Buying guide
How to choose a UK control panel builder
We build control panels, so we are not a neutral party. What follows is still the advice we give on the phone, including the cases where the right answer is to buy something off the shelf from somebody else.
First: do you need a bespoke panel at all?
A packaged controller from a pump manufacturer — Lowara, DAB, Grundfos, Ebara — is cheaper than anything a panel builder will make you, is stocked by distributors, and is supported by the people who made the pump. For a simple duty/standby station with float switches and no telemetry, it is very often the right buy, and we will say so.
A built panel earns its cost when the logic is specific to the site, when a water authority or main contractor has specified something, when the panel needs telemetry or a BMS interface, when the motor ratings are outside the packaged range, or when you need an as-built drawing and a test certificate for handover.
What actually separates UK panel builders
Most will tell you they build to BS EN 61439-2 and use quality components. Nearly all of them do. These are the things that differ.
Whether they also install
Some panel builders take installation and commissioning work. If you are a contractor, that makes them a competitor on your next job. Ask the question directly. We do not install, which is the whole reason our customers are contractors and integrators rather than end clients.
What arrives with the panel
An as-built wiring diagram and a test certificate for that specific panel, in the door. Ask to see examples before you order. A generic drawing for a panel “like yours” is not the same thing and will cost your engineer an hour on site.
Whether anything is held in stock
Most panel builders build everything to order. A few hold standard panels on the shelf. It only matters when a pump fails on a Friday, but then it matters a great deal.
Whether the panels are standardised
If every panel is drawn from scratch, every panel is wired slightly differently and your engineers learn each one. If the builder has a standard platform, an engineer who has fitted one has fitted all of them.
Whether they publish prices
Most do not. Published prices will not always be the cheapest, but they let you budget a job without waiting for a quote, and they tell you the builder is not pricing each customer differently.
Who answers the phone
When your engineer is in a chamber and the panel is not doing what they expect, the useful question is whether someone who knows that panel will pick up. Ask what the technical line is and what hours it runs.
What to ask before you order
- Do you take installation or commissioning work?
- Can I see an example wiring diagram and test certificate?
- Is this panel from stock, or built to order? What is the date?
- What is verified under BS EN 61439-2 on this panel specifically?
- What happens if it does not work on site — who do I call, and when?
- Are the components available to replace in five years?
Common questions
- Should I buy a packaged controller or a bespoke control panel?
- Buy a packaged branded controller when the equipment is standard, the duty is simple and nobody needs the panel to do anything unusual. A Lowara, DAB or Grundfos controller is cheaper, available everywhere and supported by the pump manufacturer. Choose a bespoke panel when the control logic is specific to the site, when the panel must carry telemetry or a BMS interface, when a water authority or main contractor has specified something, or when you need documentation that a packaged unit does not come with.
- Does it matter whether the panel builder also installs?
- It matters if you are a contractor. A panel builder who also installs and commissions is a potential competitor on your next job, and some will quote the installation work alongside the panel. A builder who only manufactures never does. If that is a concern, ask directly whether they take installation work.
- What should every control panel come with?
- An as-built wiring diagram and a test certificate, both specific to the panel and inside the door. Anything less and the installer is working blind and the end client has nothing for their O&M file. Ask to see an example of both before you order, not after.
- What does BS EN 61439-2 actually tell me?
- That the assembly has been built and verified to the standard for low-voltage switchgear assemblies. It is a claim about the build, not a mark of quality in the abstract, and it is only meaningful if the builder can produce the verification behind it. Ask what was design-verified and what was routine-verified on your panel.
- How long should a control panel take?
- A standard stocked panel should ship the next working day. A standard panel built to order is typically two to four weeks in the UK. A bespoke panel depends on the drawing approval more than the build: the manufacturing is rarely the slow part. If a builder will not give you a date before you order, treat that as the answer.
- Is a cheaper panel a false economy?
- Not automatically. A cheaper panel is a false economy when it costs you a return visit, when the components are not available in two years, or when the documentation is missing and the handover stalls. It is a sensible buy when the duty is simple and nothing about the site is unusual. Price the call-back risk, not just the panel.
Where we fit
We build pump, BMS and OEM control panels in Stoke-on-Trent and nothing else. We hold standard wastewater panels on the shelf, publish our prices, and send every panel out with its wiring diagram and test certificate. We do not install or commission.
If that suits the job, the pump panel range, BMS panels and OEM work all carry prices and lead times. If it does not, a packaged controller from your pump supplier will cost you less and we would rather say so now.
Got a project, or just need a quick answer?
Tell us what the panel has to do and we will come back with a price and a lead time. Existing accounts: reorders and spares go through the same form.