Services

We make buildings work and we understand the disruption that ensues when vital services break down.

Our team works with the client to minimise the impact of a refurbishment or installation project beginning with detailed planning and integration of all specialist activities. We ensure that every part of the refurbishment process is integrated with the day to day activities in the building so that disruption is minimised.

We have undertaken major plant refurbishments and installations, including work for the British Council Building in Azerbaijan.

We continually seek solutions and equipment that are energy efficient, exceed emissions targets and minimise environmental impact through low carbon manufacturing and sustainable procurement.

The Argent technical team are also responsible for evaluating the latest approaches, such as the B&ES’s position paper on HFCs.

The B&ES Refrigeration and Air Conditioning (RAC) Group (of which we are active members) are committed to researching and publishing how to achieve the best possible performance for the lowest possible energy use.

We know that the heating, lighting and cooling of buildings is responsible for about 60% of the nations carbon emissions.

The Government is looking to the built environment to contribute to the UKs achievement of zero-carbon status by 2060. The importance being placed on this target along with long-term concerns over the security of our energy supply indicates that energy efficiency / reduction and the promotion of low / zero-carbon technologies will be the subject of increasing focus.

We not only treat ‘symptoms’, but go further to identify causes. This helps deliver the most efficient solutions – that reduces running costs and environmental impact.

We understand the importance of compliance and are meticulous with maintenance regimes to ensure we mitigate risks for our clients.

We work in all types of environments and our customer care policy not only ensures our engineers conduct themselves appropriately, but that we support the smooth running of our clients’ operations through clear, timely and effective response methods.

When we decommission a building we take into account a range of issues:

• disposal of waste, including hazardous substances;
• separation of services (where separate buildings on a campus are required to be switched to become independently serviced);
• decommissioning voids in a manner that allows them to return to full functionality within hours;
• protection from damp and deterioration.

For one corporate client, we underwent a large decommissioning programme as they were organising a move away from their headquarters site.

As each new project or maintenance contract begins, together with the client, we agree a contract plan. This details the scope of services, programme, including specific method statements, risk assessments and external legislative policies that may impact on the contract.

This means that all parties are fully aware of the scope of services and can access the contract plan at any time to check the agreed health and safety protocols, programme, reporting procedures etc.

It is vital to understand the status of plant and services to properly maintain and deploy (in a compliant manner) legacy equipment across large, complex estates or even single buildings. This helps to evaluate the most efficient planned maintenance strategy for any campus or building. This is particularly relevant at the purchase or sale of the premises ,it is also an opportunity to identify where plant and equipment has reached the end of it life and does not meet current legislation.

Over the last two years, we have been migrating our established management processes to a Computer Aided FM (CAFM) system which allows us to manage our activities through an industry-leading, web-based MSQL database connecting clients, mobile engineers and office-based teams, in real time.

Our project management software (Tabs FM) has powerful data import facilities and we can retrieve contract specific procedures, identified at the start of each contract quickly and efficiently.