Building services engineering technician

This occupation is found in the construction and engineering sectors, with building services engineering technicians employed in a variety of organisation types and sizes. Building services engineering technicians will typically work for:

• Clients, for whom construction or refurbishment projects are carried out, with technicians supporting the preparation and production of building services engineering information, project plans and resourcing, typically for consultants and contractors. This type of organisation could include Developers, Hospital Estates departments, Local Authorities, Facilities Management, etc.
• Consultancies, typically appointed by the client, to design, prepare or modify building services engineering designs, with technicians supporting the planning, design, coordination, management, and monitoring of building services engineering projects, in the design phase, typically providing information for the client and contractor.
• Contractors, typically appointed by the client, to coordinate the construction, installation, refurbishment, or manufacture phase of a building services engineering project, with technicians supporting the planning, project management, monitoring, commissioning and coordination of the build or refurbishment phase of building services engineering projects.
• Suppliers and Manufacturers, appointed to supply materials and equipment, or to design, build and manufacture building service systems, for building services projects.

Technicians work on and in all types of buildings across the built environment sector, including residential (private homes, larger residential buildings, including high rise buildings), schools (education), healthcare facilities & hospitals, retail outlets, shopping centres, offices, restaurants, cinemas, gyms, museums, and infrastructure projects such as transport hubs and stations, ports and airports, water and waste facilities, power plants.

The broad purpose of the occupation is to bring the built environment to life by connecting up the buildings we live and work in, ensuring they meet the needs of the people, plant, and services they need to accommodate, whilst providing comfort, building safety and security and efficiency through ever increasing environmental safeguarding.

Building services engineering technicians assist in the delivery of building services solutions and systems that are to be manufactured, installed, or managed and maintained, within a building. The main types of building services systems are mechanical (heating, ventilation, and cooling), electrical (power, lighting etc) and public health (water services and drainage).

In these areas, building services engineering technicians may consider:

• safety and security, including emergency lighting, security and alarm systems, fire detection and prevention, emergency back-up systems, inclusive access, and flow through buildings for both people and equipment, including escalators and lifts.
• efficiency and sustainability, including the capture, supply and use of energy (electrical, mechanical, and other power systems, renewable energy systems (such as solar, wind or heat pump sources), water supply and management (including plumbing and drainage), communication networks to aid integrated systems and intelligent buildings, and façade engineering.
• comfort and control, including heating and ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration, and lighting (artificial and natural) and acoustics.

Building services engineering technicians will use and apply engineering principles and techniques to prepare, produce and present building services engineering diagrams and documentation, with regard for the practical need to install and maintain equipment and systems. They will also support in technical problem solving which aid in the delivery of building services engineering solutions.

Technicians will source, review, and analyse data and information, carry out calculations, and use a range of tools and techniques, including engineering analysis software (such as CAD and Revit), and digital data modelling systems, such as Building Information Management (BIM), to aid the communication, assessment and secure management of building services engineering information.

With the need to mitigate the detrimental effects on the environment and an increased drive for sustainability, technicians will need to consider the whole life cycle of a built asset, ensuring building service engineering systems and projects align with United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDG), respond to net-zero emissions targets and are compliant with climate change acts, and environmental and sustainability policies and legislation.

Building services engineering technicians will contribute to the planning, design, programming, project management, or delivery of engineering activities to agreed timescales and budgets, using quality systems and risk assessment procedures to monitor and manage projects and their risks. Technicians may also assist in site inspections or surveys, report progress against project plans, or check specified technical aspects of design, site or manufacturing activities.

In their daily work, an employee in this occupation interacts with their line manager, typically a senior building services engineer or site manager, to confirm programmes of work and agree individual responsibilities, which in turn support the delivery of wider plans across building services engineering teams; these teams could include engineers across a range of disciplines, such as mechanical, electrical or public health engineering, from various employer types (e.g. clients, consultancies, contractors), and project managers, where their collective outputs will be used to produce building services engineering solutions that are fit for purpose, safe, secure, environmentally sustainable, and meet customer and industry specifications.

Technicians shall also have a mentor who will support them in the development of their career plans, maintenance of their personal and professional development, and in some cases, progression into more advanced roles, such as building services engineers or technical specialists.

Technicians may also be exposed to other professional disciplines, such as civils, lighting and acoustics engineers, surveyors, architects, planners, environmental practitioners, or legal teams. As well as liaising with internal colleagues across a variety of multidisciplinary areas, some technicians will also be responsible for working with customers, suppliers, manufacturers, and stakeholders or with representatives from appropriate regulatory bodies.

Building services engineering technicians, depending on their employer, will spend their time in an office environment, working on site, working remotely or a combination of these. There is also potential for visiting customers, suppliers, or manufacturers.

An employee in this occupation will be responsible for assisting in the delivery of accurate and quality building services engineering solutions, ensuring they are within agreed time and resource limits, compliant with health and safety regulations, to industry, regulatory and legislative standards, such as the Building Safety Bill, and to defined specifications.

They will typically report to an engineer or project manager, normally as part of a cross functional team, the size of this team and responsibilities varying with the scope of the project and size of the employer.

They also have a responsibility to plan and organise their own work and contribute to the management of projects using a variety of business processes, procedures, and methods of working, and comply with the policies and guidance in their workplace, such as those associated with employment, health, wellbeing and welfare, and ethical and professional conduct.

Technicians are able to use their own judgement when undertaking the occupational duties and applying their technical knowledge, skills, and behaviours in a range of contexts and environments. They are also responsible for their own continuing professional development and recognising their own obligations to society.