Wharf speed

Over the last nine years, PIP Electrics has fitted out in excess of three million square feet of high specification office space, much of it in the booming Canary Wharf district of London. The firm has worked for clients including Lehman Brothers, Barclays, Morgan Stanley and Skadden Arps, as well as carrying out Cat A fit outs for the Canary Wharf Group.

It has consistently won major new projects based on a reputation for speed and service and has earned a position as one of the UK’s top 50 electrical contractors. So, what’s the secret of the company’s success?

“Least parts engineering,” says PIP director Steve Brewer. He elaborates: “We try to minimise the points of potential failure in an installation and use products where any terminations are made and tested off site – we simply assemble it. We also use as few different components as possible. It means we can install, test and commission a complete installation in a fraction of the time it used to take.”

According to Brewer, PIP has become adept at this approach. “We were working on a fit out project with one of the multinational contractors who was completing the shell and core services, where we were endearingly named ‘the plug in people’,” he laughs. “It’s the sincerest form of flattery. PIP has looked at every part of a standard commercial electrical installation and attempted to engineer out the labour intensive activities and reduce terminations to make an installation as modular as possible. The reliability is second to none, installation times can be maintained, cost control is good and estimating more exact.”

Electrak’s products can be used to illustrate the approach Brewer is talking about. Many commercial fit outs PIP is involved in employ Electrak’s under raised access floor power track, as well as boxes, grommets and Rotasoc desk modules. “The only electrical termination that needs to be carried out on site is the distribution board to track feed,” says Electrak director Phil Swales. “Track lengths have integrated interconnects and tap off points every 300 mm, floor boxes can be supplied pre-wired to a tap off, as can Rotasoc desk modules. Everything is colour and key coded to ensure only compatible connections are made. It is a straightforward modular system with very few variations.”

PIP also uses Electrak’s busbar in the ceiling voids, supplying power to lighting and hvac systems. The company looked at modular wiring as a possible solution, but it did not fit within their way of working.

“It can’t be installed within the labour norms quoted by the manufacturers if you’re trying to make a neat installation, and even when neatly clipped, it’s susceptible to damage,” Brewer explains.

Further enhancing busbar’s appeal, Electrak has developed an in-ceiling track that incorporates a shielded twisted pair communications circuit. This circuit is most commonly used for communications for the lighting control systems. Previously, this would have been a separate circuit with multiple connections on the way to each light fitting and thus many points of failure. But Electrak has done away with this. Trunking lengths simply clip together, connecting both power and comms together, and tap off plugs include the comms cable so the circuit is made from feed to light fitting with no manual connections.

“We have found a configuration that works really well for us,” says Brewer. “We run two different power circuits, coded to suit. Circuit one is used to power the fan coils and other hvac equipment and circuit two includes the comms signal. It powers the lighting control units and luminaires. We have used Electrak’s own lighting control units, which just clip onto the trunking and plug straight in. But when another lighting control system is specified, we get Electrak to connect a Wieland type connector to its tap offs and plug these straight into the control units, or free issue the Electrak lead to the lighting control manufacturer who connects it at the factory and delivers it connected to the lighting control module. Quick, easy and reliable.”

According to PIP, the approach works on many levels, not least quality. “We keep a list of technical snags against suppliers,” says Bower. “Since 1997, no Electrak product has been included on that list.”

The company is also concerned about neatness. “I have seen ceiling voids that are a total knot of cables and wiring or bulging tray and you can’t see what’s going where,” says Brewer. “Lift a tile to look at one of our installations and everything is totally clean and clear. Parallel runs of track, colour coded for future maintenance, with neat tap off runs.”

Using this method, PIP can complete a high spec installation within tight programme constraints. “We can complete a Cat A fit out to the landlord’s spec and if the tenant asks for design changes, the power is in place at high as well as low level and these can be incorporated by just plugging in another lead,” explains Brewer.

And if the nickname ‘the plug in people’ sticks? “Well, it could be a whole lot worse, couldn’t it?”