Getting an ESB Networks connection for a self-build

Apply to ESB Networks for your electricity connection as soon as you have planning permission. A new house typically costs €3,776 to connect, or €5,112 for a bigger supply, and it can take three months from accepting the quote. Most delays come from work on your side of the boundary: the duct, the meter cabinet and the certificate.

What it costs

ESB Networks publishes a typical charge for connecting a single house on a new site:

Supply	Typical charge
Standard	€3,776
Enhanced (16 kVA)	€5,112

The quote for your site can be higher. Expect a separate, quoted cost if the nearest suitable line is a long way off, if new poles or underground cable are needed beyond the standard service, or if the local network has to be reinforced for your load. The cost of your own trenching, duct, meter cabinet and wiring is on top, and sits in your builder’s and electrician’s prices, not in the ESB quote.

The figures above are ESB Networks’ current published typical charges. Check the single-house page before you budget, and use the quote, not the typical charge, in your build budget.

A standard or an enhanced supply? Capacity is measured in kilovolt-amperes (kVA). An enhanced connection is 16 kVA, and ESB Networks’ standard connection is smaller. A new house with a heat pump, an electric vehicle charger, an electric oven and an electric shower can approach the standard limit at peak times. Your electrical contractor works this out and fills in the load and connection capacity form that goes with your application. Ask them to show you the calculation, because increasing a supply later means another application.

When to apply

Apply once you have planning permission and know where the house, the entrance and the meter cabinet will go. There is no benefit in waiting for the build to start: the connection has the longest lead time of any service on a one-off house, and the quote tells you early whether your site is cheap or expensive to serve.

ESB Networks aims to:

1. issue a quote within 15 business days of your application;
2. complete the connection within 60 business days of you accepting the quote and paying.

Apply and pay at least 10 weeks before your electrician expects to finish the installation. ESB Networks says that if you do, the connection should follow within 2 weeks of it receiving the wiring certificate, provided the quotation conditions are met and no significant network work is needed. ESB Networks also warns that high demand can cause delays, so treat these as targets, not promises.

What you need to apply

The online application takes about 15 minutes if you have these ready:

• A site plan with the house marked in red, at 1:100 for a rural site or 1:500 in a town.
• An Ordnance Survey map with the location marked in red, at 1:2,500 to 1:10,560. Your designer can supply both, or you can buy the map from Tailte Éireann.
• Coordinates for the house: Irish Transverse Mercator (ITM) or GPS.
• The load and connection capacity form, filled in by your electrical contractor.

You register online first, then apply and pay. The quotation and connection agreement arrive by post, and you can track progress online.

Your side of the work

ESB Networks brings its cable to your meter cabinet. Everything between the pole and the cabinet on your land is prepared by you, through your builder, groundworker and electrician, to ESB Networks’ specification. For a standard underground service of up to 50 metres from an overhead line, that means:

1. The service pole and duct route. ESB Networks’ engineering office confirms the pole position and the duct route on site. The pole and the whole duct run must be inside your site boundary.
2. The service duct. Red, ESB-approved 50 mm duct, at least 600 mm deep, as straight as possible with no sharp bends. Corrugated duct of any colour is not accepted. Yellow cable warning tape goes no more than 300 mm below ground along the full length. Keep at least 100 mm between this duct and your other services, such as water and drainage. For a pole more than 50 metres from the cabinet, the duct is 125 mm and needs an approved service vault where it joins the hockey stick duct.
3. A draw rope. A continuous 10 mm polypropylene rope, free of knots and tied off at both ends, so ESB Networks can pull its cable through. Seal the duct ends with tape so grit and water stay out.
4. The “hockey stick” duct. A curved, ESB-approved duct that rises from the trench into the base of the meter cabinet. In a cavity wall it goes up the cavity at foundation stage, so tell your builder before the substructure starts. If the walls have no cavity, it is built in or chased into the wall. The cable must not touch the cavity insulation.
5. The meter cabinet. An outdoor cabinet that can be reached directly from the main entrance driveway: on the wall facing the drive, or within 2 metres of either corner of that wall, is normally acceptable. It cannot go behind security gates or walls, or in a porch. The builder leaves an opening of 606 mm high, 402 mm wide and 155 mm deep, with the bottom of the cabinet 1.0 to 1.2 metres above finished ground. A damaged cabinet or one in the wrong place will not be connected.

