Mid Green occupation

Construction and the built environment

Building services engineer

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Summary

This occupation is found in the construction, built environment and engineering sectors, with building services engineers employed in a variety of organisation types and sizes.

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, security and efficiency through ever increasing environmental safeguarding.

Building services engineers use and apply advanced theoretical and technical knowledge and know how to solve broadly defined engineering problems to design, deliver and manage building services engineering solutions and systems within a building. The main types of building services systems are:

Mechanical: heating, ventilation, and cooling;
Electrical: power, lighting, fire detection, communications; and
Public health: water and waste services, and drainage.

In these areas, building services engineers may consider:

Comfort and control, including heating and ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration, and lighting (artificial and natural) and acoustics.
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.
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.

Building services engineers use and apply advanced engineering knowledge, underpinned by advanced scientific and mathematical principles and theories, whilst using a range of methods, techniques, and procedures to deliver building services engineering solutions. They do so by sourcing, reviewing, interpreting, critically analysing and evaluating a range of data and information, specifying materials or processes, and propose and deliver solutions for building services engineering problems, evaluating performance and support continuous improvement.

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

Building services engineers will prepare, produce and present building services engineering information, designs and documentation, with regard for the practical need to install, maintain, manage and improve building services equipment and systems, and to relevant codes of practice and industry standards, to statutory and regulatory requirements (such as the Building Safety Act 2022, BSI Flex 8670, Construction (Design and Management) (CDM)), and complying with health, safety and wellbeing requirements.

They use appropriate analytical and computational software, including engineering analysis software (such as CAD, Revit or building energy management system (BEMS) software), to prepare, produce, and communicate building services engineering solutions, recognising the limitations of the techniques and outputs produced. Many building services engineers now use digital data modelling processes and systems, such as Building Information Management (BIM), using ISO 19650 standards, to manage information over the whole life cycle of a building services engineering asset (such as the information required for the ‘golden thread’).

Building services engineers will be responsible for initiating, planning, and managing tasks, projects or processes, the team members, or specialist technical input, and wider resources needed, whilst applying appropriate project, financial, legal and commercial management knowledge and techniques, using quality management systems and risk assessment procedures to mitigate risks, and to improve safe systems and security.

They will also commission, carry out, or review site inspections or surveys, report progress against performance criteria, and check specified technical aspects of design, site or manufacturing activities.

In their daily work, employees interact with their line manager, often a senior engineer or project manager, and their team members, to determine, manage, and review tasks, projects and programmes of work, agreeing individual and team responsibilities; they do so to design, produce and evaluate building services engineering solutions, ensuring they are fit for purpose, safe, secure, environmentally sustainable, and meet customer and industry specifications.

Building Services Engineers will regularly work with other building services engineers and technicians, and specialist contactors for which they may be responsible for. They will also collaborate with others working in a range of disciplines, and from various employer types (e.g. clients, consultancies, contractors); these might include civil engineers, surveyors, architects, project managers, planners, environmental practitioners, legal or finance teams, where they will need to communicate effectively in relation to technical and project matters.

Depending on their employer, building services engineers will also communicate and collaborate with those outside their own organisation, including clients or customers, consultants or contractors, suppliers, manufacturers, and with stakeholders or with representatives from appropriate regulatory bodies.

Building services engineers, depending on their employer, will spend their time in an office environment, working on site, working remotely or a combination of these.

Employees are responsible for designing, delivering and managing building services engineering technical solutions to specification, ensuring accuracy and quality, within financial, time, resource, commercial and legal limits, and compliant with health and safety regulations, to industry, regulatory and legislative standards, including the Building Safety Act 2022. They must also comply with health and safety regulations, including the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, Construction (Design and Management) regulation, and environmental and sustainability policies.

They are able to make decisions, exercising sound independent engineering judgement, whilst knowing their own limits of authority when undertaking the occupational duties in a range of contexts and environments, adapting to issues that arise, informing the actions to be taken and reviewing the effectiveness of these actions. They are also responsible for their own, and promoting the benefits of, equality, diversity and inclusion and continuing professional development, and recognising their own obligations to society.

Typical job titles include

Knowledge, skills and behaviours (KSBs)

K1:

Engineering principles, underpinned by theoretical and technical scientific, mathematical and statistical knowledge.

K2:

Engineering techniques, procedures and methods used to measure, test and analyse the performance of building services engineering components and systems.

K3:

Analytical tools and techniques to support integrated or systems-based approaches to problem solving.

K4:

Properties of, identification and selection criteria for materials, components or parts, and processes used in building services engineering.

K5:

Techniques and methods used to research and collect data and technical information.

K6:

Building services engineering design principles and control processes, including the factors that affect design, and the compliance with building safety and health and safety legislation, codes of practice and industry standards.

K7:

Technical drawings, designs, and analytical and computer-based techniques.

K8:

The use and limitations of computational and digital models, including Building Information Modelling (BIM).

K9:

Industry policies, standards, regulations and legislation, and codes of practice, including Building Safety Act 2022 or BSI Flex 8670.

K10:

Statutory health, safety and welfare legislation and regulations including Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and Construction (Design and Management) (CDM) and policies and procedures to enable safe systems of work.

K11:

Hazard and risk assessment, evaluation, and mitigation processes, in the building services engineering environment.

