The short answer
An outage window is fixed, so the planning happens before it opens: survey the plant, agree the scope, prefabricate every spool that can be made in advance, and arrive with the people and kit to strip out and refit inside the window. That is how KBVI ran pipework and valve installation inside the BOS plant July 2026 shutdown at British Steel.
Before the window
Walk the plant and read what is there against the drawings. Agree exactly what the window allows and what it does not. Then fabricate: every spool, every assembly, every valve set that can be made before the shutdown is made before the shutdown, so the window is spent installing.
Inside the window
Strip out, refit, weld and prove, in that order and to the day. On the BOS plant July 2026 outage the scope was pipework and valve installation inside the shutdown window. On the BOS clarifier it was removal and replacement of the pump pipework in 3 inch and 2.5 inch carbon steel schedule 40.
Restart
The plant restarts on the day it was meant to, with the pipework in and proven and the drawings marked up. Being based in Scunthorpe, with the steelworks on the doorstep, means the crew is on site when the window opens and back quickly if anything is needed after it closes.
- 01Survey and scope agreed before the window
- 02Prefabrication finished before the shutdown
- 03Strip out and refit inside the window
- 04Restart on the programme, drawings marked up
How much notice do you need for an outage?
Enough to survey, agree the scope and prefabricate. Send the window and the scope as soon as they are known and the office will say what is possible.
Can you work on the plant while it is running, before the window?
Yes. Much of KBVI's work is on running plants, and surveys, tie-in preparation and prefabrication happen while the site operates.
