Overview
You do not have to build every assembly from scratch. Ensign provides a set of pre-built assemblies covering common combinations — cable tray with hangers, switch sockets with back boxes, and more. You can use any of these as a starting point, swap out one or more components, and re-save the result as your own bespoke assembly.
This is particularly useful when you agree with most of the components in an existing assembly but want to change one element — for example, replacing a pre-made overhead hanger with your own combination of drop rod, slotted channel, and fixings.
Inputting a pre-built assembly with split lines
- 1
Go to the Assemblies browser on the left-hand side of the takeoff screen and find the pre-built assembly you want to modify. Navigate through the category, main index, and sub index to locate it — for example, Cable Management > Miscellaneous > LeGrand Swift tray hanger.
- 2
Before confirming the assembly, make sure the split lines option is ticked. This breaks the assembly into its individual component lines on the examine grid rather than showing it as a single summary line. You need the split view so you can see and manipulate the individual items.
- 3
Input the assembly with a quantity or meterage of 1 and press Confirm. The examine grid now displays each component item separately.
If you forget to tick split lines, the assembly appears as a single line on the grid. You can delete it, tick the split lines option, and re-input it.
Swapping out components
- 1
Identify the item or items you want to remove. Highlight the relevant line on the examine grid and press Delete on your keyboard, then Enter to confirm. Alternatively, right-click and select Delete Selected Lines.
- 2
Add your replacement items using whichever method you prefer — browsing the database categories, using the advanced search, or typing a product code or description into the search bar. Enter a quantity of 1 for each new item.
- 3
Once you have all the items you need on the grid (both the original components you are keeping and the new replacements), highlight them all from the left-hand row indicators. Hold Shift and click to select the full range.
- 4
Right-click on the row with the black triangle marker and select Create Assembly. Confirm with Yes when prompted.
- 5
On the assembly builder screen, configure the category, main index, sub index, description, unit of measure, and quantities as described in Creating Assemblies. Then press Save & Exit.
Worked example: replacing a pre-made hanger
A common use case is modifying a Swift tray assembly to replace the pre-made G-shaped overhead hanger with your own support arrangement:
- Input the Swift tray assembly (e.g. 50mm MRF tray with hanger) with split lines ticked and a meterage of 1.
- Delete the pre-made hanger line.
- Search for and add your own support components — for example, slotted channel (pre-galv), M8 threaded rod, and hex nuts or spring channel nuts (sometimes called Zebedees in the trade, though you will need to search for "spring channel nut" in the database).
- Enter a quantity of 1 for each new item.
- Highlight all items, right-click, and create the assembly.
- On the assembly builder screen, set the unit of measure to Linear, then configure the per-metre quantities:
- Cable tray:
1.00(1 metre of tray per metre measured) - Coupling:
0.333(1 every 3 metres) - Slotted channel: enter the length of channel needed per support point, divided by the support spacing — for example, 0.3m of channel every 3m gives
0.10 - Threaded rod: enter the drop length divided by the support spacing — for example, 0.5m of rod every 3m gives
0.167 - Nuts: enter the number needed per support point, divided by the support spacing — for example, 6 nuts every 3m gives
2.00
- Cable tray:
- Name the assembly clearly (e.g. "50mm MRF Tray Including Hanger at 3m") and save.
When searching for fixings, typing the thread size (e.g. "M8") into the search bar and then filtering by description (e.g. "nut", "rod", "spring") can be faster than browsing the full database categories. You can also use free-type items if you prefer to enter a simple cost allowance (e.g. "5p per nut") rather than selecting a specific supplier's product.
If you want to allow for wastage on the cable tray, enter the quantity as 1.05 (for 5%) or 1.10 (for 10%) instead of 1.00. This optional allowance can be applied to any component in the assembly.
Supplier pricing note
When browsing the database for fittings, you may notice that some manufacturers appear more than once — for example, "LeGrand" and "LeGrand CEF". The CEF entries carry prices sourced directly from CEF, which tend to have a lower list price but no discount applied (reflecting CEF's pricing model). The standard LeGrand entries carry LeGrand's own trade prices, to which your negotiated discounts are applied.
Choose whichever source reflects how you actually purchase the products. If you buy through CEF and their pricing is more accurate for you, use the CEF entries. If you buy directly from the manufacturer or through another wholesaler with negotiated discounts, use the standard entries.