Changes have been made to the slab requirement prior to Joint Trench installation. These changes were made based on a combined effort between the Greater Houston Builders Association Dry Utility Taskforce and CenterPoint.
Chad Stine, Manager, URD- North Region, provided additional details concerning the requirements:
“After a thorough review of CenterPoint Energy’s current policy requiring a Slab prior to the Installation of the Joint Trench, the company will no longer consider a Home Start as a prerequisite for a final inspection (subdivision walk with CNP Contractor) in advance of joint trench installation.
In the attached presentation you will find a detailed review of the changes in market conditions since the slab requirement was included as a prerequisite for installation in 2009, as well as CenterPoint Energy’s communication plan for this change. The effective date for this change of practice is January 1, 2021. Please note that the following conditions remain as a requirement for Joint trench Installation and must be complete prior to a scheduling a subdivision walk:
- Subdivision lots and reserves at final grade, pinned and lathed
- Easements cleared of obstructions and suitable for machine trenching
- Completed streets / street signage, curbed and guttered
- Land rights fully secured via recorded plat or easement by separate instrument
- All URD, Streetlight and Gas Bore Agreements executed and returned, required monies paid
CenterPoint Energy Service Consultants are visiting jobsites regularly to determine readiness on developed sections nearing or at completion status. Our service consultant staff will continue to inspect these sites on a regular basis and will follow up with the developer contact in the event one or more of the above criteria has yet to be met or if the status has changed between field visits, for example pins/lathes knocked out or an obstruction found within an easement. The company and our installation contractor understand that there will be an immediate increase in joint trench projects now ready for installation, and to counter the increase in work load our contractor will accept additional walks above what is currently scheduled. With the scheduling of additional walks per week, construction timelines that exceed the 42 day target will likely be observed. However, please note that this is only temporary to manage the additional projects now ready from the release of the slab requirement. Once we have adequately worked through this brief increase in workload, we expect to return to the current walks per week frequency and a 35-42 day construction schedule.
CenterPoint Energy has prioritized the list of existing projects that have met the above post-January 1 criteria, and we will schedule walks starting January 4th based on the date the project met this criteria, establishing walks first for those projects who have met the criteria for the longest period.
If you have a project that has exceeded 50 calendars days since the walk occurred, please reach out to Chad Stine via the contact information below. We appreciate your continued patience as we continue to improve the joint trench installation process and the customer experience.
More information can be found in the enclosed presentation.
Slab Requirement Process Change_12-2020
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