Ryedene Electrical Upgrade

Ryedene Electrical Upgrade

Key Facts:

Client Name: Ryedene Primary School and Nursery
Location: Basildon, Essex
Type of client: Primary Academy
Services provided by M+C: Building Surveying | Planning Services | Procurement | Project Management | Funding
Value: £356,773
Contractor: Mega 2 Electrical
M+C Lead: Phil Ruffle

Background and Issues

Ryedene Primary School and Nursery is a popular school located near Basildon, Essex. The buildings are typical of 1960’s construction, and are therefore beginning to show signs of aging and disrepair.

In particular, the electrical installations were largely original to the building. Despite having been subject to extensions and repairs on an ad-hoc basis over the years, the system was deficient and potentially dangerous to the building users. The main points needing urgent attention were as follows:

  • The installation as a whole contravened current safety standards.
  • Exposed live wiring in some areas of the school posed a high health and safety risk.
  • Emergency lighting was largely non-compliant, and in some areas not present at all.
  • General use lighting contravened regulatory standards in terms of Lux levels.
  • The school’s insurance could be void due to the high risk of fire or injury.
  • The electrical distribution boards contained ACMs.

Solution

The school determined that the most effective way to address these problems was to carry out a full rewire of the school buildings, with the exception of a small area which had already enjoyed an upgrade. Not only would this solution mitigate the current health and safety concerns, but would also ensure regulatory compliance throughout the school. The school approached M+C for support with making a CIF funding application to finance the works. Furthermore, M+C were to provide full project management services, assuming funding could be secured.

M+C lead consultant, Phil Ruffle, worked with electrical engineers to complete an electrical condition survey. He then completed a full tender process in order to demonstrate full cost certainty within the funding application. In addition to this, they carried out a full options appraisal to justify the school’s chosen course of action. Not only did this compare the monetary costs associated with various schemes, it also highlighted the potentially catastrophic cost of no action.

Project

With the required funds secured, the school instructed Mega 2 Electrical, who returned the most competitive tender, to commence work. The demands of the working school day and the intrusive nature of this project, made it impossible to work during term time. With this in mind, the bulk of the works took place over the summer break. This was a tight time frame for such a complex project, meaning that effective scheduling and time management was critical. Phil Ruffle from M+C managed the project from start to finish. He handed over a safe, compliant and altogether more comfortable building to the great satisfaction of all parties.