Venezuela, RB

Getting Electricity in

Venezuela, RB

Listed below are the procedures, time and cost required for a business to obtain an electricity connection for a newly constructed building.

The information appearing on this page was collected as part of the Doing Business project, which measures and compares regulations relevant to the life cycle of a small- to medium-sized domestic business in 183 economies. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in June 2011.

  • Name of Utility: Electricidad de Caracas (ELECAR)
  • City: Caracas

About This Topic

To see indicator data for all economies, see the Getting Electricity page. To see how economies rank, see the Rankings page.

No. Procedure Time to Complete Associated Costs
1 The client obtains excavation permit from the projects department of the municipality

For the underground connections an excavation permit from the Municipality is necessary before starting works. For the overhead connection a permit is not necessary but must be explicitly indicated in the design of the connection submited by the applicant to the utility.

Agency: Municipality 		60 calendar days VEF 500.0
2 The client submits application to Electricidad de Caracas and awaits estimate

The application must be submitted with legal property titles, ID of the client and a draft design of the connection made by a certified electrician ("electricista colegiado"). EdC carries out an external inspection before sending an estimate to the client. The estimate must be paid at the premises of EdC with a check at the headquarters of EdC in San Bernardino. A connection of less than 36 KvA does not need a project if the distance to the network is less than 12 meters for underground connections and 30 meters for overhead.

Agency: EdC 		65 calendar days VEF 10,200.0
* 3 The client receives an external inspectoin by EdC

EdC carries out an external inspection to determine the connections works to be carried out and if an expansion or extension of the network is needed. It is not compulsory although recommended that the client and/or his electrician be present during the inspection.

Agency: EdC 		1 calendar day no charge
4 Client pays estimate and an electrician of the client makes the external works according to the approved design of EdC

Once the estimate has been paid, EdC hires a team to make the external works. As a public enterprise, EdC has to comply with public procurement rules when hiring the team, which can take around 8 months. EdC offers the possibility of the "mandato" in which the client can hire himself an electrician to carry out the external works. EdC appoints an inspector who will watch the progress of the works and will sign the certificate ("finiquito de obra") approving that the works meet the standards of EdC. Under the "mandato", the client pays market price, thus the cost is higher than when EdC carries out the works, but saves a long time to the client.

Agency: Electrician 		30 calendar days VEF 455,000.0
* 5 Client receives EdC final inspection to certify conformity of the works

When the client opts for the "mandato", EdC carries out a final inspection and delivers a certificate of conformity of the works ("finiquito de obra").

Agency: EdC 		1 calendar day no charge
6 Client signs supply contract with EdC

The client must sign a supply contract with EdC and pay a deposit which depends on the capacity and does not generate any interest rate. This can be done in any of the commercial offices of EdC of Caracas.

Agency: EdC 		3 calendar days VEF 396.3
* Takes place simultaneously with another procedure.
Explore Economy Data