A complete new motor control center installation is not one delivery. The factory builds it in sections, and somebody else joins those sections on site.
That split is where installation quotes differ. The guide below covers what a complete quotation has to name. It also covers where the work passes to a medium voltage motor control center supplier.
Key Takeaways
- Complete is a claim about site work. Two quotes for one motor list differ mainly in who works after delivery.
- The shipping split sets the site cost. Sections that travel apart need joints, lifting and a written plan.
- Ask for four priced groups, not one lump. Equipment, transport, site assembly and verification carry different risks.
- Site facts decide the rest. Access, floor loading and cable route change the price more than the motor list.
- Compare against one scope sheet. Two bids only compare when both answer the same questions.
Why a complete motor control center installation is a site work document
A complete installation quote is really a site work document. The equipment is the easy half to price, because every bidder counts the same buckets.
The hard half comes after the lorry leaves. Lifting, jointing, cabling, testing and the handover of records all land on a site team.
An mcc motor control center quoted as one lump figure hides that half. Ask for the two halves separately and both become visible.
The shipping split is the line that decides your site cost
No factory ships a finished lineup as a single unit. A motor control centre built in sections leaves in road legal units, and the joints wait for site.
The shipping split names where those cuts fall. It sets how many units travel, how many joints are made on site, and what each unit weighs.
The weight decides the crane, and the crane decides the access route. Ask for the split drawing with the quotation. A bid without one is priced against a delivery nobody has planned. A withdrawable switchgear lineup of eight sections is where that gap gets expensive.
Sections, not one cabinet
The row above is several separate units, not one box.
Each unit travels alone and is joined on site.
Where the factory hands the assembly over to your installer
The handover point should be written down, not assumed. Most disputes on a new installation are about a cable nobody terminated.
Four groups of priced work belong in every complete quotation. You can buy the motor control center manufacturers group, and the other three come from other crews. That is normal, and it is not a sign of a weak bid.
| Priced group | What it covers | Who normally does it |
|---|---|---|
| The assembly | Sections, buckets, busbar, internal wiring, factory tests | The motor control center manufacturer |
| Transport and civil work | Freight, offloading, floor preparation, fixings | The buyer or the installer |
| Site assembly | Positioning, bolt down, joints between sections, cabling | The installer |
| Verification | Insulation and continuity tests, commissioning, records | Shared, and it must be named |
An industrial motor control center quote that merges all four cannot be scored. Split them, and you can see which bidder is quietly buying the site risk. The assembly itself is built and verified to IEC 61439. That is the standard a factory test record refers to.
Room, floor and route: the site facts the factory never sees
The factory never sees your room, and that gap is where surprises start. Photographs and dimensions close most of it in one page.
Three facts move the price most often. The door and the turning space, the floor the sections sit on, and the route the cables take.
The site facts that change the price
What to send with the request so the price comes back real
A vague enquiry returns a vague price. A short pack is enough to price a complete installation honestly.
Send the motor list with ratings, quantities and starting duty. A motor control bucket with a heavy duty start is not priced like a light one. The motor list is where that shows.
Then send the single line diagram, including the incoming device and its rating. Add the room drawing with the access route, plus the delivery address and the site conditions.
A motor control center manufacturer can price the rest from those. A vfd panel quoted as one bucket has to start with the drive rating. The same logic runs through every bucket in the lineup.
The wiring the factory finishes
The current transformers and terminal blocks above are factory work.
The cables leaving those terminals are site work.
Where the low voltage lineup ends and the high voltage one begins
Most motor control work sits below one kilovolt. That is the low voltage motor control center world, and the design there is settled.
Above roughly one kilovolt the shape changes. The incomer becomes a breaker in a metal enclosure, and the clearances widen.
So the enquiry has to say which side of the line it belongs to. A 400 V job goes to a low voltage builder. An 11 kV job goes to a medium voltage motor control center supplier. The medium voltage switchgear on that side is a different assembly altogether.
Scoring two installation quotes against one scope sheet
Two quotes only compare when both answer the same questions. Build one scope sheet and send it to every bidder.
The sheet lists the four priced groups and the shipping split. It also lists the site work you will do and the records you expect. Ask every bidder to price the motor control center mcc panel and the three site groups separately.
Then score the answers line by line. A bidder with a working ISO 9001 system names its own test records without being pushed. That habit shows up in the low voltage power distribution work it hands over.
| Line on the scope sheet | The question to ask both bidders |
|---|---|
| Shipping split | How many units travel, and what does each one weigh |
| Incoming interface | Who terminates the incoming cable, and at which terminals |
| Outgoing interface | Who lands the motor cables, and at which end of each run |
| Jointing | Who makes the joints between sections, and with whose kits |
| Verification | Which tests are done in the works and which are repeated on site |
| Records | Which drawings, lists and certificates arrive with the assembly |
Frequently asked questions
What does complete mean in a motor control center quote?
How is a new motor control center installation priced?
Who supplies the cables between the sections?
When does a job need a medium voltage motor control center instead?
What should I send with the request for a quote?
How do I compare two installation quotes fairly?
What should arrive with the assembly on site?
Can one supplier cover the equipment and the installation?
Final thoughts
The quotation is the plan for the installation. Read it as four groups of work rather than one figure.
A complete mcc motor control center installation is judged on what happens after the lorry leaves. Fix the factory and site boundary before anyone prices it.
Grid and industrial load keeps growing. The IEA tracks how much of that demand lands on networks built for a smaller load.
Send the motor list, the single line diagram, the room drawing and the site conditions. Giantele engineers return a marked drawing, a shipping split and a written proposal for each group of work.
Need the factory and site split priced separately?
Send the motor list, the single line diagram, the room drawing and the access route. Giantele engineers return a marked drawing, a shipping split and a written proposal for each group of work.
