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Offices, retail, medical suites and distribution
A corridor that has filled up fast, in buildings whose plant was specified for a different tenant. Commercial work here starts with finding out what is actually on the roof.
One sheet per unit, and a map of what serves what
Every unit located and identified by model and serial number, matched to the area it actually feeds, its measured condition recorded, and dead or abandoned plant marked as dead. On a building that has changed tenants twice, some of what is up there will not be connected to anything.
Then the readings that matter commercially: airflow and static pressure, refrigerant charge, economiser operation where one is fitted, filter condition and the pressure drop across it, belt and bearing condition, condensate drainage, and a combustion analysis on gas heat.
The survey is written so a facilities manager who has never been on the roof can use it, and so a landlord and a tenant can tell from it who is responsible for what. On a fit-out it is also the document that stops the incoming tenant inheriting a problem that was already there.
Four kinds of premises, four different problems
Offices
Usually zoning rather than capacity: one thermostat governing a floor with a glass west elevation at one end and an interior corridor at the other. In this valley the west elevation is the whole problem, and it is at its worst between three and six. We measure the zones separately at that hour, and the answer is frequently rebalancing, a second sensor and solar control rather than new plant.
Retail and restaurants
A door standing open is a trading decision and not ours to argue with; we will put numbers against an air curtain, a schedule change and simply accepting a figure on the bill. In kitchens the first measurement is make-up air against hood exhaust, because a kitchen out of balance pulls conditioned air from the dining room and the street. We do not clean hoods or certify fire suppression.
Medical and dental suites
Stable temperature, documented filter changes, and ventilation that can be shown to be doing what the room requires, kept in a form an inspector will accept. Where a space needs formal certification to a clinical standard, that is a specialist engagement and we will say so rather than take it on.
Storage and distribution
Heat in a tall building is a stratification problem before it is a capacity problem: the warm air is at the roof and the people are on the floor. Destratification fans, ventilation, roof treatment and spot cooling at the fixed work positions usually move the number at head height further than plant would. We measure both and give you the figures side by side.
What we do in premises
- Written plant survey
Every unit found, identified, measured and mapped to what it serves, with abandoned plant marked as dead.
- Planned maintenance
Scheduled visits, the same readings each time, written specifically enough that a lease obligation can be shown to have been met.
- Repair and replacement
Repair diagnosed and costed first. Replacement sized from the load the building carries now, with the curb, the roof opening and crane access established before anything is ordered.
- Fit-out and tenant changes
What the incoming use actually needs against what is already up there, written before the lease is signed rather than after the first summer.
- Zoning and controls
Sensors where the complaints are, schedules set to the hours the building is used, economisers checked for whether they still move.
- Ventilation records
Filter changes, airflow readings and dates, in a form that satisfies a tenant, a landlord or an inspector.
Work we turn down
| We decline | Who it belongs to |
|---|---|
| Central chiller plant and cooling towers | A different discipline with different tickets, and we are not going to learn it on your building. |
| Proprietary building management systems | We will work with the controls in front of us and tell you what a schedule is doing. Programming a manufacturer-locked system belongs to whoever holds the licence. |
| Commercial refrigeration | Walk-ins, display cases and ice machines are adjacent and are not the same trade. |
| Hood cleaning and fire suppression | Separate licensed jobs. We do the air balance around the hood. |
| Clinical certification | Where a space must be certified to a clinical standard we hand it to a specialist rather than sign something we are not qualified to sign. |
| Arranging finance or leasing | The same answer as on the residential side. You get a price for the work. How it is funded is yours to decide with somebody who is not selling you equipment. |
Tell us the building
What it is used for, roughly how many units are on the roof, and where the complaints come from. 28121 Jefferson Ave, Temecula. Monday to Friday, 7am to 4.30pm.