Electrical fittings: the commodity line, pooled as a rate contract
From his earlier building-materials list; commodity, better bundled later.
The range above is an indicative planning figure taken from our own research, not a quotation and not an offer. buytogethr is pre-launch and has closed no pools.
What you are actually buying
Across a whole build this means cable by size and grade, conduit and accessories, distribution boards and protective devices, modular switches and sockets, luminaires and fans, and the labour to install and test them. It is bought as a schedule of many small line items rather than as one asset. Quotes vary on conductor and insulation grade, the cable make, whether a named modular range is held or quietly substituted, the declared output and driver warranty on light fittings, and how supply is split from installation. The usual failure is a loosely measured schedule of quantities: every later change is then priced at whatever rate the contractor sets, and the accepted equivalent arrives a grade below what was specified.
Why electrical fittings suits collective purchasing
This one deserves an honest answer. Electrical fittings are a commodity spread over hundreds of small lines, distribution is dense and already competitive, and there is no single high-value negotiation for a group to concentrate on. It does not aggregate the way a DG set or a panel does, which is why we have put it in a later phase. Where it works is as a standing rate contract — one schedule of items and one set of rates agreed for a period and drawn down by each member as its project reaches that stage — or bundled into an electrical package alongside the panels and the DG set so the volume becomes real.
Pin down before price
- Cable size, conductor and insulation grade fixed circuit by circuit, with an approved make list
- Breaking capacity of protective devices, and where residual current protection is mandatory
- Luminaire parameters written as output, colour temperature and driver warranty, not as a brand name alone
- A measured schedule of quantities, with the rating basis for variations agreed before work starts
- Testing and handover: insulation resistance, earth resistance and the records that come with them
What drives ten-year cost
- Energy drawn by the lighting and fan selection across the building's operating hours
- Driver and lamp replacement intervals, and whether a driver can be replaced or the fitting discarded
- Continuity of the modular range for repairs and extensions in later years