LPFM inspection checklist

Who may hold the license

• The license holder remains a Tribal applicant, a public safety body, or a nonprofit educational group.47 CFR 73.853(a)
• The group still qualifies as local: its main office or campus, or 75% of its board members, sits no more than 10 miles from the antenna (20 miles in markets outside the top 50).47 CFR 73.853(b)
• No second LPFM station is held (Tribal applicants may hold as many as two).47 CFR 73.855
• No other broadcast authorization is held, apart from as many as two FM translators or boosters carrying this LPFM on the terms set in 73.860(b).47 CFR 73.860
• When over half the board changed at once, a pro forma transfer was filed no later than 30 days after.47 CFR 73.865(d)

Hours on the air and power

• Airtime totals at least 36 hours weekly, meaning 5 or more hours daily on 6 or more days (schools are excused during breaks and on weekends).47 CFR 73.850(b)
• TPO stays inside tolerance: no lower than 90% of the authorized minimum and no higher than 105% of the authorized maximum.47 CFR 73.840
• Operation matches the license: only the hours, power and modes it authorizes.47 CFR 73.1745(a)
• Should the station break the license or any technical rule, it must leave the air in no more than three hours.47 CFR 73.845
• The transmitter carries FCC certification.47 CFR 73.1660
• Carrier frequency and modulation never exceed what the FCC allows.47 CFR 73.1545, 73.1570
• Full inspections of the transmitting system and monitors happen periodically.47 CFR 73.1580

Station identification

• Hourly and at sign-on and sign-off, air the call letters, then the community of license, at a natural break near the top of the hour if feasible.47 CFR 73.1201

Programs and sponsor credits

• Commercials are not allowed. Underwriting credits may name sponsors but must not promote for-profit businesses, so no prices, no qualitative claims and no calls to action.47 CFR 73.503(d)
• Any program that is sponsored or furnished includes an announcement of the sponsor.47 CFR 73.1212
• Contests on the air follow their announced rules, and the material terms are disclosed.47 CFR 73.1216
• Before a phone call goes out on air or is taped for air, the caller is told.47 CFR 73.1206
• The station airs no hoaxes, and no lottery ads beyond what 73.1211 permits.47 CFR 73.1217, 73.1211
• Obscene material never airs; indecent material airs only from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.47 CFR 73.3999
• Any other station's programming is rebroadcast only with its permission.47 CFR 73.1207

EAS monitoring and tests

• An EAS decoder (or a CAP intermediary device) is in place and working any time the station is broadcasting. An encoder is not required for LPFM.47 CFR 11.11, 11.35(a)
• The decoder listens to the two monitoring sources the State EAS Plan assigns.47 CFR 11.52(d)
• Received weekly tests go in the log; an LPFM is not required to transmit weekly tests.47 CFR 11.61(a)(2)
• Required monthly tests go back out within 60 minutes of being received (the LPFM transmits the script for the test).47 CFR 11.61(a)(1)
• Each missed test goes in the log with its reason.47 CFR 11.35(a)
• ETRS identifying information gets renewed annually, and national test results go in by the deadline.47 CFR 11.61(a)(3)(iv)

Station log

• The station keeps a log, and every entry shows the date, the time and who made it.47 CFR 73.877
• Entries cover outages of equipment, any off-license operation, failed tower lights and their repair, and EAS events.47 CFR 73.877(a)-(d)
• During business hours, and whenever the station is broadcasting, an FCC inspector can inspect the facility, the log and the records.47 CFR 73.878

Tower lighting and RF exposure

• Where the tower needs lighting or painting, the lights work and get checked, and any outage goes to the FAA and into the log. Run the check47 CFR 73.1213, 17.48, 73.877(a)
• Workers and the public at the site are exposed to RF within the FCC limits. Run the check47 CFR 1.1310

Political broadcasts

• Every request to buy time from or for a candidate, or on a national political matter, goes into the political file immediately and stays for two years.47 CFR 73.1943
• Equal opportunities are given to legally qualified candidates.47 CFR 73.1941

Renewal, going silent and selling

• Your renewal due date and the schedule for on-air renewal notices are known. Run the check47 CFR 73.3539, 73.3580
• The station has never been off the air for 12 straight months. That would end the license automatically.47 CFR 73.873(b)
• Before going permanently dark, the station files for cancellation in LMS two or more days in advance.47 CFR 73.1750
• A sale recovers nothing beyond legitimate and prudent expenses, and no construction permit changes hands before 18 months have passed.47 CFR 73.865(a), (c)

How this checklist works

• Covered: the LPFM rules proper (73.840-73.878), the other rules 47 CFR 73.801 extends to LPFM stations, and the Part 11 EAS rules, in their eCFR text as of October 14, 2026.
• There is no public inspection file for LPFM stations; the only public file they must keep is the political file.
• Use it to prepare; it is not legal advice. Each rule link opens the current official text.

This is not an FCC product.