Where precision engineering
meets kitchen design.

The core deliverable is a tender-ready documentation set: equipment specification, bill of quantities, M&E services schedule, layout drawings, and document register. Depending on project stage, this includes LOD 300–400 BIM modelling in Revit, concept layouts, and construction-stage drawings. Everything is cross-referenced and validated against a 21-point QA checklist before issue. The objective is a package that a contractor can price accurately and build from without requesting further information.

A tender package is the full document set issued to contractors at tender stage for pricing and construction. For a catering fit-out it typically contains: equipment specification (every item specified to manufacturer and model), bill of quantities (priced schedule with quantities and totals), M&E services schedule (electrical, gas, water, waste, drainage, and ventilation requirements at point of connection), layout and elevation drawings, and a document register with revision history. ACD’s packages are structured to ISO 19650 and cross-referenced throughout — any discrepancy between documents surfaces at QA, not post-award.

BIM coordination means the catering design is produced as a full Revit model — not just 2D drawings. At LOD 300–400, every piece of equipment is modelled with accurate dimensions, services connections, and clearance zones. That model integrates with the architect’s and structural engineer’s models to identify and resolve clashes before tender. On a mid-size catering project, a single unresolved duct clash can generate a £5,000–£25,000 variation order on site. Resolving it in the model costs nothing and takes minutes. BIM is not a premium — on projects of any complexity, it is the most cost-effective form of coordination available.

A services schedule tabulates every connection point for every item of catering equipment: electrical supply (kW, voltage, phase, MCB rating, cable route), gas connection (kW input, connection diameter, isolation valve position), cold water, hot water, waste, drainage, and extract ventilation volumes. It is the document the M&E quantity surveyor uses to price mechanical and electrical works, and the document the M&E engineer designs to. When complete and accurate, M&E contractors can price and design to it without raising a single query. When incomplete, every gap becomes an RFI and a programme risk.

HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points) is the food safety management framework that defines how a commercial kitchen must be organised to prevent food contamination. HACCP-led design means the kitchen layout is determined by food flow — raw to cooked, clean to dirty, high-risk to low-risk — before equipment is placed or the architectural plan is fixed. Every layout ACD produces is assessed for HACCP compliance at the first stage. This prevents the expensive and common failure mode of designing a kitchen that looks right on paper but cannot meet the food safety requirements for the operation it serves.

ISO 19650 and BS 1192 for BIM and document management throughout. DW172 (HVCA) for ventilation ductwork design coordination. Gas Safe standards for all combustion equipment — every gas connection specified with input rating, connection size, isolation valve, and commissioning note. HACCP principles from the first layout decision. Approved Document J for solid-fuel and high-fire-load equipment. Building Regulations Part J for combustion appliances. Every project is assessed against these standards before issue.

ACD works across a wide range of project scales — from a single-zone production kitchen with a concise equipment list to multi-level hotel F&B suites and stadium hospitality programmes. The deciding factor is not size — it is documentation complexity and the requirement for internal consistency across the document set. ACD is the right fit for any project where a contractor needs a complete, compliant, internally consistent tender package. Projects where a rough specification and a few photographs will suffice are not.

ACD is based in Preston but works UK-wide and internationally. For documentation-only projects — specification, BoQ, services schedule — location is irrelevant: the output is the same wherever the project sits. For site visits, HACCP audits, and design reviews, ACD covers the UK with travel confirmed at brief stage. International projects have been delivered remotely with site-stage handoff to local teams.

A project engagement is a defined scope with a fixed fee for a specific deliverable — a tender package, a specification, a BIM model. A retainer is a monthly arrangement where ACD operates as a reserved specialist across an ongoing programme: reserved hours, predictable billing, no re-briefing overhead. The retainer model is more cost-effective for clients with a consistent flow of work because the system is calibrated to your operation from the start and never needs re-learning. First project: full briefing overhead. Every subsequent project: significantly reduced overhead because the baseline is already set.

Yes — this is the standard working arrangement. ACD delivers into the wider project team: catering model integrated with the architect’s model, services schedule formatted for the M&E engineer’s brief, drawings issued to the document control system already in place. The boundary is point of connection — where the catering equipment’s service requirement meets the mechanical or electrical installation. What lies beyond that boundary belongs to the M&E engineer. That boundary is defined clearly at brief stage on every project.

Project fees are typically a percentage of the catering package construction value — 3–5% is typical for a full design, specification, and BIM package. Alternatively, a fixed fee is agreed at brief stage for a defined scope. Retainer fees are structured by reserved hours per month, invoiced monthly. ACD does not charge by the hour for standard project work — fixed fees protect the client from cost uncertainty and protect the quality of the output. Rates and typical fee ranges are available on request.

Programme depends on project complexity. A single-zone equipment specification and services schedule: two to three weeks from a complete brief. A full tender package with BIM model, drawing set, specification, and BoQ for a multi-level hospitality venue: six to twelve weeks depending on design development pace. Programme is agreed and documented at brief stage and managed against milestones. ACD does not issue late. If the programme is under pressure, that is surfaced at the start — not at the end.

No. ACD produces design and tender stage documentation — layout drawings, equipment specifications, and services schedules for contractor pricing and construction reference. Fabrication drawings are produced by the fabricator from the tender package. ACD’s tender documentation is the brief from which fabrication drawings are produced. ACD can review fabrication drawings against the original specification on request, but producing them is outside consultancy scope.

As early as possible — ideally at RIBA Stage 1 or 2, before the spatial brief is fixed and while the structural grid and building form are still being shaped. Every constraint locked into the architecture — kitchen footprint, extract route, drainage falls, structural grid — becomes progressively more expensive to change at later stages. The catering consultant’s earliest value is not design: it is preventing decisions at concept stage that foreclose good design options later. Earlier is always better — and always cheaper in the long run.