Building Management Controls Recruitment - Building Management Controls Jobs
The BMS (Building Management Controls) industry is extremely specialist and therefore Solutions Engineering Recruitment Ltd has dedicated consultants who really understand the industry and more importantly the different types of skills that are required by different engineers and different companies. We know the importance of understanding what software you specialise in, be it, Trend, Satchwell, Honeywell, Cylon, Andover, Siemens, Allan Bradley etc.
By employing consultants who only work within the BMS industry we are able to develop strong working relationships with engineers and clients alike and therefore offer the best solutions to all parties concerned.
If you are looking to recruit the services of skilled BMS engineers, technicians or managers then please contact our team to discuss your requirements.
What is a building controls engineer?
A building controls engineer is responsible for designing and maintaining the control system within a building, ensuring that the heating and ventilation systems keep the environmental conditions required by the occupants, while minimising the energy and financial costs of the building.
Building controls engineers are able to read and understand electrical and mechanical drawings supplied by the design team, and are then able to discuss the implementation of a control system with the building owner or customer. From there, they oversee the installation of the building control system and configure them to meet the requirements of the design team. An engineer will work with many trades on a construction site and will gain a working knowledge of each during his or her career. In addition, a building controls engineer will be confident in the inspection and faultfinding of existing building control systems and able to identify enhancements and improvements to the existing system.
There are a variety of job roles and opportunities for careers in the building controls industry, including:
- Service engineer
- Project manager
- Project engineer
- Graphic designer
- trategy designer (software control strategy)
- Commissioning engineer
Service Engineer
Once a building control system has been installed, a service engineer will be responsible for ensuring it continues to operate at maximum efficiency at all times, while exploring opportunities for further energy savings – very important at a time when energy costs for businesses are rising rapidly.
Project Manager
A project manager is responsible for the smooth running of building controls projects. This includes working closely with clients and other contractors to ensure the project is delivered on time and in accordance with the specification. The project manager plans and coordinates all aspect of the building controls installation, managing the day-to-day activity of project engineers.
Project engineer
A project engineer reports to the project manager and will carry out the design and commissioning of the building controls project. He will review the specification and develop the controls design to meet the requirements. He will also check equipment selection and ensure orders are delivered in a timely way.
Graphic designer
A graphic designer is responsible for producing the PC display graphics for customers to maintain control of their building management system. Accurately interpreting the layout of physical plant through graphics will give the user a useful overview of the system.
Strategy design engineer
A strategy design engineer interprets the client’s requirements for operating the heating, ventilating and air conditioning systems in their building. The strategy design engineer will then create a building controls strategy using specially designed software tools.
Commissioning engineer
A commissioning engineer will ensure that all equipment connected to a building controls system responds correctly to the control signals, they will also work with other trades to check correct operation of items of plant.
What is integration?
Integration brings together 2 or more different control systems (i.e. Fire + CCTV) in a building or complex, so that they can operate as one system. This has a number of advantages to previous building management systems:
Greater degree of simplicity/usability for the end-user customers can choose the best system from each particular discipline without fear of compromising compatibility building cause and effect strategy can be programmed through the integration layer the integrated layer provides true optimisation of all the connected building systems.
Integrate1: a. complete, form into whole; made up of parts; whole
Integrate2: v. complete by addition of parts; combine (parts) into a whole
Recent trends in design and specification have tried to use the well developed HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) controls equipment to take on a larger role in building management and automation than what it was originally designed for.
More and more we see new buildings where integration is seen as a way of bolting more information or compatibility into a HVAC control system - often with increased costs and to the detriment of the overall building performance. Integration overcomes these problems, thus allowing manufacturers to develop their systems without constraints. Whichever method is required, Tyrrell Systems Ltd are able to offer help and advice to provide the best solution for the problem.
How did it all start?
Engineers have always integrated systems together, it is really just the methods that have changed. In the early 90's, manufacturers of energy management systems were producing flexible platform control systems for control of heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems. These flexible controls were being offered in a world dominated by fixed function control systems for not just HVAC, but Fire, Access Control, Intruder systems and the majority of other building control and monitoring systems. The work was still being carried out in the main by the equipment manufacturers. The flexibility of these "new" HVAC control systems opened up opportunities for energy controls companies to control and monitor non-HVAC systems. This was typically carried out using a hard wired interface. These energy management systems (EMS) were now controlling lighting in offices and warehouses, as part of the same system.