Engineers in the Building Sector

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MECH1010 Engineer in Society http//www.hku.hk/b
se/mech1010/
Engineers in the Building Sector
Dr. Sam C M Hui Department of Mechanical
Engineering The University of Hong Kong E-mail
cmhui_at_hku.hk
Mar 2008
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Engineers in the Building Sector

• Three main routes in construction career
• Graduate (degree) ? our BEng graduates
• Technical (sub-degree/apprenticeship)
• Craft (apprenticeship)
• Common types of engineers
• Building Services Engineer
• Civil Engineer
• Electrical Engineer
• Mechanical Engineer
• Structural Engineer

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Engineers in the Building Sector

• Typical job titles
• Building services engineer/coordinator
• Consulting/design/project engineer
• Facility or building engineer
• M/E (mechanical/electrical) engineer
• Project manager
• Sales engineer
• Web link http//hk.careers.yahoo.com/
• Search for jobs in Building and Construction
  Industry

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Engineers in the Building Sector

• Employers
• Private companies, such as
• Consulting and contracting firms
• Construction companies
• Equipment manufacturers and suppliers
• Building developers and owners
• Facility and property management companies
• Government departments
• Quasi-government bodies, such as power,
  utilities, and transport companies

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Can I work in the building sector?
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Engineers in the Building Sector

• Skills required
• Organizational
• Analytical
• Technical
• Problem solving
• Communication (interpersonal)
• Creative design
• Drawing

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Engineers in the Building Sector

• Main aspects of the work
• Understanding and using physics
• Using mathematics to solve technical or
  scientific problems
• Learning about buildings, roads etc and how they
  are built
• Analytical ability to understand and solve
  challenging problems

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Engineers in the Building Sector

• Related parties
• Clients, developer, building owner
• Architect
• Builder (main contractor)
• Interior designer
• Quantity surveyor
• Urban designers/planners
• Sub-contractors
• Suppliers

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Organisation structure of building projects
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Building design is a team work.
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Engineers in the Building Sector

• Teams enable people to pool knowledge,
  understanding, skills and responsibility
• Teams within a single organisation
• Teams formed by different bodies
• Teams in the construction industry made up of
  many different companies and people which have
  competing needs and interests
• How to integrate their knowledge skills?

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Engineers in the Building Sector

• Features of teams in the construction industry
• Temporary
• Knowledge and skill is fragmented
• Constituent firms are in different locations
• They have different cultures and priorities
• Different people in the firms are involved at
  different times
• Often these firms become involved in the project
  at different times

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How can I be successful in the building sector?
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Engineers in the Building Sector

• Five main issues to consider
• Technology (??) technical knowhow
• Codes (??) laws and regulations
• Safety (??) proactive in safety management
• Environment (??) environmental protection
• Ethics (??) to act honestly and with integrity

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Engineers in the Building Sector

• Technology (??) technical knowhow
• Suitable qualifications, such as
• BEng in an appropriate discipline
• Corporate membership of professional institutes,
  e.g. HKIE, ASHRAE, CIBSE, IMechE, IEE or IET
• Working experience
• Actual project design management (preferably
  with some specialist skills)
• Upgrade yourself continuously (life-long
  learning)
• Acquire other skills e.g. management finance

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Engineers in the Building Sector

• Codes (??) laws and regulations
• Typical government legislative documents
• Building Ordinance (Laws of HK, CAP 123)
• Related regulations (e.g. electrical, fire,
  structural)
• Code of practice
• Industrial standards (e.g. British Standards)
• Rules from utilities companies, e.g. electricity
  towngas

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Engineers in the Building Sector

• Safety (??) proactive in safety management
• It is extremely important to prevent or minimise
  accidents (on you or others)
• Occupational health and safety matters
• Basic safety training, such as Construction
  Safety Green Card

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Industrial accidents in the construction industry
(Hong Kong)
What is the most important reason for the fatal
accidents?
(Source Labour Department, 2005. Accidents in
the Construction Industry of Hong Kong
(2000-2004))
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Fatal industrial accidents resulted from Fall of
Person from Height in the construction industry
(2000-2004)
(Source Labour Department, 2005. Accidents in
the Construction Industry of Hong Kong
(2000-2004))
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Breakdown of fatal industrial accidents resulted
from Fall of Person from Height in the
construction industry (2000-2004)
(Source Labour Department, 2005. Accidents in
the Construction Industry of Hong Kong
(2000-2004))
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Engineers in the Building Sector

• Environment (??) environmental protection
• Green construction and sustainable building
  design (to reduce environmental impacts)
• Enhance the performance and quality of buildings

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Engineers in the Building Sector

• Ethics (??) to act honestly and with integrity
• Anti-corruption and prevention of bribery, e.g.
• Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC)
• Abuse of official power for personal gain
• Consequences of corruption in the construction
  field are severe
• Poor quality of construction would cause
  accidents and endanger human life
• Reputation will be affected too

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Some knowledge of building design is useful for
everybody.
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Engineers in the Building Sector

• Buildings provide the environment and facilities
  to support our living, working, studying, etc.
• Purchase of a flat or house is probably the most
  expensive single item for a person
• Building design can determine many of the
  operation costs and environmental impacts of a
  business or an organisation

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Engineers in the Building Sector

• Challenges involved in designing and constructing
  different types of buildings
• Understand the clients requirements
• Work within regulations and site constraints
• Achieve tasks by budget and time
• Be cost effective and environmentally sound
• Care about building users and neighbourhoods

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Engineers in the Building Sector

• Video presentation Look and Learn Buildings (16
  min.) av 725 B93 VHS
• Buildings designed for special purposes
• Supermarket
• Fire station
• Motorway service station
• Football stadium
• Police station
• Show how they meet the needs of a varied
  assortment of people who use them

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Engineers in the Building Sector

• Major design considerations
• Purpose, location, building materials, interior
  arrangement, accessibility, parking, environment,
  safety, comfort/convenience, storage, security,
  access for handicapped, building space, and
  provision for the staff
• Could you identify and analyse the key points for
  the buildings that you live/work in or visited
  before?

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Homework Assignment

• Can be found on the course website
• http//www.hku.hk/bse/mech1010/assign.htm
• There are 5 questions for our topics
• Forms the in-course assessment
• Please submit your answer in MS Word or PDF
  format to Dr. Sam Hui at email cmhui_at_hku.hk on
  or before Monday, 14 April 2008.