Why would you not manage a specialist contractor through the KPIs that cover the impact of their work? If they are not comfortable with this arrangement, they are not the right specialist for you.
For instance, a Building Management Controls System is not just a complicated time clock that turns equipment on and off at the required times. It is and should be operated as the heart, lungs and brain of a building’s performance and also its occupants’ wellbeing. It also has a significant effect on the energy consumption of the equipment under control, and the associated costs and carbon profile.
So why would this important element be a subcontracted part of the main contract? Surely the onus is with the Building Manager to have a very tight specification which ties the contractor into agreed energy targets, equipment longevity, internal conditions including temperature, CO, CO2, TVOC’s and any other quality metric pertinent to the optimal performance of the property?
There are many good best practice guides and specifications to support any person responsible, to ensure they’re achieving the best results from their Building Management System. Nevertheless, for the layperson, these guides can be slightly imposing, due to the plethora of three-letter acronyms that are often used throughout any industry body publication.
There are, however, a few basics that are needed to ensure the client receives great service.
- A relationship with the BMS specialist directly. For the contractor to understand the clients’ requirements, standards and overall goals. For trust to be built that the contractor provides the best value information first time, every time.
- Remote access to the control system for remote diagnosis of issues – potentially avoiding call outs. Or for appropriate skill sets to be deployed if a call out is required, enabling the first fix.
- Tracking of building performance metrics and the monitoring of any intervention, be it mechanical or electrical.
- Monitoring & Targeting of all agreed metrics, from a common platform as a single source of truth.
- Give and take – as a complex energy, comfort condition and equipment operational solution covering many condition-based delivery aspects, it might not be absolutely perfect first time.
The operation of a BMS is a very important strand of a much wider sustainability programme, where many environmental, social and governance aspects must come together to form the overall strategy for the business.
In essence – do not leave a sub-contract instruction to something so fundamental to your business’ sustainability goals. Engage directly with the experts so they have a clear understanding of your strategy and requirements.
How can ETS help?
For over 20 years, ETS has assisted organisations of all sizes and sectors to dramatically improve the energy efficiency and carbon performance of their buildings – significantly reducing environmental impacts whilst saving substantial sums of money – across individual assets and large international portfolios.
Our in-house BMS & Smart Buildings experts can assist with everything from design & specification, upgrade, optimisation, and ongoing best-practice maintenance.
Whatever the nature of your business, we can help.
To discuss your requirements, please get in touch. You can contact us by calling 0117 379 0850 or drop us an email at enquiries@energy-ts.com.