You have decided to invest your money or your investor’s money into a building development. It could be your dream house or your business premise or even an asset to set up your retirement years.
Designing a building is no easy task. There is a reason for all the building design bylaws, standards and codes. The building must be safe for occupancy, functional and as well as aesthetically pleasing.
There have been multiple bad press over the recents years on buildings that are not watertight, structurally unsafe, and being a fire hazard. We have one of the most stringent building standards in the world but why is this happening in Australia one might ask?
Why do you need building services engineers?
The main areas of building services engineering covers electrical, mechanical, hydraulic and fire services. Let’s put it this way, architect looks after the aesthetic side of the building and the structural engineers makes sure the building structure is strong and durable.
Building services engineers makes the building works – lighting, power supply, water supply, waste, air-conditioning, fire hydrant, fire hose reel, etc
In many instances, building services are often forgotten as they are usually hidden behind walls or in ceiling space but a pretty building is not that great when you have not enough power to site, a roof that leaks when it rains or not enough water pressure to the highest fixture. Worst still, you may get a building which is a fire hazard!
You need a good building services team around you to help you to achieve the best out of your project. It is also to compliment and to assist the architect who you have spent hours, days or even months to achieve your dream design or the high ceiling you wanted.
A good building services engineer will ensure the following for you:
- the heating and cooling system is efficient
- there is enough lighting levels to create the desired ambience
- your water supply is clean and safe
- the sewer system is correctly designed and doesn’t backflow
- the fire protection system is compliant and most importantly, work when they should
How do I choose a good building services engineer?
Registered Professional Engineers
The Professional Engineers Registration Act 2019 (the Act) commenced on 1 July 2021.
The Act requires engineers to be registered with the Business Licensing Authority (BLA) to provide professional engineering services in a prescribed area of engineering in Victoria, or from a location outside Victoria, if the services are intended for Victoria.
Engineers are not required to be registered if they work under the direct supervision of a registered practising professional engineer or only in accordance with a prescriptive standard.
The five areas of engineering prescribed for registration in the Act are:
- fire safety engineering
- civil engineering
- structural engineering
- electrical engineering
- mechanical engineering
Public Register
Don’t just take our word (or our competitor’s). You can use the public register to check if someone is indeed a Registered Professional Engineer by using this website – https://registers.consumer.vic.gov.au/PEsearch
Why is it important for engineers to be registered as a Registered Professional Engineer?
You are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars or even millions on your building project. You would certainly want only qualified engineers to work on your project.
Having a Registered Professional Engineer will ensure your project design will be compliant and your building will be safe and functional once built.
All 3 Directors of Essjay Consulting Engineers are Registered Professional Engineers. In fact, all of us are Registered Building Practitioners (RBP) which was previously under the Victorian Building Authority prior to the commencement of the Professional Engineers Registration Act 2019.
You can be rest assured that you can count on us for your projects.
Insurance Coverage
Imagine this, there has been an unfortunate event (fire, water leakage, etc) at your building. You make an insurance claim and pay your excess. The insurance company sent their team to assess the damage and it was determined that certain part of the building was not built to standard and the claim has been rejected! You now run the risk of spending your own money to fight the insurer in court or fix the damage yourself.
In addition to that, all the yearly insurance premium paid over the years, you can’t get it back.
Can your engineers answer these questions?
Ask these question to your engineer before you engage them:
– are you registered with the Business Licensing Authority (BLA)?
– who would be dealing with me on a daily/weekly basis?
– are you registered with any professional association?
– will you issue a Regulation 126 design certificate?
– will your design be coordinated internally between all services?
– will your design be coordinated with architectural, structural, civil and acoustic engineer’s design?
– will you be lodging the Regulation 129 dispensation application to Fire Rescue Victoria if required?
– can you provide contact details of a few relevant project references?
While the question above does not guarantee you will get the best engineers but it will certainly reduce your chances of getting incompetent ones.
