Doing one LED retrofit is straightforward. Doing fifty? That’s a different challenge entirely.

I’ve been involved in multi-site rollouts for retail chains, government portfolios, and commercial property groups. Here’s what I’ve learned about managing complexity at scale.

Why Multi-Site Is Different

A single-site project has:

• One decision-maker
• One contractor relationship
• One set of site conditions
• One approval process

A multi-site rollout has all of those, multiplied, plus coordination challenges that don’t exist at individual sites.

New challenges include:

• Standardisation vs site-specific needs
• Contractor coordination across geography
• Consistent quality across installations
• Centralised purchasing and logistics
• Documentation at scale
• Stakeholder management across locations

Phase 1: Planning and Scoping

Site Assessment Strategy

You can’t do detailed assessments of 50 sites before starting. You need a tiered approach:

Desktop assessment: Use existing data—energy bills, floor plans, previous audits—to categorise sites roughly.

Sample site visits: Visit a representative sample (maybe 10-20%) to validate assumptions and identify issues.

Standard site profiles: Develop templates for common site types. “Standard retail store” or “typical branch office” with assumed fixture types and quantities.

Detailed assessment during rollout: Full detailed assessment happens as sites are scheduled for installation.

This allows planning to start without visiting every site, while still catching site-specific issues before they become problems.

Standardisation vs Flexibility

Standardise where possible:

• Product specifications (this model for this application)
• Installation standards (wiring methods, mounting details)
• Documentation requirements
• Commissioning procedures

Allow flexibility for:

• Site-specific conditions (ceiling types, access constraints)
• Legacy infrastructure variations
• Local compliance requirements
• Operational constraints

The goal is consistency without rigidity. Define the standards but have a process for handling exceptions.

Procurement Strategy

For large rollouts, procurement can be:

Centralised supply: You buy all products centrally, distribute to sites/contractors.

Pros: Volume pricing, quality control, consistency Cons: Logistics complexity, storage needs, cash flow tied up in inventory

Distributed supply: Contractors procure products per site, against your specification.

Pros: Simpler logistics, contractor takes supply risk Cons: Harder to enforce standards, potentially higher prices, quality variations

Hybrid: Central supply for key items (fittings), distributed supply for consumables.

For most multi-site projects, some form of centralised procurement makes sense to control quality and cost.

Phase 2: Contractor Management

Single Contractor vs Multiple

Single national contractor: One relationship, consistent processes, national coverage.

Risk: They may not perform equally well everywhere. If they fail, your whole program stalls.

Regional contractors: Local relationships, potentially better quality in their region.

Risk: More relationships to manage. Inconsistency between regions.

Panel approach: Pre-qualify multiple contractors, allocate sites based on geography and capacity.

This is often the best balance—competition keeps performance up, while pre-qualification ensures baseline quality.

Setting Expectations

Clear documentation is essential:

• Scope of work templates
• Quality standards and acceptance criteria
• Documentation requirements
• Milestone and payment structures
• Defect rectification processes
• Communication protocols

Don’t assume contractors know what you expect. Spell it out.

Quality Control

At scale, you can’t inspect every site. Strategies include:

Random audits: Visit a percentage of completed sites unannounced.

Photo documentation: Require photo evidence of key stages (before, during, after).

Third-party inspection: Engage independent inspectors for larger or higher-risk sites.

Defect tracking: Maintain a central register of defects found and resolution status.

Performance metrics: Track installation quality, defect rates, and schedule adherence by contractor.

Feed learnings back into the process. If one contractor consistently has issues, address it or change contractors.

Phase 3: Logistics and Coordination

Scheduling

Sites need to be scheduled considering:

• Business operations (avoid peak trading periods)
• Contractor capacity and travel efficiency
• Product delivery lead times
• Stakeholder availability for access and sign-off

Software tools help. Even a good spreadsheet is better than chaos. For large programs, dedicated project management tools are worth it.

Site Coordination

Each site needs:

• Access arrangements (keys, security, after-hours contacts)
• Power isolation procedures
• Area clearances (moving stock or furniture)
• Communication with site staff
• Sign-off procedures

A site coordination checklist, completed before each installation, prevents common problems.

Stakeholder Communication

Multi-site projects involve many stakeholders:

• Head office (program sponsors, finance, procurement)
• Site managers (dealing with disruption)
• Contractors (doing the work)
• Utility rebate administrators (processing certificates)
• Possibly tenants, customers, staff

Regular communication keeps everyone aligned. Weekly status reports, milestone updates, and issue escalation procedures.

Phase 4: Documentation and Closeout

Documentation at Scale

For a 50-site project, you’ll generate hundreds of documents:

• Site assessments
• Installation records
• Test certificates
• Product data sheets
• Photos
• Rebate claim packages
• Financial records

Organise from the start. Consistent naming conventions, folder structures, and completion checklists.

Cloud-based document management works well. Everyone can access what they need. Nothing gets lost in someone’s email.

Rebate Coordination

Multi-site ESC/VEEC programs require coordination with your ACP:

• Site-by-site certificate calculations
• Consolidated claim submissions
• Progress tracking
• Payment reconciliation

A good ACP can handle high volumes, but you need to provide clean documentation consistently.

Financial Tracking

Track actuals against budget:

• Per-site costs
• Contractor costs
• Product costs
• Internal costs
• Rebate receipts

Variance analysis helps you refine estimates for remaining sites and identify issues early.

Common Pitfalls

Underestimating coordination effort: The project management overhead for multi-site is substantial. Budget for it.

Assuming sites are identical: Every site has surprises. Build contingency into schedules and budgets.

Poor contractor management: At scale, contractor issues multiply. Active management is essential.

Documentation lapses: Missing paperwork for one site might cost you $20,000 in lost rebates. Multiply that by 50 sites.

Stakeholder fatigue: Site managers have day jobs. Make their involvement as easy as possible.

The Value of Experience

If your organisation hasn’t done a multi-site rollout before, consider engaging someone who has—either as a consultant or embedded in your team.

The learning curve is real, and mistakes at scale are expensive.

For complex programs involving building automation, energy management systems, and smart technology integration across multiple sites, companies like AI consultants Sydney work on that kind of portfolio-scale intelligent building deployment. But for straightforward LED retrofits, an experienced project manager and reliable contractors are the core requirements.

Summary

Multi-site LED rollouts deliver significant savings and consistency across portfolios. But they require:

• Systematic planning and scoping
• Clear standards with managed flexibility
• Strong contractor management
• Rigorous documentation
• Proactive coordination

Get these right, and you can achieve impressive results at scale. Get them wrong, and small problems multiply into major headaches.

Plan carefully. Execute systematically. Learn continuously.