When a tenant cannot find a spare conduit in a desired route and believes that there no reasonable alternative routes available, it may request ECS to "reinforce" an existing section with additional conduits. All reinforcement requests shall be made in writing to the ECSC. When ECS receives a reinforcement request, it performs a "ten-point checklist" to ensure that no usable conduits are available and no other viable routes exist. It has been ECS's experience that the ten-point checklist process often uncovers alternatives to building new conduits which significantly reduce the time tenants wait for conduits.
If new conduits must be built, ECS notifies all its tenants so that they can determine whether they would also like conduits built in that section. Once all conduit requirements have been identified, ECS creates a job package and schedules a job start date. Construction intervals vary significantly depending upon the size of the job, site conditions, City permit stipulations, etc. On average, it take ECS between 90 and 130 days to complete a typical reinforcement job, although larger jobs involving more than six sections or jobs at locations where access to the street is limited due to municipal work or the holiday period "embargo" may take longer. ECS will notify tenants when new conduits are completed and forward Applications for Conduit Space for the tenant's approval and return.
Tenants are required to "bond" (i.e., guarantee the payment of the conduit rental fees) new conduits for a period of 10 years from the date they are made available to the tenant. If a tenant vacates a "bonded" conduit at any time during the bonding period, it may arrange with another tenant to take over the conduit and "assume" the remainder of its bonding obligation. Otherwise the tenant must continue to pay the rent for the conduit. Tenants assuming the bonding obligations of other tenants must submit a Conduit Surrender form and Application for Conduit Space to the ECSC.
ECS will attempt to notify tenants when bonding periods expire. However, it is the tenant's sole responsibility to submit a Conduit Surrender form to stop billing for any conduits no longer used.
Home