We submitted our quotation and were surprised to find that we had lost the contract, with the customer stating that the winning contractor was 'significantly cheaper'.

About 12 months later we were asked to tender for the installation of an extension to the GEC System 4 switchboard that is located immediately to the right of the power factor correction panel shown in the photograph.

We won the contract and when we came to install the switchboard extension, the reason our price was so much more than the other contractor became clear.

The installation is not at all neat, the cabling in the photograph has been very poorly installed, but the worrying thing was that the cabling (4 x 120mm per phase) went through a very tight hole that had been cut into the side of both cubicles with the sharp edges of the steel cutting into the insulation of the cable. 

These cables had then been connected directly onto the bus-bars of the switchboard which were in turn protected by a 3200A air circuit breaker.

Should a fault have occurred on the cables the resultant damage to the switchboard could have led to a lengthy loss of production due to loss of power.