Mechanical And Electrical Engineering Module

1. The presentation provided an overview of the work of Mechanical and Electrical (M&E) engineers in construction projects, with a strong focus on Singapore work. The presentation covered a range of topics including:

a. The history of the M&E professional in built environment work was reviewed, starting from the early 19th century.

b. The broad scope of M&E engineers work was surveyed:

i. M&E engineers operating within the buildings market engineer the air-conditioning, fire protection, lifts, lighting, plumbing, communication and other M&E systems that allow modern buildings to operate.

ii. M&E engineers operating in the Industrial market will commonly be engineering the piping, power and communication systems that regulate the operation of a manufacturing or process plant.

iii. The role of the Professional Engineers Board in regulating the work of Civil, Mechanical, Electrical and Chemical Professional Engineers, by setting and maintaining high standards for engineering registration and the issuance of annual practicing licences for both individuals and companies.

iv. The Engineers Code of Ethics was also explained. The code requires that engineers always act with prime regard to the public interest, supervise any engineering work for which they are certifying, avoid commercial conflicts of interest and confine their work to areas in which they are trained and experienced in a wide-ranging profession.

v. How M&E engineers typically work collaboratively in a multi-disciplinary team with the other design professionals to deliver a successful project.

vi. The engineering design process was outlined, including the establishment of project design criteria, the engineering digital model creation process and the use of BIM as an essential design and documentation tool.

vii. The work of M&E engineers in Singapore buildings and infrastructure projects must comply with the requirements of the Building Control Act and a range of Standards & Codes of Practice which are set by Technical Departments & Statutory Boards. A comprehensive technical submission and approval process administered by these agencies verifies that the engineering work conforms to the stipulated standards and codes. In a typical large commercial project, the M&E engineers will submit twenty or more individual submissions for approval of various elements of their work.

viii. Finally, how the M&E engineer supports the work of the contract administrator was explained, including their assessment of physical progress of work for progress claim assessment, reviewing of technical contract compliance matters as well as monitoring the works to confirm that the owner’s interests are properly served by the contractor.

2. The presentation attendees were well engaged with the material presented and raised a number of thoughtful questions relating to the work of legal and engineering professionals in Singapore and the challenges that they must regularly overcome.

3. These sessions are very important and SCL(S) is to be commended for organising them. It is only through a shared understanding of the work of all the parties in a construction project that architects, engineers and legal professionals can make informed decisions which result in the equitable and efficient delivery of construction projects to our clients.

Contributed by: Steve Perkins, Executive Director, Beca