Obtaining permits from the City of Austin:

We can apply for our stand-alone electrical permits through the city’s website.  If we are replacing the meter can on your project, we will need an ESPA form from Austin Energy first.  We apply for this through an email service they have.  Once we have a stamped form, we can fill out the permit application online and attach the ESPA if applicable to the job.  The city will review the application and approve the permit if everything is in order.  They will email us the approval, and we can then pay for the permit online.  On average, this process takes 3-5 business days depending on the city’s workload and whether or not we need that ESPA form.  The permit becomes immediately active once we pay for it.

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Spot locations after a permit is active:

Once a permit has become active for a service rebuild with a meter can replacement, Austin Energy automatically sends one of its spotters out to locate where they want the service located on the structure.  This spot check happens within a day or two after the permit fee is paid.  They will need access to where the service is to look at it.  If they are locked out, or an animal is loose to block their attempt, they will charge a $250 return trip fee to the permit for the spot.  We will let you know when the permit has become active and we can send them an email if they need to call someone for access.  They will leave a yellow tag on the wall where they want it with any notes that they may have.  Our quotes come standard assuming we will be putting the service back in its existing location.  Overhead services will have a point of attachment at 12’6” off the ground unless otherwise noted.  If the spot tag is in a different place from the original service or has notes telling us to do something different from the quote, we may have to alter the quote.  

Occupied structure outage

After we have obtained the permit from the City of Austin for the work to be done, we call Austin Energy’s dispatch and set up an appointment with them for an outage.  Depending upon their schedule, the wait could be as much as 3-4 months, sometimes longer. In this situation, the only times they do this is 8 or 9 AM on normal business days.  This scheduling is to give us enough time to rebuild the service in one day.  We shoot for the 8 AM slot unless it is a very simple service.

We will meet them there for the disconnect on the scheduled day and proceed to replace the service.  Once we have our grounding in place, the panel and meter installed, and the main breaker terminated, we can call for our temporary inspection.  This inspection will release the service to Austin Energy to return that same day and hook the power back up.  We will continue to finish off any other work associated with the service such as terminating branch circuit breakers and labeling the panel.  We will still need to call for a final inspection either the next day or any business day later up to six months out.  The permit will expire after six months, incurring reactivation fees. 

This option does not leave the structure without power overnight.  Usually, power is restored to the service between 1-3 PM and the rest of the house between 2-5 PM.  Variations in the time that power is restored can occur depending upon various items like Austin Energy’s return and the number of breakers to be terminated.  However, the structure will have power restored that same day.

Austin's Permit Process