East & West Sussex

Commercial heating installers and gas engineers across East and West Sussex

Commercial boiler installation, plant rooms, gas work, air conditioning and planned maintenance for care homes, managed blocks, schools, retail sites and industrial units across East and West Sussex. Based in Brighton, 18+ years in commercial heating.

Care home plant room stripped out and rebuilt by Spitfire Commercial ahead of winter

Spitfire Commercial is a commercial gas, heating and air conditioning contractor based at 1 Dukes Passage in Brighton. From there we cover the whole of East and West Sussex: the coast from Hastings to Chichester, the market towns of the Downs and the Weald, and the Gatwick corridor up to Crawley and East Grinstead. A large share of our planned maintenance portfolio is Sussex care homes, schools and managed blocks, so an engineer is usually already somewhere in the county.

The work is the same wherever the building is: commercial boiler installation and replacement, plant room design and rebuilds, commercial gas pipework and certification, heat pumps, air conditioning and maintenance contracts. This page sets out what we do in Sussex, who we do it for and where, so that whoever manages the building can decide whether we are the right contractor before picking up the phone.

Places we cover

  • Brighton & Hove
  • Lewes
  • Newhaven
  • Seaford
  • Peacehaven
  • Eastbourne
  • Polegate
  • Hailsham
  • Bexhill
  • Hastings
  • Battle
  • Rye
  • Uckfield
  • Heathfield
  • Crowborough
  • Shoreham-by-Sea
  • Lancing
  • Worthing
  • Littlehampton
  • Arundel
  • Bognor Regis
  • Chichester
  • Steyning
  • Henfield
  • Hassocks
  • Burgess Hill
  • Haywards Heath
  • Horsham
  • Billingshurst
  • Crawley
  • East Grinstead
  • Midhurst
  • Petworth

Work we have done here

  • Full heating and hot water system installed at a commercial property in Bexhill
  • Six Vaillant AroTherm plant installs and underfloor heating across a new-build development at Twineham Grange Farm, West Sussex
  • A new plant room for a Brighton synagogue: two Ideal Evomax boilers in cascade, plate heat exchanger and a fully labelled pump wall
  • Care home plant rooms stripped out and rebuilt for winter across Sussex
  • A care home in Worthing on planned maintenance with us
  • Competitive, informative and on time, in the words of a Hassocks client

Spitfire Commercial Services

1 Dukes Passage, Brighton BN1 1BS

01273 044345

Commercial heating installers across East and West Sussex

Commercial heating installation is most of what we do. We have been in commercial heating for more than 18 years, and the company is run by Jordan Breden from an office in the centre of Brighton, which puts every part of East and West Sussex within a normal working day's reach. Our hours are Monday to Friday, 08:00 to 17:30. We do not offer an out-of-hours service, and we would rather say so plainly than have a building manager find out on a Sunday.

Installer means the whole job, not the last step. We survey the building, calculate its heat loss and hot water demand, design the system, produce the schematics, install it, commission it and hand over the documentation. Where a consultant has already specified the plant we install to their drawings and flag anything the survey shows the drawings did not anticipate.

The installations range from a single boiler replacement in a pub or a small office to complete plant rooms for care homes, schools and managed blocks. The largest plant we look after is a 2,750kW boiler bank serving 375 apartments. The smallest job gets the same standard and the same records.

  • Commercial boiler installation and replacement, single units to modular cascades
  • Complete plant room design, strip-out, rebuild and commissioning
  • Commercial gas pipework, boosters, purging, testing and certification
  • Air source and ground source heat pumps, MCS certificated
  • Commercial air conditioning, REFCOM F-Gas certificated
  • Planned maintenance contracts across single sites and portfolios
New plant room in a Brighton synagogue with two Ideal Evomax boilers in cascade and a labelled pump wall
A complete new plant room for a Brighton synagogue: two Ideal Evomax boilers in cascade and a labelled pump and distribution wall.

Commercial gas engineers for Sussex businesses

All of our gas work is completed to Gas Safe Register requirements, and we are qualified for commercial Natural Gas and LPG: pipework, purging, testing and certification, not only appliances. That distinction matters. A domestic registration does not cover a commercial gas main or a plant room, and a landlord, managing agent or insurer who asks for a commercial gas safety certificate (a CP17) needs it issued by a contractor qualified to do the commercial checks behind it.

