Day one: survey and datum
The team arrives before the steel. They check the wall for plumb, mark the datum line, and confirm the power drop location. Half a day. If the wall is out by more than 10 mm over the width, the frame has to be packed, and that is discovered here, not on day four.
Day two and three: steel frame
Thirty-two linear metres of frame, anchored at 600 mm centres. Two fitters, one welder. The frame is aligned to the datum with a laser, then checked for flatness with a 2 m straight edge. This is the slowest part and the part that cannot be rushed. Everything after it inherits the tolerance.
Day four: power, signal, and cabinets
Power supplies and receiving card wiring go in first, then the first row of cabinets. The first row sets the alignment for everything above it, so it takes about twice as long per cabinet as the rest.
Day five: remaining cabinets
The wall goes up in horizontal rows from the bottom. Twelve people can hang 40 square metres in a day once the first row is true. The team checks the seam gap every third cabinet, not at the end.
Day six: commissioning
Full white, then grey ramps, then colour bars, then real content. Brightness is set, colour is matched across cabinets, and the processor mapping is verified. This is also when the client sees it for the first time and asks for changes, so plan for it.
Day seven: handover and training
Two hours of training for the person who will actually operate it, plus a written as-built document with the processor configuration, the IP addresses, and the spare parts list.
The two days that slip
Day one slips when the wall is not ready and the site is still full of other trades. Day six slips when the content is not available at native resolution, so nobody can judge the result. Both are avoidable with one phone call each, two weeks earlier.