Excel calculators, browser-based web apps, desktop tools and automations — built to your standards, documented, and owned by you.
Every engineering team has that spreadsheet — the one nobody fully trusts, with the formula someone changed in 2019. We build the opposite: calculation tools engineered like deliverables — inputs validated, calculations locked and referenced to the standard clause, assumptions documented, results presented as a report your checker can sign off.
And not only in Excel. Depending on what fits your team, the same rigour goes into a browser-based web app, a desktop tool, or an automation — as well as trackers, cable schedules and dashboards with database and SharePoint integration where it earns its keep.
The interactive MEP Bracket Calculator on this site is one we built. Draw a rod-and-Unistrut support network in the browser, roll up the loads, check every rod and fixing to BS 8519:2020, and export an auditable, formula-visible Excel calculation — all client-side, nothing to install. It's a working demonstration of the web tools we can build for your team.
Try the live calculatorThree illustrative extracts from tools we've built — generic example data, same structure as the real project versions:
| A | B | C | D | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CABLE CLEAT SPACING CALCULATOR — IEC 61914 / BS EN 61914 | |||
| 2 | 1. INPUTS (blue cells) | |||
| 3 | Peak fault current, î | 40.0 | kA | From protection study |
| 4 | Formation | Trefoil, 3 × 1C | — | Dropdown — sets coefficient K |
| 5 | Cable outer diameter | 32.0 | mm | From cable datasheet |
| 6 | Cleat rated withstand, Fₖ | 3.0 | kN | Manufacturer test cert |
| 7 | 2. RESULTS (locked) | |||
| 8 | Force between conductors | 8.50 | kN/m | = 0.17 × î² / d (N/m) |
| 9 | Maximum cleat spacing | 353 | mm | = Fₖ / force per metre |
| 10 | Recommended spacing | USE 300 mm CENTRES ✓ | mm | Rounded to rung pitch |
1Blue cells are the only thing you touch. Everything else is locked, so the tool survives being passed around a project team.
2Every result traces to a clause. Formulas reference the standard (IEC 61914, BS 8519, BS 7671…) and the source of each input is stated on the sheet.
3Manufacturer data built in. Cleat, cable and fixing libraries live on hidden data sheets — pick from a dropdown instead of retyping datasheets.
4A verdict, not just a number. The sheet answers the actual question ("what spacing do I install?") and prints as a calculation report with a notes & assumptions page.
On fire-rated escape routes and life-safety circuits, every containment support must survive the fire condition — BS 8519 limits the drop rod stress far below its ambient capacity, and a bracket that passes at ambient can fail the 2-hour case. This tool takes the services load and the bracket geometry, builds the load from first principles, and runs every failure mode in one pass:
| A | B | C | D | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | BRACKET CALCULATION — TRAPEZE DROP ROD (BS 8519:2020 E.1) | |||
| 2 | 1. INPUTS (blue cells) | |||
| 3 | Services load (cables + containment) | 49.0 | kg/m | Itemised or combined entry |
| 4 | Hanger spacing, Lₕ | 1.2 | m | Spacing along the run |
| 5 | Drop rod length / bearer length | 1.0 / 1.0 | m | Trapeze geometry |
| 6 | Fire / service condition | Ambient | — | Dropdown: Ambient / 0.5 / 1 / 2 h — sets σmax per BS 8519 Table E.1 |
| 7 | Safety factor, γₖ | 1.3 | — | Project / Eurocode basis |
| 8 | 2. LOAD BUILD-UP (locked) | |||
| 9 | Total mass (services + bearer + rods) | 62.3 | kg | = Wₛₓₜ × Lₕ + bearer + 2 rods |
| 10 | Unfactored / design load | 0.61 / 0.79 | kN | F = m × g; Fₓ = F × γₖ |
| 11 | 3. CHECKS (locked) | |||
| 12 | 1 — Drop rod stress (M12) | PASS ✓ | — | Req. 3.1 mm² ≤ 76.3 mm² at minor dia |
| 13 | 2 — Bearer / strut capacity | PASS ✓ | — | 0.61 kN ≤ 1.45 kN rated at span |
| 14 | 3 — Channel nut shear (2 nuts) | PASS ✓ | — | 0.40 kN/nut ≤ 3.0 kN rated slip |
| 15 | 4 — Concrete anchor pullout (2 anchors) | PASS ✓ | — | 0.40 kN/anchor ≤ 1.0 kN design value |
| 16 | OVERALL STATUS | ALL CHECKS PASS ✓ | — | Prints as a signed calc sheet |
1One dropdown drives the fire case. Selecting Ambient / 0.5 / 1 / 2 h changes the allowable rod stress per BS 8519 Table E.1 and every check re-runs instantly — no separate "fire version" of the spreadsheet to keep in sync.
2Four failure modes, one verdict. Rod stress, bearer capacity, channel nut slip and anchor pullout are checked together, because the weakest link governs — a bracket is not "PASS" until all four are.