On new installations and alterations we run the pipework, fit gas boosters, solenoid valves and gas cages where the load or the site demands them, and complete the purging and testing that brings a supply into service. On one recent job that meant a 100mm stainless steel gas main with a plant room solenoid valve feeding four boilers and a gas cylinder. We have purged and tested commercial gas systems at an airport and across central London, so an industrial unit in Crawley or a supermarket in Eastbourne is well within range.

Commercial plumbing sits inside the heating work rather than as a separate trade. On plant room and boiler projects we take on the hot and cold water services, cylinders and calorifiers, booster and pump sets and the pipework, so the mechanical side of a building has one contractor.

Plant room solenoid valve with 100mm stainless steel gas pipework feeding four boilers
Plant room solenoid valve and 100mm stainless steel gas main feeding four boilers and a gas cylinder.

Commercial boiler installation and replacement in Sussex

Most of the commercial boilers we fit are replacements: plant that has reached the end of its life, or one large boiler being swapped for a modular cascade so the building keeps running when a single unit needs attention. We size every installation against the building's real heat loss and hot water demand rather than copying the nameplate of what was there, because buildings change and the old plant was often oversized to begin with.

We are approved commercial partners and service agents for Ideal Commercial Boilers, Hamworthy Heating, Keston Heating and ACV, which means manufacturer-trained engineers, genuine parts and warranties that hold. We are not tied to one brand and specify what suits the building, including Rinnai hot water plant where continuous hot water is the priority.

Recent boiler work in the county includes a full heating and hot water system for a commercial property in Bexhill, two Ideal Evomax boilers in cascade with a plate heat exchanger for a Brighton synagogue, and a care home plant room with two Keston Heat 2 55kW boilers paired with a Rinnai hot water system, 500 litres of storage and backup immersion so the home is never without hot water.

Every installation covers the strip-out, flues, headers, pumps, pressurisation, controls, commissioning and the handover pack. Where the plant allows we phase the changeover so one boiler is always live, so a care home or school does not go cold while the new plant goes in.

Two Keston Heat 2 boilers straight on, insulated headers on a plinth in a care home boiler room
Two Keston Heat 2 55kW boilers with a Rinnai hot water system, built for a care home that draws hot water around the clock.

Commercial boiler servicing and maintenance contracts in Sussex

A commercial boiler that is serviced on schedule breaks down less, burns less gas and keeps its warranty. We run annual, bi-annual and quarterly planned maintenance across both counties, and we set the frequency from the plant, the hours it runs and what the building can tolerate.

On every visit each appliance is serviced to the manufacturer's schedule, combustion is checked and recorded, safety devices are tested, pumps and pressurisation are checked, and anything that needs attention is reported with a price before it becomes an emergency. Records are issued per appliance, so your compliance file and your insurer have what they need. Contract clients get priority breakdown response during working hours, Monday to Friday.

We hold service contracts on more than 40 care homes for national care groups, maintain communal plant for managed blocks including the 2,750kW Ideal Evomod bank serving 375 apartments, and look after a care home in Worthing along with independent homes across Sussex. As Hamworthy Heating approved service agents we service Modumax plant to the manufacturer's schedule: nine modules in a week on one site, six Modumax MK2 boilers with every serviceable component replaced on another. Most of the plant we maintain was installed by someone else, and portfolio agreements across several sites, with one schedule, one contact and one set of records, are the normal way we work with care groups, managing agents and FM companies.

Inside the combustion chamber of a commercial boiler during a service at a care home in Worthing
Inside the combustion chamber during a service at a care home we maintain in Worthing, West Sussex.

Plant rooms, heat pumps and air conditioning

A plant room is a system, not a boiler. We design, install, refurbish and maintain the whole room: boilers or heat pumps, cylinders, pumps, pressurisation, headers, controls and BMS integration, then commission it and label it so any engineer can read the room in a minute. Recent examples include the Brighton synagogue and care home plant rooms rebuilt ahead of winter with the home kept warm throughout.

For heat pumps we hold our own MCS accreditation and are RECC members, and we install what we design, groundworks included. Across a six-plot new-build development at Twineham Grange Farm in West Sussex we installed six Vaillant AroTherm air source heat pump plant rooms with over 300 square metres of underfloor heating per plot. We have also installed a ground source system with horizontal slinky collectors from trench to commissioning, and we design hybrid plant that pairs a heat pump with a high-efficiency boiler where a building is not ready for a full swap. Where a heat pump is not the right answer, we will say so.

