How do I find underground services on my property in Ireland?

Underground services on an Irish property can include the public water main and connection pipe, the foul and surface water sewers, gas pipes, ESB electricity cables, and telecoms ducting, and locating them accurately before design or excavation is essential to avoid damage, safety incidents, or having to redesign foundations. Each utility keeps its own asset records: Uisce Éireann holds water and sewer network maps, the gas network operator holds gas pipeline records, and the ESB holds electricity cable records, while surface water and road drainage is usually held by the local authority.

In practice, most people start with a pre-connection enquiry or asset map request to Uisce Éireann, a similar request to the gas network operator if gas is present, and a request to the ESB Networks for electricity cable locations, all of which can usually be made online or by phone. These records give an indicative route but are not always precisely accurate, particularly for older infrastructure, so for anything involving excavation near a marked or suspected service, a physical location survey using a cable avoidance tool (CAT and genny) or ground-penetrating radar, or careful trial-holing by hand, is recommended before digging with machinery.

For larger developments, a full topographical and utility survey carried out by a chartered surveyor is often commissioned, combining desktop utility searches with on-site detection to produce a composite services drawing that architects and engineers can design around; this is particularly important where a scheme includes new roads, multiple units, or works close to existing mains.