K12:

Principles of sustainable development and their impact on the lifecycle of building services engineering solutions, including United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDG) and net-zero carbon emissions, environmental policies and legislations, the environmental protection and the climate change acts.

K13:

Project management techniques, including quality and information management and assurance systems and the need and use of continuous improvement processes.

K14:

Methods for planning, managing and resourcing building services engineering projects, and the impact on cost, quality, safety, security, environment, commercial and legal matters.

K15:

Methods of communication and when to use them, using appropriate engineering terminology and conventions.

K16:

Roles and responsibilities within their organisation and the wider building services engineering sector.

K17:

Principles of teamwork and collaboration.

K18:

Relationships between organisations, customers, partners and suppliers in the building services engineering sector, including how these are affected by relevant commercial and legal matters.

K19:

Equality, diversity and inclusion, including the Equality Act, their responsibilities, its benefits and importance.

K20:

Awareness of issues and common symptoms and warning signs of stress, anxiety and depression, plus where to go for help and the resources available.

K21:

Ethical principles and practices, including the implications to legal, civil, reputational and professional risk.

K22:

Methods to maintain and enhance professional competence and technical knowledge (CPD).

Technical Educational Products

: ST0372: Building services engineer (Level 6) Approved for delivery

Reference:: OCC0372

Status:: Approved occupation

Average (median) salary:: £45,514 per year

SOC 2020 code:: 2121 Civil engineers

SOC 2020 sub unit groups:
- 2121/01 Building and building services engineers
- 2121/04 Structural engineers
- 2121/06 Water engineers (professional)

S1:

Apply engineering principles to solve broadly defined engineering problems and contribute to continuous improvement: scientific, theoretical, and technical principles.

S2:

Apply building services engineering techniques, procedures and methods, review and evaluate the results, including when measuring and testing, designing, installing, commissioning, maintaining or operating building services engineering systems or improving the performance of building services engineering components and systems.

S3:

Employ mathematical, statistical and data interpretation tools, using analytical and computational methods, and apply an integrated or systems-based approach.

S4:

Identify, interpret, and compare information in relation to materials, components or parts used in building services engineering.

S5:

Research, collect, select and evaluate technical literature and other sources of data and information to address, analyse and evaluate building services engineering problems.

S6:

Produce building services engineering technical solutions in accordance with relevant industry standards, policies, codes of practice, regulations, and legislation.

S7:

Select and apply computational and analytical techniques to model building services engineering problems, recognising the limitations of the techniques employed.

S8:

Contribute to the design, development and implementation of building services engineering solutions, and evaluate their effectiveness in the context of the whole project life cycle.

S9:

Manage and comply with statutory health, safety and welfare policies, procedures and regulation, and contribute to improvements in health, safety and welfare, within their own area of responsibility.

S10:

Complete risk assessments to identify, evaluate, manage and mitigate risks.

S11:

Apply principles of sustainable development and evaluate their effectiveness on the whole project lifecycle of building services engineering solutions.

S12:

Manage engineering activities that contribute to sustainable development and the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs).

S13:

Apply project management techniques, identifying, measuring, recording and reporting progress against building services engineering project performance criteria.

S14:

Manage quality processes and contribute to quality improvements.

S15:

Plans and manages resources, equipment and technology, to meet project requirements, specifications, costs and budgets and timescales, with an appreciation of statutory and commercial arrangements.

S16:

Monitor and manage individual performance, and the input of others, recognising the need to adapt to, and communicate, changing demands.

S17:

Comply with appropriate codes of practice and equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) requirements.

S18:

Communicate in verbal and written contexts using appropriate methods for the audience. Use appropriate engineering terminology and conventions.

S19:

Apply teamwork and collaboration principles.

S20:

Apply ethical principles, Identifying and analysing ethical concerns and making reasoned ethical choices.

S21:

Plan, undertake and review their own professional competence, regularly updating, recording and reviewing their continuing professional development (CPD).

Technical Educational Products

: ST0372: Building services engineer (Level 6) Approved for delivery

Reference:: OCC0372

Status:: Approved occupation

Average (median) salary:: £45,514 per year

SOC 2020 code:: 2121 Civil engineers

SOC 2020 sub unit groups:
- 2121/01 Building and building services engineers
- 2121/04 Structural engineers
- 2121/06 Water engineers (professional)

B1:

Works to health, safety and welfare requirements, safe systems of work, industry standards, statutory regulation and legislation, policies, and codes of practice, and ensuring others do likewise.

B2:

Makes decisions, exercising sound independent engineering judgement, whilst knowing their own limits of authority and when to ask for help or to escalate.

B3:

Works effectively, individually and as part of a team.

B4:

Solves problems with attention to detail, accuracy, and diligence, and seeks to continually improve.

B5:

Promotes equality, diversity and inclusivity in the workplace, maintains professional working relationships with internal, external, and connected stakeholders, and makes reasoned ethical choices.

B6:

Takes responsibility for their own professional development, seeking opportunities to extend and enhance their knowledge, skills, and experience, and support others, in line with professional codes of conduct.

Technical Educational Products

: ST0372: Building services engineer (Level 6) Approved for delivery

Reference:: OCC0372

Status:: Approved occupation

Average (median) salary:: £45,514 per year

SOC 2020 code:: 2121 Civil engineers

SOC 2020 sub unit groups:
- 2121/01 Building and building services engineers
- 2121/04 Structural engineers
- 2121/06 Water engineers (professional)