Edison and LADWP Underground Service Upgrades: Trench, Conduit and Inspection Sequence
An underground service upgrade with Edison or LADWP involves three parties: the utility designs the service and pulls the cable, your electrician handles the panel, and a civil contractor builds the trench, conduit, vaults and pads to the utility's design. A firm price needs the utility's issued design.
Upgrading to a 200-amp panel, adding an ADU or building new often means a new underground electrical service from Southern California Edison or LADWP. That work involves three parties, and knowing who does what keeps the job from stalling.
Who does what
- The utility designs the service, owns the cable, pulls it and makes the connection.
- Your electrician handles the panel and the building side.
- We build the civil work: the trench, the conduit, and any vault or pad the utility's design calls for, with the encasement, backfill and inspections the utility requires.
The usual sequence
- The utility issues a design. We can give a budget before it is issued, but a firm price needs the issued design.
- Existing lines are exposed. We pothole with our hydrovac truck so gas, water and other lines are found before any machine digs.
- Trench and conduit. Our crew trenches and installs the conduit, vaults and pads to the utility's design, with encasement and backfill as specified.
- Utility inspections. The utility inspects at the stages it requires, and the conduit is proved clear with a mandrel before it is accepted.
- Street restoration. If the work crosses the street, the pavement is restored to the agency's standard, including a T-cut repave where it is required.
- Cable and connection. The utility pulls the cable and makes the hot connection, and your electrician makes the final building connections.
What drives the cost
- Trench length and depth, and what is already in the ground.
- Work in the street, which brings traffic control and pavement restoration.
- Slurry or concrete encasement called for in the design.
- The utility's inspection schedule.
- Permit and agency fees, which the owner pays directly.
Where projects get stuck
Most delays come from waiting on the utility's design or inspections, or from finding an unmarked line mid-trench. Potholing first and lining up inspections early are the two things that keep an upgrade moving.
What to send us
The utility's letter or issued design, and a few photos of where the service will run. If the design isn't issued yet, we can still give you a budget so you can plan.
Sources
JFPEC field practice on SCE and LADWP underground work. Utility design and inspection requirements come from the utility's issued design for each project.