Chartered Engineer · CEng MCIBSE · 20+ years in construction
Specialist drainage, water and public health engineering for complex buildings, refurbishments and multi-site programmes across the UK.
Discuss a projectJB Design Engineering is a specialist public health engineering consultancy. We design drainage, water, rainwater and gas services for buildings where the constraints are real: existing structures, live operations, incomplete records and fixed programmes.
Most of our work sits in existing buildings and refurbishment, so it begins with establishing what is actually there. From that basis we produce coordinated, buildable design, and stay involved through construction so decisions on site are made with the design intent understood.
Investigate · Design · Coordinate · Deliver
Representative project types
National roll-out
A hospitality operator needed consistent drainage and water design across dozens of unit fit-outs, each in a different landlord shell with unknown existing services.
Heritage venue
Persistent drainage failures in a listed auditorium building with fragmentary records, minimal access and no tolerance for disruption to performances.
Basement development
Pool, spa and back-of-house facilities several levels below the outgoing gravity connection, with limited plant space and demanding water quality requirements.
Commercial refurbishment
Full public health rework through an operational commercial building where risers, ceiling voids and shutdown windows were all severely constrained.
A focused public health engineering scope, delivered end to end — from investigation and strategy through to coordinated design and construction support.
Soil, waste and vent design for occupied and constrained buildings, from single floors to full stack replacement strategies.
Foul and surface water networks, connections, adoption routes and pumped solutions where gravity is not available.
Cold and hot water services, boosting, storage and distribution designed around real demand and hygiene requirements.
Roof and terrace drainage, siphonic and gravity solutions, attenuation and overflow strategies for tight urban sites.
Incoming supplies, meter positions, distribution and ventilation for kitchens, plant and multi-tenant buildings.
Drainage investigations, CCTV interpretation, record drawings and condition reporting that establish the real position on site.
Kitchen drainage, grease management and ventilation interfaces for hospitality operators and roll-out programmes.
Independent technical review of third-party designs, buildability checks and resolution of contested site issues.
Chartered Public Health Engineering consultancy — UK projects nationwide
Our public health engineering service
About
JB Design Engineering was founded to deliver public health engineering with the rigour of a large consultancy and the directness of a specialist practice. Every commission is led by a Chartered Engineer (CEng MCIBSE) with more than twenty years in construction — around nineteen of them specialising in public health engineering — having started with a practical plumbing apprenticeship before progressing into design engineering.
That background spans hospitality roll-outs, heritage venues, basement developments and occupied commercial refurbishment — projects where the engineering has to accommodate the building, the operator and the programme rather than the reverse.
We work as part of the wider design team, alongside architects, contractors, developers and estates teams, and take responsibility for the parts of the building others prefer to route around.
A drainage survey is only useful if it answers the questions the design depends on. This is a practical guide to scoping, interpreting and using investigations in existing buildings.
Most kitchen drainage problems on site are design coordination problems that surfaced late. These are the issues worth closing out before construction starts.
Enquiries
Send the building, the scope and the programme. We will respond with an outline of approach, deliverables and fee — no obligation, no generic proposal.