MIDDLE EAST NEWS UPDATE | 06

MEP AWARDS | 21
INTERSEC 2011 | 35
HEAT PUMPS | 40
LEGAL | 45
PRODUCTS | 46
Essential
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cha electrical, plumbing and HVAC professionals An ITP Business Publication | January 2011 Vol. 6 Issue 1

SP
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COPPER
THE IMPACT OF TOP
PRICE FLUCTUATIONS FIR
QA MS
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CONT R FOCUS
MODULAR WIRING R
PROJACTORS,
SAVING COSTS ON ECTS
ELECTRICAL INSTALLATIONS

2010 AWARDS
Allll the
A the shortlists,
shorttlistts, commendations,
commenddattions, winners andd pi
pictures
icttures

ALSO: CKR CONSULTING ENGINEERS ON THE FUTURE OF DUBAI

CONTENTS

16

38
03 CONSTRUCTION WEEK short-listed nominees from 43 REGION IN FOCUS
ONLINE the event on Sun 12 Dec Leading MEP contractors in
Qatar
05 COMMENT 35-37 INTERSEC 2011
A preview of the region’s 44 METAL MONITOR
06-11 UPDATE safety and security expo
45 LEGAL
12-15 COPPER 38-39 TECHNICAL Dennis Brand looks at ‘Inco
The impact of the rapidly The benefits of modular -terms 2010’
escalating copper price prefab wiring systems
46-47 PRODUCTS
16-19 THE BIG INTERVIEW 40-41 TECHNICAL A special focus on HVAC
CKR Consulting Engineers The role of heat pumps products at the Big 5
on ten years in Dubai
42 BUSINESS LEADS 48 THE LAST WORD
21-33 MEP AWARDS 2010 MEP opportunities for con ICE president Paul Jowitt on
Full coverage of the winners, tractors in Qatar his reason visit to Dubai

www.constructionweekonline.com January 2011 | MEP Middle East 1

Changing from
HARD-WIRED Prefabricated or modular wiring systems have the power to deliver
improved margins and time-savings on electrical installations with zero-harm,
zero-waste products that are faster and safer to install – so why are more
electrical contractors not switching allegiance from hard-wiring?

lectrical installation proce- ing installation by extending and interlinking fective and straight-forward a pre-fabricated
dures have changed little in pre-wired products all the way from the main wiring system can be, with installations rang-
decades, with hard-wiring power source under the floor to the desk and ing from police headquarters to hotels, pres-
having been the necessary to lighting and perimeter systems via its sim- tige office developments/refurbishments,
and often preferred option ple plug-and-play connection system – in short, schools/accommodation blocks and mixed
for contractors, despite indus- MT32 can deliver a complete electrical wiring use commercial projects,” comments Mar-
try predictions that modular installation. It is still unfamiliar territory for shall-Tufflex international technical sales man-
would be the norm by now. many, and some electrical engineers perceive ager Svetislav (Bata) Bulajic.
In relation to 16A and 20A it is not always suitable for their projects.
lighting systems, pre-wired “However, we have a rapidly growing bank PREFABRICATED
plug-and-play systems have been in the mar- of projects that prove just how successful, ef- “Our MT32 prefabricated wiring solution has
ket for some time. However, the innovation by also been used within multi-occupancy resi-
Marshall-Tufflex of a small 32A plug-and-play dential developments. Electrical designers and
connector has done away with the need for contractors who have dipped their toes and

50%
hard wiring to floor boxes or trunking acces- road-tested the system quickly realise it of-
sory boxes, and opened up a whole new range fers real commercial and end-user benefits
of possibilities for the installer. that, quite simply, cannot be ignored for future
Marshall-Tufflex’s MT32 prefabricated wir- projects,” says Bulajic.
ing system allows electrical contractors and less time on-site He cites the advantages as being “immense
engineers to provide a complete electrical wir- and futuristic”. Speed of installation is one of

