bill.
Overbilled on this invoice$3,840
FLAGGED
50–90%
How often utilities' actual make-ready costs come in above their own estimates, from data the utilities themselves put in the FCC record.
NCTA comments, FCC pole attachment record
The whole pole
What some utilities bill attachers for. In 2026 the FCC struck down Appalachian Power's policy of charging Comcast to replace an entire pole: you owe the incremental cost of making room, not a new pole.
FCC ruling, Comcast v. Appalachian Power, 2026
3 states
Where Charter walked away from RDOF awards in 2024 after unexpected pole-replacement costs made the builds uneconomical. The bill is real enough to kill a project.
FCC filing, 2024
The problem

You have no independent way to check the bill.

The pole owner estimates the work, does the work, bills for it, and grades its own math. No one on your side has time to read every line against your agreement and the rules that govern the pole. So the overcharges sit there, a replacement pole you didn't need, a fee that belongs on someone else's bill, quietly padding what you pay.

How it works

Forward it or upload it. Get results. Nothing in between.

01

Send the estimate or invoice

Forward it to audit@getpoleproof.com with your signed agreement, or upload it. Review before you pay, or audit after you're billed. That is the whole ask.

02

The automated audit runs

Every line item is checked against your agreement, the applicable FCC cost-allocation rules, and the regional benchmark. No one reviews it manually before you see it.

03

Your finding lands in your inbox

A plain-language summary and, where applicable, a dispute-ready packet with citations and the corrected amount, ready to send the pole owner yourself.

Methodology

What the audit actually checks

Every invoice runs through four independent checks. Each catches a different category of error, and they compound: a charge can pass one and still fail another.

01

Agreement match

Line items are compared against the rates, cost-share terms, and scope in your signed attachment agreement.

02

Subpart J compliance

Charges are checked against FCC Part 1 Subpart J cost-allocation rules, including which party owes what share.

03

Regional benchmark

Costs are compared against a growing dataset of what comparable work actually bills at, by pole owner and region.

04

Duplicate and drift

Invoices are checked against prior estimates and invoices for the same pole to catch duplicate billing and quiet cost creep.

You only see your own invoices.
We see the whole map.

One builder can't tell whether a charge is fair. We can. Every line you send gets measured against what pole owners across your region actually bill, so the moment you're charged above the norm you have the number to prove it. And every audit sharpens that benchmark, so it compounds for you, not for the pole owner.

Estimate your savings

See what this could mean for your invoices.

An estimate you control, based on the applicable FCC cost-allocation rules, not a claim about any client's results. Set your own numbers.

$
Adjust to your own experience. This is not an average we're claiming, it's yours to set.
Overcharges identified$8,000
PoleProof's fee (30% of recovered)$2,400
Net savings to you$5,600

Illustrative, not a quote. Your real number depends on your invoices and your region. On Managed Monitoring the recovery share drops as low as 15%, so you keep even more.

Pricing

Three ways to work with us. All of them start online.

Free check
$0 / one document

See if a single estimate or invoice has errors before you commit to anything.

  • One estimate or invoice, audited automatically
  • Plain-language findings summary
  • No account required
  • Delivered by email, no call
Run a free check
Project audit
30% of recovered or avoided

Full coverage for an active build. Estimates reviewed before you pay, invoices audited after you're billed. Nothing upfront, ever.

  • Estimates reviewed before you pay them
  • Invoices and true-ups audited after billing
  • Dispute-ready packet with citations
  • You pay only from what you save
Audit my build
Managed monitoring
From $199 / mo + 20%

Always on. Every estimate checked before you pay and every invoice after, with a lower recovery share. Scales with your portfolio.

  • Estimates caught before payment, invoices audited after
  • Dispute and refund deadlines tracked so none expire
  • Recovery share drops as low as 15%, not 30%
  • Three plans, from 1,000 poles to unlimited

One caught overcharge usually covers a year of monitoring several times over.

See monitoring plans
Managed Monitoring

Catch it before you pay. Recover it after you're billed.

Managed Monitoring watches both moments a pole owner can overcharge you, the estimate and the invoice, automatically, so nothing slips past on either side of the bill.

Before you pay · the watchdog

Stop the overcharge at the estimate

Every estimate is checked against your agreement and the applicable cost-allocation rules before a dollar leaves your account. The strongest save is the overcharge that never happens.

After you're billed · the audit

Recover what still slips through

Every final invoice and true-up is audited automatically, and anything off becomes a dispute-ready packet you can send yourself.

