Commercial Infrastructure Upgrades in Surrey and London
WTS Plumbing & Heating Ltd upgrades the heating, cooling, water and ventilation infrastructure in occupied commercial buildings. We work from our office at Jayes Park Courtyard in Ockley, about seven miles south of Dorking on the A29, so buildings in Dorking, Reigate, Leatherhead, Ashtead, Epsom, Banstead and Cheam are close to home for surveys and phased works. We also carry on working for main contractors and building owners in London, where our projects have included Cabot Square, Cannon Street, Voysey House and Moor House Level 9. Most of this work is in buildings that stay open while we are on site: offices, healthcare premises, schools and colleges. Every phase is agreed with the facilities team before the first isolation, so the people using the building notice as little as possible.
Energy Efficiency, MEES and Compliance Upgrades
Commercial property that is let out has to meet the Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards (MEES), and a poor EPC rating now limits what an owner can do with a building. Old gas plant, uninsulated distribution pipework and controls that run everything at full output are usually the biggest contributors to a bad rating. We survey the existing plant, measure what it is really doing and set out the options in plain terms: which upgrades move the EPC, which cut running costs, and which are compliance items that cannot wait. Our sustainability service can model the outcome before you commit, so the budget goes on changes that alter how the building performs rather than on guesswork.
Gas to Heat Pump and Refrigerant Conversions
Many older commercial buildings still heat with gas boilers and cool with separate split units. Moving to a heat pump or VRF refrigerant system lets one set of plant do both jobs and can take gas off the site altogether. WTS handles the whole conversion: feasibility and heat loss checks, plant selection, pipework and refrigerant distribution, the electrical supply through our NICEIC Approved Contractor electricians, and safe decommissioning of the old gas plant by Gas Safe registered engineers. Our engineers hold F-Gas certification for the refrigerant work and WTS is MCS certified for heat pump installation. Where the existing wet system is worth keeping, we design the new plant to run the radiators, fan coils or underfloor circuits already in the building.
Heat Recovery and Ventilation Improvements
A building that has been sealed up to save heat needs mechanical ventilation, and ventilation without heat recovery throws away most of the energy used to warm the air in the first place. We design and install mechanical ventilation with heat recovery (MVHR) units and heat recovery sections on air handling plant, sized from the occupancy and use of each space rather than a rule of thumb. Duct runs are set out to suit the building as it is, which matters in older Surrey and London stock where ceiling voids are tight. The result is fresh air at the right rate, a lower load on the boilers or heat pump, and a building that meets Approved Document F without a heating bill to match.
Building Controls and BEMS Upgrades
Controls are often the lowest cost upgrade with the biggest return. We install and configure Building Energy Management Systems (BEMS) that bring heating, cooling, hot water and ventilation onto one platform, with time schedules, weather compensation, optimum start and zone control set up for how the building is actually used. Existing plant can usually be brought onto the new system rather than replaced, and we commission every sensor and actuator so the readings on screen are the readings in the pipe. Our validations and reporting engineers then check the finished system against the design, so the savings promised on the drawings turn into savings on the energy bill.
Working in Occupied Buildings
Most infrastructure upgrades happen in buildings that are open for business. Before any work starts we agree a phasing plan with the facilities manager: which areas are affected, when shutdowns will happen, how temporary heating or hot water will be kept running, and who tells the occupants. Noisy or disruptive tasks are planned for the times the building is quietest. WTS is SafeContractor Approved and our engineers are used to the permit-to-work and induction systems that tier-one contractors and managing agents run, so every isolation is signed off before and after. The approach is the same whether the job is a floor of a City office building or a medical centre in a town like Reigate.
Plant Rooms, Risers and Long-Term Performance
Plant rooms are where most infrastructure upgrades begin and end. We strip out and replace boilers, calorifiers, pumps, pressurisation units, cold water booster sets and storage tanks, and renew the risers and distribution pipework that feed them, keeping the building running on temporary plant where the programme needs it. A straightforward commercial boiler replacement and a full M&E upgrade follow the same process: pipework is pressure tested and flushed before the new plant is connected, and the old plant is removed from site rather than left in the room. Where the brief is to cut carbon, we design the plant room around air source heat pumps, with high efficiency condensing boilers kept only as backup or peak plant where the heat loss calls for it. Every installation is commissioned by our own engineers and handed over with drawings, operation and maintenance information and a 12-month warranty on parts and workmanship.
