Working in the Air Conditioning industry

6 MEMBER’S CORNER

www.elmhurstenergy.co.uk

16 years ago Alasdair Muir was working in the built environment department for a local authority before a series of takeovers and shakeups led to him starting his own successful building surveying company, A Muir Surveying. One of the services he provides is Air Conditioning (TM44 assessments) so we caught up with Alasdair to find out more about this line of work.

Why did you become an Air Conditioning Inspector? Around 2006 I was working in the built environment department for a local authority, which was then taken out of the council and given to a semi-private company. They offered a few team members training and I put my hand up for various energy saving courses - any training they could find! And that included air conditioning. I was very lucky to have benefited from that.

Did you find having a background as an energy assessor helped? It’s definitely helpful coming from a commercial EPC background because you’ll have a bit of knowledge about Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems. What I would say is that EPCs and DECs almost gave me a bit of a false sense of security. I definitely found the air conditioning exam, set by ABBE (but I think with input from CIBSE), much harder than the former two; it was more technical - a lot of which you don’t necessarily need to know on site - but I suppose it ensures you know your stuff and you feel very assured when you’re in the field.

What’s your favourite part of the job? I like going out to different sites. My background is building surveying so I like being out and

about and going into roofs and cellars!

What’s does a typical day look like?

First of all I’ll do a pre-survey and I’ll speak with the client to get some information. Some know a lot, some don’t.

When I go on site I have a chat with the person showing me around to get some more information. This is usually more useful than the conversation with the client!

Once we get to the area where the air conditioning unit is installed, I’ll try to get the chaperone to leave me to crack on as they usually slow you down. Most of my time is spent up a ladder with my head in an air conditioning system! After completing the inspection I’ll go home and start writing up the report. How long does it take? If it’s a simple job, the site survey will usually take 45 minutes to 1 hour, and around 4-5 hours to write up. If it’s a more complex job, such as a multi academy trust with dozens of cassettes and complex centralized plant then it can be a full day on site (around 8-9 hours) and take approximately 2 weeks to write up. I wouldn’t want to do only TM44 (air conditioning) assessments because of the amount of writing involved. But you’ve also got to make sure it’s relevant and that the client reads the report. At the end of the day the purpose of the inspection is to drive down energy consumption and lower energy inefficiencies, so your report’s got to be that balance of being informative and thorough but also accessible for the client.

Would you recommend others to join this area of work?

Absolutely. I can only see more work in the sector over the next few years. There are companies that specialize in air con and there’s no shortage of work if you’re willing to put yourself out there. Many building surveyors have more than one string to their bow. At the end of the day the purpose of the inspection is to drive down energy consumption and lower energy inefficiencies...

I’m self-employed and besides air conditioning inspections I also provide commercial EPC and DEC assessments - and I’m busier than ever before.

What do you think of Elmhurst’s Air Con Online software?

I’ve actually just finished my first assessment using this software! It was a bit of a learning curve but fairly easy to get the hang of. I also like how you can go in and edit it.

In 2015 I became an Elmhurst member and I feel I have definitely benefited from the technical support. There’s no doubt the technical support knows their stuff.

View from Level 4 Air Conditioning Inspector, Trainer and industry veteran Steve Williams

Would you recommend TM44 Inspections to Non-Domestic Assessors? I would definitely recommend air conditioning inspections to EPC surveyors. There’s a huge market for buildings - there's millions of systems out there needing inspecting and maintenance. EPC assessors make great TM44 Inspectors as a lot of the information that is collected for a Non-Domestic EPC is also required for TM44 assessments - for example information on lighting etc. They just need to refine their knowledge and Level 3 is the way to begin with. And of course we have to ask… what are your thoughts on Elmhurst’s Air Con Online software? I’ve used Elmhurst’s Air Con Online software and it’s very good and intuitive. Some software hasn’t changed at all during the years but Elmhurst has the capabilities to evolve the software and I’m sure they’ll be proactive in making it industry leading software