If you’re reading this article as a facilities manager or estates manager at a UK university, you may already know the answer to this question when it comes to conventional shower cubicles. Refitting a university estate with 100 or more new shower cubicles can be a sizeable task, with careful planning and efficient working practices required to complete the project without causing disruption to residents.

Money And Time Savings With Shower Pods

Upgrading your residential showering facilities from tile and tray showers to modular shower pods is a good way of saving time, money, and frustration when planning your refits and upgrades. So, if you have a pen and paper handy, let’s do some rough estimates about the time required to install 100 Advanced Showers shower pods on your facility, and the time savings compared with conventional shower cubicles.

Installation Requirements For Shower Pods

As a rule of thumb, a skilled contractor can install two of our modular shower pods each working day, which includes the plumbing and any other necessary adjustments. Therefore, at this rate, it would take approximately 50 days of labour to install your 100 shower pods across your estate, provided that the work is carried out every day without unforeseen breaks or delays. The actual timeframe could, of course, vary depending on factors such as the complexity of the site, availability of resources, the skill level of the installer, and unforeseen variables such as sickness, bad weather, and so on, so let’s add a buffer of five days (10%) to make it 55 days of labour.

Even at this rate, with one contractor working on your project, it would be possible to stagger your complete installation schedule throughout a term, installing 5 to 10 shower pods at a time. Or, you could arrange an intensive installation schedule during a break between semesters when the halls are empty, using a team of, say, five contractors to install your 100 pods over 10-12 days – two working weeks. If you have a larger requirement, then your installation team could be scaled accordingly.

The takeaway is that shower pods installations are extremely flexible and can be timed to accommodate the working schedule of most universities, so that all projects are completed during void periods or holidays when the facilities are not being used by students.

Lengthy Installations For Tile And Tray Shower Cubicles

Compare this to the time and effort required to install a tile and tray shower cubicle, which depends greatly on factors such as the size of the shower, availability of materials, and accessibility. For example, a new shower tray may only take around an hour to install, but then you’ll need to factor installing the shower unit and surrounding tiling, which is what takes the time. You’ll also often need to employ both a plumber and electrician to complete your installation, leading to a total lead time of 2 to 4 days to complete each shower cubicle, with potentially more for a walk-in shower.

Storing Materials On Site

During this time, you will also have to store materials on site, which can be bulky and are vulnerable to theft. Compared to this, shower pods have the advantage of requiring fewer materials on site at any one time, streamlining your installation process and reducing clutter. This is particularly beneficial in a university halls setting in which space is limited and efficiency is key. Each modular shower pod is prefabricated off-site and delivered to site when ready, which reduces the amount of construction and adjustment work required in situ and means you can stagger your deliveries to avoid storing excess materials.

What Next?

Shower pod installations can be accomplished in a relatively short period in university halls of residence, even when dealing with large volume requirements. To find out more or to request a quote, please get in touch with one of our experienced team at Advanced Showers today by clicking here.

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