Every construction programme has the same quiet gap in the middle of it.
The main works are approved. The site is ready to be mobilised. But the mechanical and electrical contract hasn’t been signed yet — and until it is, nobody wants to commit to bringing power, water, lighting, or welfare to the site. Because that’s the M&E contractor’s job. Isn’t it?
Not necessarily. And that assumption is what turns a two-week gap into a two-month one.
This is the article we’ve been meaning to write for a while, because we get asked about it every couple of months. A principal contractor calls us and says: “We’re about to break ground. We haven’t finalised the M&E procurement yet. Can you get us live in the meantime?”
The answer is yes. And this is how it works — because if you’re a project manager, principal contractor, or developer reading this, you probably need to know it exists.
The problem nobody talks about
Here’s the situation more times than we can count.
A commercial site is bought or leased. The main contractor is appointed. Enabling works are approved. There’s a programme. There’s a deadline. There’s a start date.
Then the M&E tender process begins.
M&E procurement on a serious project takes time. Specification. Tender documents. Pre-qualification. Site visits. Clarifications. Evaluation. Awards. Contract negotiation. Mobilisation. Realistically, from the moment a client says “we need to tender the M&E” to the moment the winning contractor is on site with a spanner, you’re often looking at eight to twelve weeks.
During which time the main works cannot start. Because there’s no site power. No welfare. No lighting. No heating for drying. No water. No compliant CDM 2015 setup.
The principal contractor is now looking at a delay that wasn’t in the programme. The developer is looking at costs continuing to accumulate on a site that isn’t earning. Everyone is looking at the M&E procurement asking whether it can be rushed — which it can, but rushing procurement is exactly how the wrong contractor gets appointed.
What most people do about it
Two options, both bad.
Option one: Delay the site start until M&E is appointed. Push the programme back. Absorb the cost. Explain the slip to whoever needs explaining.
Option two: Rush the M&E procurement to fit the programme. Skip some of the due diligence. Appoint whoever’s available. Discover their limitations later, on the wrong side of a signed contract.
Neither is a good answer. Both are what happens when the buyer doesn’t know there’s a third option.
What we actually do
ETS Group is often on site — powered up, welfare live, lighting installed, water running — before the main M&E contractor has been chosen. Sometimes before the tender has even gone out.
Here’s how it works in practice.
The principal contractor calls us. They describe the site, the programme, the outstanding M&E procurement, and the gap they’re trying to close. We visit the site — usually within 3-5 working days of that first call. We map out what’s needed to get the site legally, safely, and productively operational under CDM 2015:
- Temporary power distribution — supplies to cabins, tools, plant, and welfare units
- Site lighting and lighting towers — for safe working conditions during shorter days
- Water supply — welfare, cleaning, and construction tasks
- Drainage and waste — compliant handling of grey and black water
- Temporary heating — welfare comfort and, where relevant, drying and frost protection
- Welfare facilities — meeting CDM 2015 Schedule 2 requirements
- Fire safety and alarm systems — appropriate to the site setup
- Documentation — RAMS, electrical certificates, water hygiene checks
We give the principal contractor a costed proposal, usually within a week of the site visit. Once approved, we mobilise. Depending on scope, the site is operational within 1-2 weeks of order.
The main works can now begin — on programme, without waiting for the M&E procurement to conclude.
The clean handover point
Here’s where the process gets interesting, because a lot of principal contractors assume there’ll be conflict between the interim setup and the eventual permanent M&E contractor. There doesn’t have to be.
When the main M&E contractor is finally appointed, we hand over cleanly. Our installation was designed as temporary infrastructure from day one — sized appropriately, sequenced sensibly, documented properly. When the permanent contractor arrives, they get:
- Full documentation of what we installed and how
- Clear demarcation between temporary and permanent works
- No hidden legacy issues they’ll inherit
- A site that’s already operational, so their teams can plug in and start delivering the permanent works without renegotiating the site logistics
No overlap. No scope confusion. No “who’s responsible for what” arguments halfway through the build.
For the client, this means the M&E procurement can be run properly — evaluating contractors on capability, price, and cultural fit rather than on who can mobilise fastest. Better decisions get made. Better contractors get appointed. And when they do arrive, they walk onto a site that’s already running.
Why most contractors won’t do this
The reason this option isn’t more widely known — and why more contractors don’t offer it — comes down to three things.
It requires genuine multi-discipline capability. You can’t offer this if you’re an electrical specialist only, or a mechanical specialist only, or a welfare-hire company only. Interim site services need electrical, mechanical, plumbing, heating, welfare, and often fire and security all delivered by one accountable team. Most contractors don’t have all of that in-house.
It requires flexibility on programme. Interim setups have unusual timelines. Short mobilisation windows. Uncertain handover dates that depend on when the main M&E is appointed. Contractors used to long, defined project programmes don’t like this kind of work.
It requires accreditation and documentation discipline. Every temporary installation still has to be CDM 2015 compliant, tested, certified, and handed over with paperwork. Some contractors treat “temporary” as an excuse for looser standards. That’s not us — every install we do carries the same certification as a permanent one, because when HSE turns up, they don’t care whether the work is temporary.
We can offer it because we’ve been delivering site services since 1979, our four legal entities cover every discipline needed, our teams are all directly employed, and our accreditations — NICEIC, CHAS, Constructionline, SMAS Worksafe, Alcumus SafeContractor, CSCS — cover the full scope of the work.
When this makes sense for your project
Not every project needs interim site services. But if any of these sound like your situation, it’s worth a conversation:
- You’ve bought or leased a commercial site and need to start enabling works before the full M&E contract is signed
- Your M&E procurement is running behind the main programme and the client won’t accept the slip
- You’re taking over a site from another contractor and inherited an incomplete or non-compliant temporary setup
- You’re phasing a large project and need temporary services to bridge between phases
- You’re running a short-notice fit-out or refurbishment where speed of mobilisation matters more than long procurement cycles
- You’re on a live-trading site (retail, hospitality) where the programme has to work around opening hours and the main M&E can’t mobilise fast enough
If any of these apply, the earlier you talk to us, the smoother the setup. We’d rather have a 20-minute conversation at planning stage than a rescue call three days before you’re supposed to break ground.
What it costs
Roughly what you’d expect a proper temporary site services installation to cost — sized to your programme, scope, and site conditions. Every project is different so we don’t publish a price list, but we can usually give an indicative cost range after a first phone call and a firm proposal within a week of a site visit.
What we won’t do is quote blind. If any contractor gives you a fixed price for interim site services over the phone, without visiting the site and understanding the programme, they’re either guessing or they’ve baked enormous contingency into the price. Neither serves you.
The bigger point
The reason we’ve written this article is that most principal contractors, developers, and project managers we speak to don’t know this option exists. They think their only choices are “delay the programme” or “rush the M&E procurement.” Both hurt.
There’s a third option. Call the contractor who can be on site before the others have even been chosen. Get the site live. Then run the M&E procurement properly, at the pace it deserves, without the programme pressure distorting the decision.
That’s how good projects stay good projects.
If you’re facing that gap on a current or upcoming project, call us on 0117 9414 666 or drop us a line. Even if we’re not the right fit, we’ll give you an honest steer on what to think about — no obligation, no pressure.
We’ve been doing this for 47 years. We’ve seen most of the shapes this problem takes. There’s usually a way through.
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