What our infrastructure upgrade work includes:
- Gas to heat pump and refrigerant system conversions
- Heating, cooling and ventilation plant upgrades
- Heat recovery and MVHR installation
- Building Energy Management Systems (BEMS) and controls
- Cold water storage, booster sets and drainage upgrades
- Plant room strip-out, replacement and temporary plant
- Mechanical and electrical integration under one contractor
- Phased works in occupied buildings
Building Systems Planned for the Long Term
An infrastructure upgrade is a decision the building lives with for a long time, so we design for what comes next as well as for what is failing now. That means leaving space and electrical capacity for heat pumps in a plant room that is still on gas today, choosing controls that can take on more plant later, and handing over drawings and commissioning data that are current, so the next contractor is not starting from scratch. WTS is a family run company that has been doing this work since 2008, for the tier-one contractors we still work with in London and for building owners and managing agents across Surrey.
Contact WTS Plumbing & Heating Ltd today to discuss infrastructure upgrades, plant room replacement or building efficiency works in Surrey or London. Call the Ockley office on 01306 621 057 or the London line on 02080 874 309.
Commercial services by town
Infrastructure upgrade projects start from our Ockley office, about seven miles south of Dorking on the A29, which puts Dorking, Reigate, Epsom, Banstead and Cheam within easy reach for surveys and phased works. The town pages below cover the commercial plumbing and boiler services we offer in each area, with Putney available on request. We continue to take on plant room and building services work for main contractors and building owners in London.
DorkingCommercial boiler installation in DorkingCommercial boiler repairs in DorkingCommercial boiler servicing in DorkingCommercial plumbers in Dorking
ReigateCommercial plumbers in Reigate
EpsomCommercial boiler installation in EpsomCommercial boiler repairs in EpsomCommercial boiler servicing in EpsomCommercial plumbers in Epsom
BansteadCommercial boiler installation in BansteadCommercial boiler repairs in BansteadCommercial boiler servicing in BansteadCommercial plumbers in Banstead
CheamCommercial boiler installation in CheamCommercial boiler repairs in CheamCommercial boiler servicing in CheamCommercial plumbers in Cheam
PutneyCommercial boiler installation in PutneyCommercial boiler repairs in PutneyCommercial boiler servicing in Putney
Questions we are asked about infrastructure upgrades
Any replacement or improvement of the plant and distribution that keeps a building running: boilers, heat pumps, chillers, air handling units, calorifiers, booster sets, risers, pipework, ventilation and the controls that tie them together. It sits between routine maintenance and a full refurbishment. WTS surveys the existing installation first, then sets out which items are failing, which are wasting energy and which are needed for compliance.
Yes, and most of our upgrade work is done in occupied buildings. We agree a phasing plan with the facilities manager before starting, keep heating and hot water running on temporary plant where a shutdown would be too disruptive, and plan noisy tasks around the building's quiet periods. WTS is SafeContractor Approved and works within the permit-to-work systems that managing agents and tier-one contractors use.
Yes. We carry out feasibility and heat loss checks, select and install air source heat pumps or VRF refrigerant plant, provide the electrical supply through our NICEIC Approved Contractor electricians and decommission the old gas plant with Gas Safe registered engineers. WTS is MCS certified for heat pump work and our engineers hold F-Gas certification for refrigerant handling. Ask us for our Gas Safe registration number and check it on the Gas Safe Register before work starts.
Our office is at Jayes Park Courtyard in Ockley, about seven miles south of Dorking on the A29, so Dorking, Reigate, Leatherhead, Ashtead, Epsom, Banstead, Cheam and Cranleigh are our core Surrey area. We also work for main contractors and building owners in London, where projects have included Cabot Square, Cannon Street, Voysey House and Moor House Level 9, and take on Wimbledon, Putney and Fulham on request.
Usually, yes. Old gas plant, uninsulated pipework and poor controls are among the biggest drags on a commercial EPC, so replacing plant, adding heat recovery and fitting a Building Energy Management System all tend to move the rating. We assess the building first and tell you which upgrades affect the EPC and which mainly cut running costs, so you can decide where the budget is best spent.
A commissioned system, not just an installed one. Our own engineers commission the plant and controls, and our validations and reporting engineers check the results against the design. You receive as-installed drawings, operation and maintenance information, commissioning records and a 12-month warranty on parts and workmanship, so your facilities team and any future contractor can see exactly what was done and why.