New Build Utility Connections for
Property Developers

We handle the water side of your new build utility connections: self-lay water mains and service connections, main laying, new water connections, and leak detection. On the electric side we cover the civils scope (trenching, ducting, chambers, substation bases) for any cable-pulling ICP or DNO. Full turnkey, family-run, over 40 years in the water infrastructure business.

We have direct working relationships with Affinity Water and Thames Water, regularly work alongside their developer services teams on self-lay schemes, main laying, and new connection applications. That means we already know the design approval process, adoption requirements, chlorination and pressure testing standards, and material and depth specifications for each of the three. For developers building in Hertfordshire, London, Surrey, Essex, Cambridgeshire, or Berkshire, your water company will almost certainly be one of these three.

Three main advantages. First, programme control. The water company works to their schedule, and on a busy development that can cost you weeks. A self-lay provider works to your programme. Second, cost. Self-lay is usually cheaper than asking the water company to design and install the same infrastructure. Third, a single accountable contractor for the water side of your build, rather than coordinating the water company separately from your other trades. Once the infrastructure is installed, the water company inspects and adopts it, so the end result is identical.

Yes. We handle the Section 51 agreement, design submissions to the water company, technical audits, and all the approval correspondence on the developer’s behalf. Our direct working relationships with the likes of Affinity Water and Thames Water mean approval cycles tend to run faster than if the developer is approaching them cold. Over 40 years of water infrastructure work means we know what each company will and won’t accept on specification before the drawings go in.

No. We are a water-specialist utility contractor, plus civils-scope electric. We do not offer gas connections, gas mains, fibre connections, or fibre civils. For gas and fibre on a new development you will need a separate contractor or a full multi-utility provider. We are happy to sequence our water and electric civils work alongside your gas and fibre contractors to minimise programme clashes.

For developer self-lay work, the headline accreditation is WIRS (Water Industry Registration Scheme), administered by Lloyd’s Register (LRQA). This is the accreditation your water company requires before they will accept self-lay installation on their network. We also hold WIAPS (Water Industry Approved Plumbers Scheme), NERS for self-lay electric civils (currently being re-assessed), ISO 9001, 14001, and 45001, Constructionline Gold, Achilles (ID 00019964), NRSWA accreditation for highway works, and Cyber Essentials.

Self-lay makes sense from around 5 plots upwards, which is where the cost and programme advantages over the water company start to materialise. We have the crews, plant, and approvals experience to handle small estate self-lay through to multi-kilometre main laying and reinforcement schemes on large housing developments, commercial parks, and mixed-use schemes. If your development is smaller than that, new water connections (individual plot connections and commercial supply connections) is often the better service to ask us about.

Hertfordshire (our home county), London, Surrey, Essex, Cambridgeshire, and Berkshire as standard. Our main yard is in Hertfordshire, with satellite operational bases at Heathrow and Affinity Water depots at Rickmansworth and Staines. For larger schemes we travel further across the South East and nationally.

This varies by scheme size and complexity, but on most developments self-lay shortens the water infrastructure programme by weeks rather than days. The main reason is scheduling flexibility. We book in around your groundworks and roads programme, rather than slotting into the water company’s queue. Design and approval time is similar either way, because the water company still signs off the design and adopts the finished infrastructure, but install, test, and commissioning time is typically faster.

Once the water mains and service connections are installed, pressure tested, and chlorinated, the water company inspects the work against their specification and the originally approved design. Once they are satisfied, they adopt the infrastructure, which means they take on long-term ownership and maintenance. From that point the water connections are indistinguishable from any other infrastructure on the water company’s network. We manage the adoption process and hand over all test certificates, as-built drawings, and approval correspondence to the developer at sign-off.