Building services engineering

Overview

What is building services engineering?

Building services engineers design, install and maintain services such as acoustics, heating, lighting and power into buildings to enable them to work effectively.

Skills

What’s required for the role?

Strong communication skills
Problem-solving ability
Analytical skills
Maths and IT skills, such as 3D visualisation and modelling

The details

Learn more about the role

What's the role like in practice?

Building services engineers can work on a huge range of buildings, including domestic, commercial and industrial projects. They also work on historic, conservation and iconic buildings, making and adapting buildings to meet the needs of the people who live and work in them.

Work includes project management, design of systems in areas such as mechanical design, lighting, vertical transport, electrical engineering etc. Building services engineers usually specialise one particular area.

What's the work environment like?

Your time will be split between working on site and working from an office. Team working and working with other professionals is usually required as well as presentation and liaison with clients.

What qualifications are required?

Entry into building services engineering is typically via an engineering degree or similar qualification. Both under and post graduate degrees are available. Building service engineers may be members of the Chartered Institute of Building Service Engineers.

Is it for you?

Other useful skills to have:

Researching and explaining data in specialist areas
Working in teams
Maths skills
Using specialist IT programmes and equipment

Sustainability

How are building services engineers responding to the need for sustainability?

Engineers have a huge influence over the energy use, carbon dioxide emissions, health and wellbeing, water use and other sustainability outcomes of buildings and the wider projects in which they sit. For building services engineers there is an increasing focus on these issues and the delivery of sustainable outcomes. They also respond to the environmental challenges by examining how engineering decisions could deliver a more sustainable built environment and through influencing the work done and decisions made, by clients and other professionals.