Every plan includes
  • Automatic estimate + invoice checks
  • Dispute-ready packets
  • Deadline tracking
  • Portfolio benchmarking
  • Cancel anytime

Start with zero risk: your first month of monitoring is credited against your first recovery, so getting started costs you nothing out of pocket.

Starter
From $199 / mo + 20%

For a single active build with one pole owner.

  • Up to 1,000 poles monitored
  • 1 pole owner or utility
  • 20% recovery share
  • Everything above, always on
Start with Starter
Regional
From $499 / mo + 18%

For a multi-utility build at BEAD or RDOF scale.

  • Up to 5,000 poles monitored
  • Up to 3 pole owners
  • Reduced 18% recovery share
  • Everything in Starter, plus cross-utility benchmarking
  • First month credited to your first recovery
Choose Regional
Portfolio
From $999 / mo + 15%

For a full portfolio across many utilities.

  • Unlimited poles monitored
  • Unlimited pole owners
  • Lowest 15% recovery share
  • Everything in Regional, plus your whole portfolio as one view
Choose Portfolio

Founding-client pricing, shown as "from" while we bring on our first monitored builds. No calls, no meetings, cancel anytime.

Built for the builders funded now

Whatever is funding your build, the make-ready bill still needs a check.

BEAD subgranteesRDOFARPA / Capital Projects FundTribal BroadbandElectric cooperativesMunicipal broadband
Why we built this

You should keep the money that's yours.

We come from the building side of fiber, and we kept seeing the same thing on job after job. The pole owner writes the make-ready estimate, does the work, sends the invoice, and signs off on its own numbers. The numbers ran high, sometimes well past what the rules allow, and nobody on the build had time to fight every line.

So we built the check we always wanted on that side of the table. Every finding points to a source you can see for yourself: the clause in your agreement, the FCC Part 1 Subpart J cost rule that governs the pole, or what comparable builders in your region actually pay. We don't assert anything without a citation.

You risk nothing to look. Find nothing, owe nothing. Find something, and you keep the larger share.

The PoleProof team

Questions

Straight answers.

What does it cost? +
The first single-invoice check is free. A full recovery audit runs on contingency, a share of what you recover or avoid, with nothing upfront. If we find nothing, you pay nothing.
How do you check invoices without human reviewers? +
Every invoice is parsed and checked against your signed agreement, FCC Part 1 Subpart J cost-allocation rules, and a regional benchmark dataset that grows with every audit we run. The pipeline runs the same way whether it's your first invoice or your thousandth.
Do I need to talk to anyone to get started? +
No. You sign up online, upload your documents, and get your results by email. There's no call, no meeting, and no sales conversation at any tier, including Managed Monitoring.
What happens after you find an overcharge? +
You get a dispute-ready packet by email: the specific line items, the rule or benchmark each one violates, and the corrected amount. It's ready to send to the pole owner yourself.
Which monitoring plan is right for me? +
Pick by the size of your build. Starter covers a single build up to 1,000 poles with one pole owner. Regional covers up to 5,000 poles across as many as three pole owners, which fits most publicly funded builds, at an 18% share. Portfolio covers unlimited poles and pole owners at 15%. Move up as your build grows; your first month is credited against your first recovery.
Is my invoice and agreement data kept confidential? +
Yes. Your raw documents and anything identifying you are never shared with other clients or with pole owners. We use only de-identified, aggregated data points to improve the regional benchmark that strengthens every client's audit. Full detail is in our Privacy Policy.
Get started

Create your account and run your first free check.

No calls, no meetings. Create an account, forward or upload one estimate or invoice, and your first check is free. Already holding a document? Forward it to audit@getpoleproof.com and we open your audit automatically.

Guides

Know the rules before you dispute the bill.

Plain-language explainers on what actually governs a pole charge, and how PoleProof checks it. A few to start with, or see the full library.

01

Section 224 and Subpart J explained

The federal rules, the 2026 timelines, and self-help.

02

The FCC is reviewing state certifications

DA 26-579, and what could change for your build.

03

BEAD make-ready cost recovery

Why overcharges hit a fixed grant hardest.

See all six guides →

See what's on your next invoice.

One free check. No account, no commitment.

Run a free check
Stay in touch

Pole attachment and make-ready news, a few times a year.

Regulatory changes, rate rulings, and anything worth knowing if you deal with pole invoices. Not sales emails.