Page 11 - CSA INDEX - Spring Summer 2021

There are thousands of individual pipework, ductwork & cabling In the UK, the professional body that represents this engineering
circuits. These circuits connect tens-of-thousands of terminal world is CIBSE – The Chartered Institution of Building Services
devices such as switches, sockets, detectors, taps, data points, Engineers. It is not called The Chartered Institution of
sensors, actuators, floor drains, disabled access buttons, hand M & E Engineers.
dryers, cameras, card readers, light fittings, rainwater inlets,
breakglass units, air supply grilles and radiators. So, we have two terms: Building Services and M & E. It could be
argued that Building Services provides no greater clarity than M
Collectively, these systems are composed of hundreds-of- & E about this incredibly diverse engineering world.
thousands of individual elements – from commodities such
as nuts & bolts, anchors, drop rods, unistrut, cable clips, pipe I think that this misses the crucial point; it is what the term
supports and basket tray, to thermal insulation, firestopping and Building Services does not do that makes it so much better than
labels, through to system-specific fittings for pipework, ductwork the term M & E.
and cable-based systems.
This is because M & E implies a binary simplicity that does not
Furthermore, the installation and commissioning work associated exist; a system, and all the work associated with it, cannot just be
with complex engineering world is undertaken by a huge range of placed in the mechanical or the electrical pot.
onsite, offsite, system, product, manufacturer, material, treatment
and validation specialists; there is not just a mechanical tradesman Let's put the physics about the flow of charged particles to one
and an electrical tradesman. side for a moment. From a practical project-delivery perspective,
data, fire detection, closed-circuit television, nurse call, building
However, many people working on the delivery of construction management, refuge alarm, public address and access control
projects and in facilities management still try to cram all of systems are no closer to being an electric mains or a power
this incredible engineering diversity into two categories – M & installation system than a sprinkler, medical gas or fume
E. This was a problem five decades ago when buildings were extract system.
technologically less complex. In the 21 century built environment,
this dysfunctional over simplification is big problem because Cold water, chilled water, hot water, sprinkler and central heating
it adversely how construction projects are delivered and how systems all contain water, but they are all fundamentally different
buildings are used, managed, operated and maintained. "mechanical" systems with lots of interfaces to other systems.

We do not boil-down the complexity of structural engineering The same principle of difference and inter-connectivity applies
to C & B: Columns and Beams. We don't condense the richness to ductwork-based "mechanical" systems such as ventilation and
of architecture to W & R: Walls and Roofs. Civil Engineering is air conditioning.
not compressed to R & T: Roads and Tunnels. Sustainability is not
hollowed-out to just E & M: Energy & Materials. So why would we And so on, and so on for other Building Services systems.
ever try to use the inappropriate abbreviation M & E for the huge
range of systems that, in simple terms, make modern human life In the built environment, the aim for all teams is not just to safely
possible across the planet? deliver a building on-time and on-cost. Any building also needs to:
I am not sure whether it is laziness, ignorance, an inferiority • Be operationally-ready at handover
complex, or some other factor that has led to the corruption of • Perform to suit its required purpose
this incredibly important aspect of the built environment. • Function efficiently and effectively in the long-term