38 MEP Middle East | January 2011 www.constructionweekonline.com

the main benefits. A contractor can e-mail Au- the requirement for cable containment such
toCAD drawings to the supplying manufactur- as steel conduit and overhead metal trunk-
er, and it will design the modular system and ing systems. This simplifies installation at any
supply it all ready to be plugged in. given location, but particularly so where con-
A complete installation is achieved from tainment is situated above ceiling and in parti-
the distribution board to the furthest point tion walls. Modular systems reduce time spent
of a circuit by simply clicking the connectors working at height pulling cables through. Less
together, or by using a project-specific Home time spent working on elevated platforms, po-
Run [the electrical cable that carries power diums and step ladders delivers obvious health
from the main circuitbreaker panel to the first and safety benefits.
electrical box, plug, or switch in the circuit]. “Hard-wiring is a wasteful procedure in new
“The thinking behind prefabricated systems installations, as cable runs are usually installed
is simple – to reduce the amount of electrical with an over-run of cable that converts into fi-
work carried out on-site,” says Bulajic. nancial loss. This waste is commonplace in the
Rather than collecting together the individu- commercial environment, where many thou-
al components for a particular task and assign- sands of metres of wiring can be stripped out
ing an electrician to assemble them, the elec- during an office refurbishment. Prefabricated
trical contractor purchases the finished unit, systems lend themselves brilliantly to re-use
in theory recouping the extra cost of the com- and can be virtually zero waste,” says Bulajic.
ponent in time saved on-site. Immediately this
raises concerns that electrical contractors will Svetislav (Bata) Bulajic from Marshall-Tufflex REUSABILITY
face a drop in income if they employ a modular “In the case of MT32, the system can be dis-
approach. Not so, argues Bulajic. and testing. “For contractors and electrical connected using a small screwdriver, and the
systems designers wishing to try a modular cabling runs re-used where appropriate. This
TIME ON-SITE approach, we can offer design and technical reusability makes prefabricated wiring a bril-
“Broadly speaking, jobs are priced as con- support, particularly for the first project. liant proposition for permanent and temporary
tracts, and that approach does not change. electrical installations such as office blocks,
What does change is time spent on-site, which MAXIMUM BENEFITS hospitals, schools and commercial premises,
can be reduced by 50% or more (or months off “We also advise including your modular manu- as well as modular buildings like housing,
a year-long project). Initial outlay for a modular facturer in project-design discussions at the apartments, student accommodations, tempo-
system is slightly higher than that for hard-wir- earliest possible stage in order to get maxi- rary installations and exhibitions stands.”
ing, but this extra cost is quickly recouped by mum benefits from using a pre-fabricated sys- All modular wiring systems require instal-
significantly lower labour charges, delivering tem. That said, it is possible to switch a hard- lation by qualified electricians to ensure they
monetary savings of up to 50%.” wired specification to modular,” says Bulajic. are fitted in accordance with the IEE Wiring
Time- and cost-savings of this level are pos- Pre-wiring and factory testing provides ma- Regulations 17th Edition: BS7671:2008. Mar-
sible because modular systems are delivered jor time-savings during second-fix, as well as of- shall-Tufflex works closely with all relevant
to site ready for connection. Design and plan- fering safe and problem-free connection, while mechanical and electrical consultants qualified
ning work is done in advance. “For Marshall- keyed connectors guarantee cable sizes are to produce electrical designs and calculations
Tufflex clients, this means supplying us with correctly matched and ensure correct polarity. in order to integrate modular wring plans into
project drawings, enabling us to evaluate the Project-specific pre-wired Home Runs reduce design drawings.
electrical requirements of the scheme, meas-
ure the lengths of cables required, number of MEP CONTRACTORS OPT FOR PREFABRICATED WIRING
Home Runs needed, etc.
“This information is used by our clients MEP contractor BK Gulf ment manager Darren Harper. PEM’s plug-
to price the contract and, once given the go- has successfully de- and-play system from Apex Wiring Solutions
ahead, we fabricate the components, which are ployed a prefab wiring of the UK “has been demonstrated locally
then sent to site fully factory tested and boxed solution at Al Zeina, a to save at least 70% of the installation time
up ready for installation,” explains Bulajic. precinct of Aldar’s Al on-site.” PEM’s advantage is that it already
Modular solutions work on a radial circuit Raha Beach develop- understands manufacturing and the integrated
rather than a ring main. The radial approach ment in Abu Dhabi. project management required to effectively
is well accepted around the world. There are Prime Electrical Manu- provide this type of solution, says Harper. “We
proven advantages to installing radial circuits. facturing (PEM) “is now already manufacture the switchgear, MCCs
For example, these circuits use far less copper in talks with local and and control systems, so when the opportunity
cable, so there is less time spent on installation international MEP contrac- arose to introduce a pre-manufactured wir-
and therefore lower costs. tors for hospitals, hotels, ing solution to our portfolio, it made perfect
And that is in addition to the savings being residential and com- sense. The Apex Wiring system is a natural
made through use of a modular wiring system. mercial developments progression for us, as well as the Middle East
Faults are less likely, and easier to identify. within the region,” construction industry. We manufacture all of
Radial circuits can offer a quicker, more cost- comments engineering the products locally to ensure adequate prod-
effective and safer way to work with less drain and business develop- uct lead time to actively support our clients.”
on copper resources and speedier inspection

www.constructionweekonline.com January 2011 | MEP Middle East 39