Commercial air conditioning is the other half of the same building. As a REFCOM F-Gas certificated company we install split, multi-split and VRF systems, carry out the leak checks and keep the compliance records, and fold AC servicing into the same maintenance agreement as the heating plant. We already run AC maintenance across a care group's homes alongside the boilers: one visit schedule, one point of contact, no gap where each contractor assumes the other has it covered.

Twin Vaillant heat pumps at the entrance of a completed new-build plot at Twineham Grange Farm, West Sussex
One of six Vaillant AroTherm heat pump installs across a new-build development at Twineham Grange Farm, West Sussex.

Accreditations and what they mean for you

Accreditations are only useful if you know what each one covers. These are the ones we hold, and what each means to the person responsible for the building. Certificates and insurance documents are available on request.

  • Gas Safe Register: all gas work is completed to Gas Safe requirements, and we are qualified for commercial Natural Gas and LPG, so commercial gas safety certificates, pipework and purging are within scope.
  • REFCOM F-Gas: certificated for refrigerant handling and air conditioning work. Above the refrigerant charge thresholds only certificated engineers can work on the circuit, and leak checks and records are a legal obligation. We cover both.
  • MCS Certified: accredited heat pump installer, so installations are certificated and eligible for the schemes that require MCS.
  • RECC: member of the Renewable Energy Consumer Code, which sets the standards for how renewable installations are sold and delivered.
  • CHAS Accredited Contractor: health and safety assessed under SSIP, which is what an FM company, main contractor or public body's procurement team usually asks for before a subcontractor can start.
  • TSI Approved Code: Trading Standards approved, so our terms and customer handling have been checked by an outside body.
  • APHC: member of the Association of Plumbing & Heating Contractors.
  • Reviews: 5.0 on Google from 7 reviews and 10/10 on Checkatrade from 11, verified rather than self-declared.

Sectors we look after across Sussex

The buildings we heat and cool across the county fall into a handful of sectors, and each one worries about something different.

  • Care homes: plant rooms, boilers, hot water and AC designed for demand around the clock, modular plant so one fault never takes the home cold, stored hot water with backup immersion, and maintenance at the frequency the plant needs. More than 40 homes under contract for national care groups, plus independent homes in Brighton, Worthing and across the county.
  • Apartment blocks and managed buildings: communal plant rooms for block managers and managing agents, boiler cascades and pressurisation, per-appliance records for the freeholder's file, and written scopes that can go into a Section 20 consultation. An eight-building portfolio client in Hove has used us for years.
  • Schools and colleges: plant room replacements programmed for the holidays so the school opens with heat on, whole-school gas testing days with every appliance recorded, and sports hall heating supplies. DBS-checked engineers, signed in and escorted per the school's policy.
  • Retail, hotels and leisure: heating and hot water sized for the busiest hour and installed around trading hours. Two Tesco sites in a month, and a golf club's main heat exchanger replaced before winter.
  • Facilities management and main contractors: a specialist mechanical subcontractor with CHAS, Gas Safe, REFCOM and MCS, working to your consultant's specification or our own design, with RAMS and reporting your client can see.
  • Churches, synagogues and heritage buildings: systems that heat people rather than roof space, background protection for sensitive fabric, and the drawings consent processes need. The Brighton synagogue plant room was won against larger contractors.
  • Warehouses and industrial units: gas boosters, solenoid valves and large-bore stainless pipework, purging, testing and the certificates insurers and landlords ask for.
Three Ideal IMAX XTRA commercial boilers on their first annual service at a care home
First-year annual service on three Ideal IMAX XTRA boilers at a care home we look after.

Where we work in Sussex

We cover East Sussex and West Sussex in full from the Brighton office. In East Sussex that means Brighton and Hove itself, Lewes, the coast through Newhaven, Seaford, Peacehaven and Eastbourne to Bexhill, Hastings and Rye, and inland through Hailsham, Uckfield and Crowborough towards the Kent and Surrey borders. Work here has included a full heating and hot water system for a commercial property in Bexhill, care home plant rooms in Brighton, commercial gas pipework and meters for a new-build block of flats in central Brighton, and boiler servicing at a town hall.

In West Sussex we work along the coast from Shoreham-by-Sea, Lancing and Worthing through Littlehampton and Bognor Regis to Chichester, and north through Hassocks, Burgess Hill and Haywards Heath to Horsham, Crawley and East Grinstead. Work here has included the six-plot heat pump development at Twineham Grange Farm, a care home on planned maintenance in Worthing, and a Hassocks client who called us competitive, informative and on time.

