ACO design and support service

Helping create integrated drainage solutions

ACO Water Management Design and Technical Service Support Teams’ help our customers achieve the most effective, efficient and commercially viable design solutions for managing surface water.

Our teams of Design Engineers and Advisors work with architects, specifying engineers, contractors and groundworkers every day to help them achieve the most functional and vibrant design solution at every stage of design and construction process. We seek to provide a fully integrated and quality driven support service by working directly with customers, or through our customers preferred stockists and merchants.

All ACO’s design and technical staff are trained in sustainable management of surface water, including knowledge of policy and best practice. Their knowledge of the water-cycle and of the underpinning regulatory framework means they are well placed to help our customers achieve really vibrant drainage solutions that more than compliant, they are fit for the future.

Design and Technical Support is a serious business for ACO, which is why our expertise in design and technical support extends into every part of our business activity. In addition to maintaining a significant team of office-based Design Engineers and Advisors we take our design expertise to our customers’ place of work, through our roving team of Chartered Application Engineers and Key Contractor Design Advisors. 

Sectors

Our customers come from every imaginable sector and generally require help to achieve a sustainable solution that is more than hydraulically functional. Where there’s an issue concerning water quality or runoff rates and volumes ACO’s design teams are there to help our customers achieve the most appropriate and cost effective technical solution.

Systems + Design

We employ a systems based approach to surface water design (Collect, Clean, Hold and Release), which is why we also engage with industry leaders from every sector - to understand needs, inform the future direction of surface water management policy & practice and propose / manufacturer innovative solutions.

We also believe that, in addition to robust surface water management solutions, the proposed drainage system should be aesthetically pleasing. Our design and technical teams therefore work with colleagues from across the ACO Group to facilitate every aspect of the design process, including bespoke design solutions. 

People + Tools

ACO’s belief in customer service, and an integrated, systems-based approach to surface water design, means our investment in people and software solutions is second to none. We provide our customers with state-of-the-art cloud-based hydraulic design tools so they can work on their own design projects, but can also call on expert advice whenever they need it. Our Design Engineers and Advisors are selected for their expertise and competence. However, we believe our people are at the heart of our business and their continued professional development is of paramount importance to our future success.

In addition to our commitment to customer service, our technical expertise in BIM and a range of industry standard drainage and engineering design tools (e.g. Revit, Civils 3D, MicroDrainage), mean our Design Engineers and Advisors are well placed to help our customers integrate their surface water design solutions SUDS facilities or into the below ground drainage infrastructure with ease and confidence.  

Solutions

Our in-house design support team work on the full range of surface water design solutions, ranging from simple take-offs to complex designs where expertise in hydraulic design, attenuation, water quality and flow control are required. When taken in conjunction with the ability to value engineer a solution our designers help customers achieve the most robust and commercially viable design solution.  Our external design teams take the same high level of expertise to our customers’ workplace.

Surface water management is often reviewed / reconsidered late in the construction process. Our in-house technical support team provides a rapid technical support service to customers electronic and telephone enquiries. They also use expertise in CAD to maintain our technical drawing libraries and provide bespoke technical drawing support.

All our Design and Technical Support staff work directly or indirectly with our customers, often through our Business Development Managers and Regional Sales Engineers. By maintaining strong links with our colleagues in ACO Technologies Building Drainage Division we provide our customers with a fully integrated design and technical support service.