GE Industrial Solutions Power Equipment Buildings - Manual (Page 5)

Electrical Equipment Centers
Application Considerations
Page 5
Advantages:
One of the significant advantages of the equipment center alternative is minimal field erection n and commissioning
time and expense. All equipment is interconnected and tested before shipment from factory, including everything from
switchgear systems to DCS systems, power panels, heat trace panels, lighting panels, HVAC systems and battery
systems. In the case of conventional buildings, the purchaser or contractor must coordinate and provide field labor to
install, interconnect, and test all equipment.
Equipment center utilization means, an order can be placed very early since a major part of the engineering, drafting,
and coordination is transferred to the manufacturer. On the other hand, even a small control building has all the
elements of a major project that requires project scheduling. A series of purchase orders is required. Requisitions may
come from several sources. Meetings for evaluation, review and coordination are necessary, which in turn require
added allocation of internal engineering manpower.
Shipping time differs for each type of electrical equipment. The total shipping time for equipment center's is only 3 to
4 weeks longer than for individually procured indoor equipment of the same type. Engineering and planning can
proceed while waiting for equipment arrival at equipment center manufacturer's location. Experience has shown that
up to four times the man-hours must be allotted for site equipment installation because of the additional work done in
the field, while an equipment center arrives complete, pretested and ready for installation.
Commercial warranties may be affected by staggered lead times that do not run concurrently from the overall system
commissioning dates. Finally, the sum of individual equipment prices are not as low as equipment purchased as a
package from a single supplier.
Equipment Center vs. NEMA 3R Shelter Aisle Enclosure