Replacement of the internal pipework in the City House

In close cooperation with Spindler Installatietechniek, we are working hard to renew the pipes in the City House. Last week we got a peek into this important work from Robert Jan de Bruin, the project leader, and Ramon Horstmans, the foreman of Spindler Installatietechniek. They shared with us the complexity of this process and the challenges they face.

Can you briefly explain what the project entails?

Robert Jan: “In the coming months, the City House will be equipped with a new connection for heating, hot tap water and cold tap water, with the option of using the heating in the homes for cooling in the future.”

Ramon: “Every home, shop and office will soon be connected to the new pipes.”

What does the process of connecting the new pipes look like? Can you briefly explain this?

Robert Jan: “The work is carried out per “branch”, which means that we replace the pipes from the lower house to the upper house. It takes us one week to replace such a branch.”

Ramon: “Per branch, the contractor first tapes off all homes and protects the floor covering. It takes a lot of preparations before we can get to work. Once the preparations are done, it's time to get moving and remove all old pipes, drill new recesses and install the new pipes and water meter. We started preparations at the beginning of this year. We have made an emergency pipe on the outside wall, so that people have access to hot water during the work. Every week we make a branch upwards.”

We take water from the tap for granted, but there is of course a lot more to it.

Ramon: "Certainly. When you open the tap and hot water comes out, you don't think twice about it. But actually this is preceded by a huge process. That water comes from the boiler house, via the heat exchanger, through all walls and floors and pipes to you. It needs to be built and maintained properly."

What does this process look like for residents?

Robert Jan: “To carry out the work, we need access to the homes, office spaces and shops. That is why Manhave has informed everyone in the building. There is a lot of work involved in communication. The residents had the choice to stay at home or to give their keys to Manhave by means of a key statement.”

“One person within the Manhave team is responsible for managing all those keys. This ensures manageability and increases safety. In this way it is not possible to just enter a house. In addition, Manhave has issued unique seal stickers per home. This allowed residents to seal the spaces where we don't need to be. In fact, we only go into the hallways and bathrooms, where the pipes are.”

Ramon: “You want the people in the building to be inconvenienced as little as possible by all the work. We therefore do everything we can to carry out our work as efficiently as possible. We use prefab pipe frames for this, among other things. These are made in the factory and insulated in advance, so that this saves assembly time in the home."

"We are constantly switching gears and working as hard as possible. The residents are very understanding, by the way. One resident prepared a plate of biscuits for the team every day with a thank you note. When we had finished his home, the resident also left a note to thank you for the cookies. Such things are of course very nice.”

Is work going smoothly so far?

Ramon: “One day goes better than the next.”

Robert Jan: “We see that things are slowly getting better and more efficient. We did the first branch as a test to see if it works in one week. Then we evaluated, there were two weeks in between, including the holidays, and then we passed it on to the rest. At Pentecost we even managed to do one branch in four days."

What kind of challenges do you encounter?

Ramon: “There is a lot of preliminary work and that saves a lot of time during the week, but then nothing can go wrong. We don't have a standard day, every day runs out. If something goes wrong today, it will affect the rest of the week. You then try to make up for that and then you come across a new challenge."

“When you open the ceiling, it's a surprise every time. You don't know what has been concealed and you always come across something that is not on paper. Or you just saw my colleague come by with a face full of dirt. When he sawed through the existing pipes, it turned out that there was still residual water in the pipes. You don't know that kind of thing in advance. And also logistics can be challenging, with residents and key management, for example, it is a challenge."

How do you deal with challenges?

Ramon: “Good communication, preparation and we have a very nice team. There is a good atmosphere and we always help each other where necessary.”

How long will it take till this project is finished?

Ramon: “It will take another six weeks until the construction holiday [ed. July 24 to August 11] and after that we have one more branch to go, so one week.”

What is planned for the near future?

Ramon: "Evides will remove all old water meter and immediately install new water meter on the new frame. Our team will cap the old pipes and then connect them seamlessly to the new frame and the new water meter. We continuously work with the same people, which ensures a pleasant cooperation."