Published
Floor area and price tend to dominate a food factory shortlist, yet services decide whether a unit can run your process at all. A bakery with deck ovens, a sauce maker with steam kettles and a frozen dumpling line each draw on power, gas and drainage in very different ways, and a mismatch is expensive to fix after handover. Here is a quick take on the three service groups worth checking first.
- Electrical capacity, level by level. Ask what three-phase supply the unit comes with, then add up your equipment load, including cold rooms, compressors and air-conditioning. Many buildings allocate different amperage to different storeys, so two units of similar size can carry different capacity. Any upgrade depends on the utility provider and the building's own infrastructure.
- Gas supply and exhaust routing. Find out whether gas is piped to the unit or must arrive by cylinder, and where the connection point sits. Pair that with the exhaust question: a dedicated duct to the roof keeps cooking fumes away from neighbours and simplifies hood design, whereas a shared or improvised route can complicate approvals.
- Drainage, grease and refuse. Wet processes need floor traps in the right places, a grease arrangement the authorities will accept, and a way to move waste out without crossing production areas. Check where the bin point is and how collection will work. Ask, too, whether cold rooms can drain without running across the work floor.
At CT FoodNEX, the freehold B2 food factory by Chiu Teng Group at 2A Mandai Estate, the published specification addresses each of these. Three-phase supply is set by level, from 200A at the first storey to 100A to 125A on levels five to nine. LPG is piped from a centralised cylinder bank and capped at each unit entrance, and every unit has its own kitchen exhaust duct to the roof. Each unit also gets at least one floor trap, a dedicated grease-trap sampling sump and a refuse chute hopper, with a bin room per unit from the second storey up. The location page covers how the Mandai food zone links to suppliers and expressways.
Verdict: treat utilities as a pass-or-fail test before comparing prices. List your process loads, check them against the specification of a particular unit, and confirm anything critical with the relevant authority and your M&E consultant. To review service provisions unit by unit, send the team your equipment list and request a matched shortlist.
General information only, not financial or legal advice.