Need power on site for a build or construction project? KE Electrical organises your builders temporary power supply (BTS) and handles the network and retailer for you.
If you're working on a building or construction project, you may need to organise a builders temporary power supply (BTS). A BTS provides power for building or construction work — it isn't available for leisure or as a general power supply.
KE Electrical Warkworth electricians have 25 years of experience installing builders temporary power supplies all over Auckland and surrounding areas. If you're planning a new build or a construction project requiring power on site, we streamline the process by communicating with the network provider and your energy retailer on your behalf, making the whole process quicker and easier. On most modern development sites this process is reasonably straightforward.
A builders temporary power supply is often installed at the existing boundary supply underground pit (TUD) or above-ground plinth. The property owner can arrange this, however we recommend getting us involved in case any problems arise — we can deal with them quickly for you. The costs are relatively low.
In some cases there can be more to weigh up. For example, is there currently any power available at the boundary from the network provider (Vector, Northpower)? If not, how do you organise a design and quote — and how much will the network charge to provision your site?
Network upgrades and provisioning of new sites can quickly become expensive. It's not uncommon for the network provider to request transformer capacity upgrades when there's a shortfall at the power lines. We recommend contacting KE Electrical to organise a design and quote on your behalf. We can assess your project, calculate maximum demand requirements and liaise with the network design and quote team. Once that's established you'll have a clearer picture of overall connection costs — and peace of mind around any hidden surprises.
You also need to know whether the supply will connect directly up the pole, to an underground pit, or to an above-ground plinth — cable selection may vary depending on installation requirements.
It can save money to install the builders temporary power supply close to the build site. This is often the case when the site is too far from the boundary supply to safely run power via extension cords. In that situation you may consider underground mains installed to the build site and livened as a temporary supply; once the framing is up and closed in, it can be converted to a permanent main building supply within the new metering/distribution box.
At this point, if you open a service trench, KE Electrical can install all other relevant conduits for additional services — phone lines, garden lighting, gate automation — within the mains trench. See our page on mains cabling. We'll discuss the benefit of engaging other trades to share the service trench, such as water, gas and fibre. Carefully planning the build process and thinking ahead can save you money in the long run.
Typically you can expect a maximum temporary capacity of 32A single-phase (domestic) or 63A three-phase (commercial/industrial). It usually takes around 4–6 weeks for the network and retailer to create an ICP number and allocate a slot to install a builders temporary power supply meter to your site.
Get us involved early and we'll handle the network and retailer for you.