The information you send with an enquiry has more effect on your quote turnaround than anything we do at the workshop. Arrive with the right documents and your quote lands the same day. Arrive without them and the quote sits in a follow-up queue.
Quick answer
To quote a switchboard accurately, we need three documents at minimum: a loading schedule, a single-line diagram, and a confirmed fault level (PSCC) at the point of installation. Helpful extras: form of internal separation, IP rating, enclosure constraints, preferred platform (Logstrup, Simotrol or Schneider Prisma Plus G), and any project-specific component preferences.
In this article
This guide covers what to include with a switchboard enquiry so it gets quoted cleanly and quickly. Clive Wilson Switchboards has been quoting and building LV switchboards for NZ industrial and commercial sites for over 55 years.
With those three documents we can scope the platform, size the busbars and breakers, confirm form of separation, propose an enclosure layout, and produce a firm quote in writing.
Not strictly required, but each one of these removes a round trip and shortens turnaround:
Without the three essentials we can still respond, but the quote will either be a budget range with assumptions called out, or a written request for the missing items before pricing.
If PSCC is open, we usually scope for a typical kA range and flag that the final number sets the breaker selection. If the loading schedule is incomplete, we can scope from a draft schedule but the quote will note which feeders are subject to confirmation.
For projects where the engineering information is still in flight, our in-house consulting and design team can help work through the loading schedule, fault calculation and SLD.
Before sending an enquiry, run through this short list. Each item answered shortens the turnaround:
A complete enquiry packs gets a same-day or next-day quote. An incomplete one starts a back-and-forth that can add a week before pricing is even possible. The difference is in the information, not the workshop.
We can give a budget range based on the loading schedule alone, but a firm quote needs the SLD. The architecture of the board (tie arrangements, sub-board feeders, metering structure) directly affects the busbar layout and the enclosure size.
We can scope to a typical kA range and flag that the final PSCC drives breaker selection. The network operator or consulting engineer should be confirming PSCC in parallel; until they do, the quote includes a note that the kA rating is subject to confirmation.
Same-day or next-day for a complete enquiry pack on a standard switchboard. Larger or more complex projects (multi-section MSBs, large MCCs) may take a day or two longer for the engineering review. Missing information adds time.
Yes. Our in-house consulting and design team uses EPLAN Electric P8 and EPLAN Pro Panel to produce single-line diagrams, GA drawings and loading schedules from a brief.
A budget quote is an indicative price based on a partial information pack, with assumptions called out. A firm quote is the price we will build to, based on a complete information pack and locked-in scope.
Reviewed by Chris Wilson, Co-Director, Clive Wilson Switchboards. Registered electrician, 15+ years in LV switchboards. Updated May 2026.
