One of the errors which causes major problems in verifying Completion Certs arises from what appears to be a fairly common practice on housing estates.
When the initial application is made by the Developer to ESB for supply for the estate, a site map is furnished showing the layout and the proposed house numbers. ESB then allocate an MPRN to each individual house number, but at some stage between that point in time and the completion of the estate, the Developer changes the house numbers so that, for example, what was house No 1 on the ESB plan could well be house No 30 in the final layout of the estate.
The electrical contractor gets a list of MPRN’s from the builder and proceeds to enter these against the numbers shown on the doors of the houses, with the inevitable result that there is total confusion and the Certs usually have to be scrapped and re-issued.
While the MPRN number is valid, it is only valid in respect of the actual house which ESB saw on the original site plan and there have been instances where ESB have gone out and made supply available in houses where the wiring was very far from complete.
It is therefore important to confirm with the builder that there have been no changes in the layout or numbering of the estate from that which was submitted to the ESB and on which the MPRN list is based.
Apart from the delay and confusion which is caused, it means that the contractor will have to issue Certs and Surcharge Stamps a second time, and recovering the cost of these can often can be more trouble than it’s worth.