Taking over an unfinished utility project without restarting blindly

Recover the project record before opening another application

When a contractor changes during an open utility project, begin with a controlled handoff. Before opening a second application, establish the original project’s status, accepted documents, installed work and authorized contacts. A change in contractor is an administrative and technical transition, not proof that prior approvals have vanished.

Separate an approval statement from completed construction

A Bay Area Reddit homeowner reported that PG&E had approved a panel upgrade but construction remained unfinished, with no firm completion date. Replies asked what had actually been approved, installed and connected; the owner corrected the original wording. This illustrates status ambiguity, not a contractor replacement. The handoff process in this guide is an author-proposed method for resolving that ambiguity when a new team takes over.

Source: PG&E House Renovation Delay

Establish authorized representation

PG&E's project process uses application records and assigned contacts to coordinate service work. The new contractor should work through an authorized owner relationship and the utility's required process for representation or changes. An owner should not share passwords casually or assume that forwarding one email transfers the complete project. Access and responsibility need to be established without losing the existing evidence trail.

Source: Building & Renovation | PG&E

An accepted design can coexist with unfinished site work

Illustrative scenario: a panel upgrade has an accepted utility design but unfinished customer trench work. The original contractor leaves the project. A replacement contractor who assumes nothing has been approved may duplicate design effort; one who assumes everything is ready may miss required inspections or scope conditions. A status audit identifies the useful approved work while flagging the unfinished construction and documents.

Reconcile each document with its actual status

Request the application identifier, current utility contact, accepted drawings, open comments, contracts or required payments, permits, inspection records, equipment orders, and dated site photographs. Mark documents as proposed, submitted, accepted, superseded, or installed. Reconcile them against the physical condition through a professional assessment. A drawing stamped at an earlier stage may not describe later field changes.

Define what the replacement contractor accepts

Ask the utility which contractor or applicant changes need to be recorded and whether a revised scope affects review. Keep financial and legal disputes with the prior provider separate from technical status reconstruction, using appropriate advisors where necessary. The new contractor's proposal should state what it is assuming responsibility for and what remains excluded or dependent on another party. Avoid vague promises to fix everything without identifying the unfinished obligations.

Resume from a verified responsibility baseline

Produce a recovery plan with the next few concrete milestones, evidence required, and responsible parties. Preserve the existing project history rather than rewriting it as though the new team started from a blank page. After each correction, confirm acceptance and update the ledger. The objective is to resume a traceable project with clear ownership, not to promise an immediate completion date simply because a new contractor is involved.

Confirm the new team can receive the next required action

Ask the utility to confirm the current authorized contact and where future review comments will be delivered. Use the provider’s representation process rather than sharing the former contractor’s login. Check that the owner or newly authorized representative can access the current accepted revision, open comments and project status before describing the handoff as complete.

Then test the responsibility chain with one real open item: who can answer the comment, who can authorize a design or cost change, who submits the response and who confirms acceptance? Preserve the response in the original project record. If the issue needs escalation, PG&E identifies an Escalate Issue function in its project portal; that does not replace the access and authorization transfer.

Source: Building & Renovation | PG&E

Put it into practice

A decision table to keep handy