Utility connections

What has to be settled

Whether there is capacity

A pipe in the street is not enough: the availability of the required capacity has to be confirmed. For electrical capacity and for drainage this is often the constraint.

Where the connection point is

It determines the length and cost of the connection and affects the layout within the plot.

On what conditions

Contributions, development charges, technical requirements.

How long it takes

The lead time for the administration and the work — often the longest element of the project.

Where there is no mains

Instead of drainage

On-site wastewater treatment, if the regulations allow. It takes space and needs consent.

Instead of water

A private well, where the conditions permit.

Instead of gas

Today we generally do not design with gas at all: a heat pump or another solution, which increases the electrical demand — which comes back to the question of electrical capacity.

Why it affects the structure

Utility connections pass through the structure: through the slab, the wall, the floor.

In light gauge steel these penetrations:

• affect the vapour control, The principle of vapour control,
• require fire stopping, Fire stopping of penetrations,
• and are a structural question where they are large.

So the position of the penetrations has to be known before manufacture — cutting them afterwards is substantially worse.

The order of design

1. Obtain the utility data.
2. Services concept to suit it.
3. Fix the routes and the penetrations.
4. Structural design containing them.
5. Manufacture.

Upset that order and the fault is locked into the manufacture.

The point

Utility administration can be the slowest element of the project and the earliest one that can be started. Start it in the first week.