Client: University of Sussex
Project: LV switchboard replacement and submain distribution upgrades
Value: Approximately £785,000 combined
Our role: Main contractor
Installer: Lake Electrical Limited
Lake Electrical Limited was appointed main contractor for three LV switchboard replacement projects across a university campus, replacing the ageing main low voltage distribution panels in three separate buildings and upgrading the submain distribution that feeds off them. The combined value of the works was around £785,000.
The three projects formed part of a wider investment in the campus electrical infrastructure, improving the reliability, capacity and long-term resilience of each building’s power distribution. We worked alongside specialist switchboard manufacturers to coordinate the design, manufacture and installation of the new panels, while the buildings stayed in use for teaching and research.
What a main LV panel does, and why it gets replaced
The main LV distribution panel is where the incoming supply arrives and is divided up. Every distribution board and every circuit in the building is fed from it. When it reaches the end of its life, replacement parts stop being available, capacity runs short, and the risk of an unplanned outage climbs.
It is also the one piece of equipment you cannot work on while the building carries on as normal. Replacing it means taking the whole building off supply, which is why these careful planning is essential to completing the replacement within the agreed shutdown.
The challenge
An LV switchboard replacement is among the most critical works that can be carried out in an occupied building. Each of the three projects meant removing the building’s primary electrical distribution equipment while teaching, research and day-to-day operations carried on around it.
Once a shutdown started, the programme was tight. Each panel replacement had to be finished inside a four- to six-day window.
Each project also involved associated work that had to be sequenced into the same shutdown:
- Submain replacements and alterations
- Licensed asbestos removal
- Builders’ works and structural alterations
- Cable containment modifications
- Firestopping and building reinstatement
- Securing and protecting existing electrical services
How we delivered each LV switchboard replacement
Lake Electrical acted as the single point of responsibility throughout, managing the electrical installation alongside every specialist contractor and enabling work.
Our scope covered:
- Main LV distribution panel design coordination
- Manufacture and installation of the new switchboards
- Submain upgrades and alterations
- Planned building shutdowns and electrical isolations
- Temporary generator installations and power transfers
- Removal of the existing distribution equipment
- Coordination of licensed asbestos removal contractors
- Associated builders’ works and structural alterations
- Cable management, support systems and service protection
- Firestopping and building reinstatement
- Testing, commissioning and energisation
Through the critical shutdown periods, our engineers worked back-to-back shifts, so installation, testing and commissioning could carry on continuously and each building could be handed back as quickly as possible.
Planning the shutdowns and the temporary power
A detailed shutdown plan was written for each building, identifying the critical services, the temporary power required and the sequence the work had to run in.
Essential circuits were transferred onto temporary generator supplies before the existing equipment came out, so anything that could not be switched off kept running while the panel was replaced. Coordination between the University, the panel manufacturers, the generator suppliers and the associated contractors was the part that made the programme work.
Working in a live university
Delivering electrical infrastructure projects on an occupied campus takes a controlled approach. Buildings are in use, laboratories have work in progress, and the dates available are set by the University’s calendar rather than ours.
By running every trade under a single programme, we kept tight control of safety, quality and delivery, and the University had one contractor to deal with rather than six.
The result
All three projects were delivered within their planned shutdown periods, with each LV switchboard replacement completed in approximately four to six days.
The University now has modern, reliable distribution systems in all three buildings, with the capacity and maintainability to support how those buildings are used in future.
Key figures from the programme:
- £785,000 combined project value
- 3 university buildings upgraded
- 3 LV switchboard replacements, one per building
- 4 to 6 day switchboard replacement programme per building
- Temporary generator-backed supplies throughout each shutdown
- Back-to-back shift working during the critical periods
- Full main contractor coordination, including asbestos removal, firestopping and builders’ works
Talk to us about an LV switchboard replacement
If you have a main switchboard or intake panel reaching the end of its life, or an EICR has flagged it, we can look at what is there, set out how a replacement would be programmed around the building, and tell you what the temporary power arrangements would involve.
Request a quote, or call the team on 01732 758 985.
Lake Electrical Limited, commercial electrical contractors since 2008, working across Kent, East Sussex, Surrey and the wider South East.