Valencia build - the sequel!

Very interesting that is good to know thanks, Dave

 

Meanwhile, back at the build lol!! Well, another week gone and completion is getting ever nearer. The first two units have had their doors fitted, outside handrails and toilets installed. All tiling is complete and painting just about wrapped up. Just the electric shower, aircon and CR vents to install at this point. The second duplex has just completed tiling and is not that far behind. Great job over the last two weeks with a full crew.

 

Weekly update: The first two units are being fitted out now. The first of the two has all the lighting up and running. A nice touch that I hadn't expected was the hidden LED strip lighting in the split ceiling which gives off a very nice glow. The final coat of paint being applied today as well. The second duplex has now been fully tiled and the guys are rendering the two end walls. That will be done by the beginning of next week as the crew is working Sunday. All the huge coconut palm root balls were removed off-site this week - dragged onto a truck by sheer brute force - was amazing and worrying to watch the guys do this - one slip and it could have got messy. All plumbing and drainage, including link to street water run-off now complete as well. Only slight delay is the wait for the stair tiles on the first unit - delivery coming from Davao, Otherwise all good!

 

Weekly update: Progress looks a lot less impressive as we get nearer to the finish line! However, the first two units have all their fixtures and fittings in situ now and the 2nd two will have their doors and windows fitted on Monday. The street-side end of the 2nd unit has been rendered and all outside painting will be done by the end of next week. The next challenge is getting our electricity cooperative to hook up the permanent connection - that is never fun and can be time-consuming.

 

I do not quiet understand the reasoning behind this? I have been told you get a temporary connection and only get a permanent connection once it is signed off that you can live in the house. I want to build a Workshop where I can store items like Cement Mixer/ Welder etc and connect an internal electric Water Pump with a mechanical Pump on the outside so that we can start making our own Blocks (looking at making 4"/ 6" & 8") for building the perimeter Wall and once that is done making a start on some Sty's and Chicken Coops etc BEFORE we make a start on building a House. I am not sure how the temporary wiring will take the load as Papa here burnt out his wiring from the house to the Highway by running a couple of electric Pumps when building his Well so they could do the block walls and cementing. Are you able to run heavy wiring from the source to the Lot that can take an Electric Welder and other equipment? I would like to initially run the power to the Workshop Shed... All a bit confusing.

 

My understanding is that they put in a temporary drop that is usually of a lower amperage than the final connection. The idea being that this prevents people from living there and also forces you to get a final inspection (which is required to get a certificate of occupancy) before getting the final service. If you were using a tool that drew significant current, not sure how they would respond. If you look at how construction is done there, there really in a need for a high current connection from what I have seen.

 

I'm curious if you purchased your own transformer before construction, ran your secondary and dropped your meter off to be calibrated if they would work with you? When we built our house the wife was told that they would NOT allow us a temporary service so we ran generators until we had the permanent service put in. Which really sucked.

I never spoke to them myself as I find it less stressful to let the wife deal with that. My first interaction with them was when they hooked up the transformer; we had already set the meter where it was convenient for them, set additional secondary poles and ran the secondary. My wife let them know I was an electrician by trade so we never had anyone physically come out to look at the house for any "final" inspection, everything was just signed off.

I assume there are different "rules" in different areas and who you actually speak with.

Shawn

 

I have a sample size of one, so take what I say with a grain of salt as I am not the original owner, but I thinking owning your own transformer is rare. However, it is possible and there is a thread on it in this forum. Most people tend to do it to avoid brown outs. In my case, the house was started by someone else, so all I know is that there was a temporary drop when I bought it. Whether they will let you use your own transformer to start construction, I have no idea. It seems like they would not, only because it would defeat the purpose of forcing an inspection and preventing someone from moving in without the certificate of occupancy. YMMV.

 

So it looks like I will need to invest in a decent Generator to do what I want before getting to the House build part. Oh well; may as well make it a good one to deal with future Black-outs while I am at it then. I wonder if I added enough Solar Panels and a few Wind Generators to charge Battery Banks and then alternated between Wind/ Solar and Generator running 12 Volt lighting if they would get pissed off if we never needed to pay a local Supplier/ sit through their Seminars/ Sign off on connecting Electricity to move in and live? That would be nice! (Dream on)

Thanks for the answers guys.

 

I was just curious as it was not something I was aware of when we started building. If someone plans on buying their own transformer when they build, it is definitely something to check into and hopefully post if the utility bought off on that or not.

I did know that I would need a separate hook-up as the closest transformer had probably 20 houses on it already. What I was not expecting was to have to purchase our own transformer as I assumed it would be utility owned/provided...but it is the Philippines and few things really surprise me anymore.

It worked out fine and I'm happy we have our own transformer, no one can tap into it without the wife's permission and that will never happen; have actually mentioned in numerous posts that I highly recommend anyone building or buying look into purchasing their own transformer to minimize voltage drop due to overloaded transformers.

Shawn