TAB in the Pandemic
The Sheet Metal Industry Steps up to the Plate By Deb Draper Photos courtesy of Fisher Balancing It is critical in any healthcare space to maintain safe, clean air, the pressure in every room precisely balanced to prevent contamination of patients and healthcare professionals. This is the work that testing and balancing (TAB) contractors perform with precision every day of the year, but in early 2020 with the COVID-19 virus sweeping across the globe, they were suddenly working around the clock to flip regular hospital rooms into negative air pressure isolation rooms in preparation for the anticipated surge of infected patients. “We have a number of experienced TAB contractors in our area that have been out there doing the work in these dangerous times,” says Pete Jenkins, executive director for SMACNA 10 » Partners in Progress » www.pinp.org
Philadelphia. “Fisher Balancing Company especially has risen to the challenge, having previously worked in many local hospitals and being familiar with their systems. Matthew Sano, the man behind Fisher Balancing in Williamstown, New Jersey, entered the sheet metal industry 40 years ago as an apprentice in Local 19. “I worked at various shops serving my apprenticeship, and later as a journeyman, taking balancing through the union’s technical school,” he says. “I worked for some good companies, gaining experience in balancing whenever I could.” In business now for 21 years, Fisher Balancing delivers accurately balanced HVAC systems, working with building