3Manufacturer values, referenced. Strut capacities, nut slip loads and anchor design values come from published tables held on data sheets — the calc states where each number came from.
4Scales across a project. Each bracket detail is a copy of the sheet; the original tool this example is based on runs dozens of bracket details in a single workbook, one summary page for the checker. (This is the calculation we turned into the live web app above.)
A ladder full of cleated single-core or SWA cables has two questions: is the ladder overloaded, and do the cleats physically fit? The second one is routinely missed — a cleat is wider than its cable, so on close-spaced cables the cleats collide on the rung, and nobody discovers it until the installer does. This tool checks the weight and the geometry together:
| A | B | C | D | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CABLE LADDER LOADING & CLEAT ARRANGEMENT | |||
| 2 | 1. INPUTS (blue cells) | |||
| 3 | Cable | 4C × 120 mm² Cu/XLPE/SWA | — | OD 44.9 mm, 6.44 kg/m from datasheet |
| 4 | Number of cables | 7 | no. | Per site sketch |
| 5 | Cleat (two-bolt LSF) | 92 mm wide | — | From manufacturer library |
| 6 | Clear gap between cables / rung pitch | 5 / 300 | mm | Design spacing; ladder rung pitch |
| 7 | 2. RESULTS (locked) | |||
| 8 | Ladder loading | 45.1 | kg/m | = 7 × 6.44 — check vs ladder SWL |
| 9 | Cleat fit on shared rung | CLASH | — | Cleat 92 mm > cable pitch 49.9 mm |
| 10 | Arrangement | STAGGER — ALTERNATE RUNGS, S = 600 mm ✓ | — | Drawn live on the diagram sheet |
1Weight and geometry in one pass. The loading check (cables per metre vs ladder safe working load) and the cleat-fit check share the same inputs, so they can't drift apart.
2Clash detection. The tool compares cleat width against the cable pitch (OD + design gap). Here 92 mm > 49.9 mm — cleats cannot share a rung, so it staggers them onto alternate rungs and recalculates the effective spacing per cable.
3A live drawing, not a description. The workbook redraws the plan view below as the inputs change — the installer sees exactly which rung each cleat lands on.
4Cable and cleat libraries. OD, weight and cleat dimensions come from built-in manufacturer-typical data sheets, replaceable with datasheet values for the actual cable.
This is the plan view the workbook produces for the example above:
A spreadsheet is the right answer surprisingly often — but not always. A web or desktop app wins when the tool has to be used by many people at once, needs an interactive or drawing-based interface, has to run where Excel isn't installed, or has grown too complex to trust as a grid of formulas. The MEP Bracket Calculator is a good example: a network you draw and drag, live checks, and an Excel export at the end — none of which is comfortable in a spreadsheet.
Our web tools are typically self-contained (they run in the browser with no server and no data leaving the device), which keeps them private and simple to deploy — you can host the whole thing on an internal page. Where shared data or logins are needed, we'll build and deploy that too.
A single-purpose Excel calculator (one calculation, one standard) typically runs £400 – £1,500. Multi-sheet suites with manufacturer libraries, VBA automation or database integration typically run £1,500 – £5,000+. Browser and desktop apps are scoped individually and usually start from a few thousand pounds, depending on complexity. As with our design services pricing, you get a fixed quote before we start.
Common questions about commissioning bespoke tools and software.
Yes — the MEP Bracket Calculator on this site is one of ours. A web app suits multi-user tools, interactive or drawing-based interfaces, or teams where not everyone has Excel. It runs in any modern browser, on any device, with nothing to install.
You do. For a spreadsheet, that's an unlocked workbook with the formulas visible and a documented notes sheet; for a web or desktop app, it's the source code plus a build you can host yourself. No licence lock-in, and we can maintain it or hand it over entirely — your choice.
Many of our web tools are self-contained and run entirely in the browser: no server, no data leaving the device, nothing to maintain. Where a tool genuinely needs shared data or logins we'll host it or deploy into your environment — agreed up front.
Yes. Most calculators can be built formula-only, which runs in any corporate environment including Excel Online and SharePoint — or as a browser tool that sidesteps macro policy entirely. We use VBA or Office Scripts only where they genuinely earn their keep, and agree that with you first.
Every tool ships with worked test cases checked against hand calculations or published examples from the relevant standard, and a notes page stating exactly what it does and does not cover. For safety-critical work we recommend an independent check, which we can arrange or your engineer can do against the documented method.
Usually yes. We can tidy, verify and extend an existing workbook — adding input validation, locked calculation areas, manufacturer data tables and printable reports — often faster than starting from scratch, or rebuild it as a web tool if that fits better.
Yes. Using Power Query and standard connectors, workbooks and apps can pull from and publish to SQL databases, SharePoint lists and CSV exports — useful for cable schedules, drawing registers and trackers that several people update.