British Council BuildingAs part of a comprehensive refurbishment of the British Council Building in Azerbaijan, Argent won the contract to assess the mechanical and electrical services in the building and undertake the necessary remedial works needed to bring them up to UK standards.

Following approval of Argent's inspection report by the British Council Global Estates a programme was agreed and work commenced. One of the first issues facing Argent was that of local procurement, which was resolved by sourcing UK materials and supplying a team of Argent engineers to work on site.

In addition, the building was to remain occupied during the three month contract period and consequently all the required work had to be undertaken at night. Argent replaced the old boiler with a new, energy efficient gas-fired condensing boiler, overhauled the main chiller, cleaned and serviced the air handling unit and completely replaced the electrical installation from incoming supply right through to new, energy saving lighting.

As the main power supply in this region is somewhat erratic the overhaul of the buildings' standby generator was essential together with the installation of a new changeover panel to enable automatic start in the event of mains power failure.

All the works were recorded in M & E manuals and presented to the client as ongoing management / reference tool.

A spokesman for the British Council's Global Estates commented: 'Argent did a great job all round with first class workmanship and good on-site management, including Health & Safety considerations. In addition, due to their flexibility and commitment, they succeeded in completing the project without loosing a minute of business activity for which I am extremely grateful."