East Sussex County Council appointed Frankham to undertake the RIBA Stage 1-4 design of six Solar PV sites in Phase 1. Once designed, we acted in a Contract Administrator role for RIBA Stages 5-7 of the projects. For the Phase 2 projects onwards, we were responsible for reviewing Contractor designs, pricing assessments in RIBA Stages 2-4 and undertaking the Contractor Administrator role for RIBA Stages 5-7 of the projects.

The aim of these projects is to install Solar PV Systems at a mixture of commercial, education and government buildings across the ESCC property portfolio. Subsequently, there will be a reduction in the energy consumption of these buildings, helping East Sussex County Council to achieve their carbon reduction targets.

Challenges

Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme Funding:

All Phase 1 sites had to fully comply with the requirements of the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme, run by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero and delivered by Salix Finance.

Constant reviews and communication with the Salix delivery and carbon and technical teams was maintained at all stages during Phase 1 to ensure that their specific requirements were met. This was managed by Frankham for an installation/onsite perspective and by the client, East Sussex County Council, from a financial one.

Our approach and ongoing attention to this aspect of the projects resulted in funding being granted.

Planning Permissions:

All sites had to obtain planning permissions from the local planning authority. However, some of the sites were subject to more stringent reviews due to the possibility of the sites impacting the visual appeal of the South Downs National Park.

Designs were submitted ahead of schedule so that adequate time was available for re-designs. They were triple checked to ensure they met with the relevant standards of the local planning authority. As a result, the local planning authority had no grounds to reject the design proposals.

Meetings with outside authorities including South Downs National Park were held to facilitate open forum discussion.

Client:
East Sussex County Council

Services:
Electrical (Building Services)
Contract Administration/Management