Consulting-Specifying Engineer - October 2007 - (Page 18)

M/E Roundtable features each vendor can provide. We award controls jobs using a two envelope RFP model that considers features and price. We have found that this model will meet the owner’s requirements and will still be on time and on budget. The other piece of advice I would give is to read “The Contractor’s Guide to Change Orders” by Andrew Civitello. I found this an extremely useful book that has helped me write specs to avoid change orders and still have jobs come in on time and on budget. CSE : Where do you draw the line between consulting engineer and controls contractor/integrator on a project? WICHENKO: I assume this is a job where the engineer is responsible for specifying the job and the contractor is responsible for installing the job. The engineer is responsible for the high-level architecture, the sequence of operations, the types of panels to be installed and the front-end or Web server to be provided. I have seen some specs where the engineer has listed how many inputs and outputs are on the panel. This is unnecessary and may restrict bidding. I specify that control for a piece of equipment—say an air handler—must not be split between panels so there is standalone control if there is a network communications fault. The contractor must supply and install a panel of sufficient capacity so this does not happen. Equipment such as boilers, chillers, speed drives, electric meters and humidifiers now come with BACnet on board. The engineer must now specify these features and then direct the controls contractor to provide a network connection to this equipment. Lighting, fire and security systems also are now BACnet-based. The engineer must specify this equipment and the responsibilities for each vendor to verify that the work was done properly. This is a necessary but complex task. Our firm has migrated our controls specs to the new CSI MasterFormat Division 25 Integrated Automation specification to simplify this process. Division 25 allows these functions to be put under one division. The job can now be bid as one contract by a vendor who offers all these requirements. It may also be bid as a series of contracts where there are separate direct digital controls (DDC), a typical HVAC system has changed more dramatically than any other portion over the past 20 years and will continue to do so. Current practice has design engineers performance-specifying much of the DDC system and significant portions of the sequence of operation. Practically, this forces most projects into a design-build mode by the controls contractor. The engineer is responsible for the high-level architecture, the sequence of operations, the types of panels to be installed, and the front-end or Web server to be provided. lighting, fire and security contractor. The engineer needs to specify the integration plan and the responsibilities for implementing that plan. The Division 25 model simplifies this process so trade conflicts and coordination items do not become change orders. HYDEMAN: All of our controls projects are design-build. In the design-build model, the engineer specifies, reviews and tests the system and component performance, and the contractor provides the detailed design and installation. We don’t install control systems and contractors do not choose the quality of the sensors, the sequences of operation and other critical issues of system performance. We rarely do control drawings. Each manufacturer has different architecture so it would be hard to specify and enforce detailed control system architecture without locking one manufacturer in. We are concerned about performance not the details of how it is achieved. For example, we have a test for the network throughput capabilities that we specify rather than prescriptively mandating the maximum number of low level controllers that can be hung on an MSTP network. SANTOS: Personally, I draw this line very rigidly. The engineers should engineer and the contractor should install. In reality, this line becomes blurred. Engineers typically have not kept up with the world of BAS and DDC and the rapid change that has occurred here. This particular segment of CSE : What ’s your least favorite memory on a controls project? SANTOS: Unfortunately, it’s hard to choose just one. But in general, I can classify the least favorite memories into a group. These are projects where one single party in the process doesn’t understand the issues, execute their role or stay focused on the goals of the project. The result is OK, but falls short of potential due to a single failure by one party. Good BAS/DDC projects don’t just happen naturally. They take a committed and educated owner, engineer, contractor and commissioning effort. HYDEMAN: My least favorite memory occurred when I was working so hard to get a contractor to perform that I not only blew my fee but was donating my time to fix the system. After twice rejecting the control programming submittals, which had no relation to our sequences, I called the branch manager and had them pull the programmer. This was just the beginning of a cascading sequence of events that evoke Bill Murray’s trials in the movie “Groundhog Day.” WICHENKO: My least favorite memory is being embarrassed because the features that I thought I was getting were not provided. I blame myself for not having the knowledge about the systems and the specifying tools to avoid this from happening. I have spent a lot 18 Consulting-Specifying Engineer • OCTOBER, 2007

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Consulting-Specifying Engineer - October 2007

Consulting-Specifying Engineer - October 2007 Contents On the Web In the News M/E Roundtable How To Beat the Energy Codes Professional Practices Codes & Standards A Capital Job on Engineered Buiding Systems Going Green in Data Centers Overcurrent Protection: Fuses or Breakers? Third-Party Liability Management Report New Products Product Spotlight Jobs/Classifieds Specifier's Notebook

Consulting-Specifying Engineer - October 2007

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