Ask your designer to mark the cabinet and duct route on the drawings, and give your builder ESB Networks’ meter cabinet sheet. Getting the hockey stick into the cavity is easy at foundation level and awkward afterwards; see substructure and the floor slab for where it falls in the programme.

Wayleaves and road openings

A wayleave is permission for ESB Networks to put a pole or a line on someone else’s land. If the best route to your site crosses a neighbour’s field, the quote will make the wayleave a condition, and the connection waits until it is signed. Talk to the neighbour early, before the quote arrives, and ask your solicitor whether any existing rights cover the route. The same applies to your own water, wastewater and access rights; see site works and services.

Work on a public road, such as crossing it to reach a pole, needs a road-opening licence. ESB Networks lists road-opening permissions among the reasons a connection target can be missed.

The certificate and the supplier account

Two things must be in place before ESB Networks energises the house:

• The electrical completion certificate. Your registered electrical contractor certifies the installation, and their regulatory body sends the validated certificate to ESB Networks. Safe Electric oversees the registration of electrical contractors, so check that yours is registered before you hire them. See first fix: electrics, plumbing and heating for when this work is done.
• An electricity supplier account. ESB Networks owns the network but does not sell electricity. Choose a supplier and open an account in advance; the supplier needs the meter point reference number (MPRN) from your connection paperwork.

The electrical certificate is separate from your building control paperwork. Your assigned certifier still has to sign off the house; see the certificate of compliance on completion.

Power during the build

The permanent connection usually arrives well after the build starts, so agree in your building contract who provides site power until then and who pays for it. A generator is common in the early stages.

ESB Networks’ meter cabinet rules allow for a temporary builder’s supply through the new cabinet, with your contractor’s protection equipment fitted on the right-hand side of the box. Whether that works on your site depends on where the cabinet is and when the connection is ready. Ask your electrical contractor and ESB Networks early rather than assuming the permanent connection quote includes it. If you plan to live in a mobile home on site, it needs its own arrangement; see living on site while you build.

Insurance and site safety

Trenching, a live temporary supply and cables on a site that is empty at night are risks for you as well as for the builder. Before the groundworks start, check:

• that your self-build policy covers the works on site from the first day of trenching, not only from when the walls go up;
• that your public liability cover applies if someone is injured on site, including a child who wanders onto it;
• who is responsible for a live temporary supply, and that it is protected and locked;
• that a contractor who damages someone else’s cable or pipe while digging has their own liability cover.

The self-build insurance guide lists the policies a self-build normally needs, and insurance when you project manage covers what changes when you hire the trades yourself.

If the connection is late

Track the connection online. If the countdown says “on hold”, something on the checklist is outstanding: usually the certificate, the ducting, a wayleave or the supplier account. ESB Networks contacts you in the final 10 days with an update.

If ESB Networks misses a target on its side, contact it first. Its customer charter sets out service guarantees and a payment when it misses one. If you are still unhappy after its complaints process, you can take the complaint to the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU), which regulates ESB Networks.

Tell your lender’s engineer and your builder about any delay early. Without power, the house cannot be finished, certified or valued for the final drawdown, so a late connection can delay your last stage payment.

Questions to ask

1. Electrician: do I need a standard or an enhanced supply, and can I see your load calculation?
2. Designer: where do the meter cabinet and the duct route go, and are they on the drawings?
3. Builder: who lays the hockey stick at foundation stage, and who digs the trench to ESB Networks’ specification?
4. Neighbour or solicitor: does the route need a wayleave, and can we agree it now?
5. ESB Networks: what does the quote include, and can the cabinet serve as a builder’s supply?
6. Insurer or broker: am I covered from the first day of groundworks?