For maintenance contracts we keep the portfolio within reach of Brighton so visits and repairs can be scheduled efficiently, and the whole county is comfortably inside that. For installations and plant room projects we also travel into London, Surrey, Kent and Hampshire, which have their own page.

  • East Sussex: Brighton & Hove, Lewes, Newhaven, Seaford, Peacehaven, Eastbourne, Polegate, Hailsham, Bexhill, Hastings, Battle, Rye, Uckfield, Heathfield, Crowborough
  • West Sussex: Shoreham-by-Sea, Lancing, Worthing, Littlehampton, Arundel, Bognor Regis, Chichester, Steyning, Henfield, Hassocks, Burgess Hill, Haywards Heath, Horsham, Billingshurst, Crawley, East Grinstead, Midhurst, Petworth
Spitfire Commercial van on site at a school gas cage during a whole-school gas safety check day
On site for a whole-school gas testing and safety check day.

Before you call

East & West Sussex: common questions

Do you cover the whole of Sussex?

Yes, East and West Sussex in full, from Hastings and Rye in the east to Chichester and Midhurst in the west, and up to the Surrey border around Crawley and East Grinstead. We are based at 1 Dukes Passage in central Brighton, and a large share of our maintenance portfolio is already in the county, so an engineer is usually somewhere nearby.

Are you Gas Safe registered for commercial work?

Yes. All gas work is completed to Gas Safe Register requirements and we are qualified for commercial Natural Gas and LPG, which covers commercial pipework, purging and testing as well as appliances. We issue commercial gas safety certificates (CP17) for landlords, managing agents and business premises across Sussex, and carry out whole-site gas testing days, including a full school in a day.

How quickly can you get to a breakdown in East or West Sussex?

We work Monday to Friday, 08:00 to 17:30, from central Brighton, and contract clients get priority breakdown response during those hours. Most Sussex sites are within a normal working morning of the office, and an engineer is often already in the area on planned maintenance. We do not currently offer an out-of-hours or weekend call-out service, so a building that needs cover outside those hours should know that before signing a contract with us.

Can you put several Sussex sites under one maintenance contract?

Yes. Portfolio agreements across multiple sites are the normal way we work with care groups, managing agents and FM companies: one schedule, one point of contact, one set of per-appliance records. We hold service contracts on more than 40 care homes for national care groups and maintain several managed block portfolios the same way, and AC servicing and F-Gas leak checks can be folded into the same agreement as the heating plant.

Can you replace a commercial boiler without shutting the building down?

Usually. Where the plant allows we phase the work so one boiler is always live, or bring in temporary heat for the changeover window, and the programme is agreed with the building manager in advance. Care home plant rooms have been stripped out and rebuilt in November with residents keeping heat and hot water throughout, and a Tesco Extra plant room was upgraded with the store trading. On a school we programme the work for a holiday.

Which commercial boiler brands do you install and service?

We are approved commercial partners and service agents for Ideal Commercial Boilers, Hamworthy Heating, Keston Heating and ACV, and we service most other commercial makes. Recent work covers Ideal iMax Xtra, IMAX XTRA EL, Evomax and Evomod, Hamworthy Modumax and ModuMax, Keston Heat 2 and Rinnai hot water plant. We are not tied to one brand and specify what suits the building and its hot water demand.

Do you install commercial heat pumps in Sussex?

Yes. We hold our own MCS accreditation and are RECC members, and we design and install air source and ground source heat pumps, hybrid plant and the cylinders and controls around them. The six Vaillant AroTherm plant installs at Twineham Grange Farm in West Sussex were designed and delivered by us, as was a ground source system with trenched slinky collectors. Where a heat pump is not right for the building we say so and design a boiler or hybrid instead.

Can you take over maintenance of plant another contractor installed?

Yes. Most of the plant we maintain across Sussex was installed by someone else. We survey it on the first visit, bring the records up to date, set a service schedule from the plant and the building's demand, and report anything that needs attention with a price before it becomes a failure. Hamworthy Modumax, Ideal and Keston plant are all familiar, and we service most other commercial makes to the manufacturer's schedule.

A building in East & West Sussex? Tell us about it

Request a survey and we will come back within one working day. If the project is not right for us, we will say so straight away.

Request a survey