Commercial

New builds

Plumbing and heating packages for new build plots, from below-slab drainage to handover.

We take plots from below-slab drainage through to commissioning and handover, working to the main contractor's programme rather than our own. Most of that work is on sites across Nottinghamshire and the East Midlands, within reach of our base outside Nottingham. One plot or a run of them, the sequence is the same.

How a plot runs

Below-slab drainage goes in first: soil and waste runs set out to the drawings, connections capped, falls and levels checked, then air tested before the slab covers them. We record what went where at that stage, because once the concrete is down nobody can see it again.

First fix follows the frame. Hot, cold and heating pipework is run, notched and clipped, then pressure tested and left under test while the trades behind us work around it. Underfloor heating loops are laid out and pressurised before the screed goes down, so a loop caught by another trade shows up while the floor is still open.

Second fix is sanitaryware, taps, wastes, radiators, the boiler or cylinder and the controls. Commissioning comes last. The system is filled, flushed and balanced, the appliance is set to work against the manufacturer's instructions, and the flue and gas rate are checked before anything is signed off.

The paperwork at handover

Each appliance leaves with its Benchmark checklist completed and signed. That matters more than it looks: an unsigned Benchmark can affect the manufacturer's warranty, and the person who finds out is usually the buyer, long after we have left the site.

Alongside it we hand over commissioning records for the heating system, the water regulations paperwork, and the gas installation records your building control body needs for the plot. Where an unvented cylinder is fitted, its commissioning record forms part of the same pack.

Part G and Part L compliance rests on records rather than assurances, so we complete them on the plot with the system in front of us instead of writing them up afterwards. If your building control body or warranty provider wants the pack in a particular format, tell us before commissioning and we will fill it in the way they want it.

Working to the site programme

We book against the site programme, plot by plot, and we would rather hear that a slot has moved than arrive at a plot that is not ready for us. Our hours are Monday to Friday, eight until six, so a date that slips into a weekend moves to the following week rather than being absorbed.

On a repeating house type the work settles into a rhythm, with first fix on one plot and second fix on another in the same week. We are Gas Safe registered, water regulations registered and SafeContractor approved. Tell us which site cards and training records you need for the induction and we will send over what we hold before we start. Rates and how they are charged are agreed before we start, and variations are priced on the same basis as they come up, so you can see how anything on a valuation was arrived at.

Common questions

Can you work to our programme rather than your own dates?

Yes, that is how plot work is booked. Give us the dates for below-slab, first fix and second fix and we will book against them, and tell us as soon as they move so the slot can go to another plot rather than sit empty. We work Monday to Friday, eight until six, so a date that lands on a weekend has to shift.

What paperwork do we get at handover?

A signed Benchmark for the appliance, commissioning records for the heating system, the water regulations paperwork and the Building Control notification for the gas work. If an unvented cylinder is on the plot, its commissioning record goes in as well. Where your warranty provider or building control body wants a particular format, tell us before we commission and we will complete it their way.

Will you take on a single plot or a self-build?

Yes. The sequence is the same on one plot as it is on a run of them; the difference is that on a self-build you are the one deciding the layout, the cylinder size and where the controls go, and you may want longer to decide. We will tell you which of those need settling before first fix and which can wait until second fix.

How is the work priced?

We do not publish rates, because what a plot involves varies with the drainage, the heating system and how much of the spec is already fixed. What we do is set out the rates and how they apply before the work is booked, so the basis of the price is agreed before anyone is on site. Variations are priced the same way, as they come up.