Apprenticeship training course

Building services engineering craftsperson (level 3)

There are 20 training providers who offer this course. Check if a training provider can deliver this training in the apprentice's work location.

Information about Building services engineering craftsperson (level 3)

Designing, installing and servicing engineering systems used to heat large buildings like factories and hospitals.

• Knowledge, skills and behaviours:
  View knowledge, skills and behaviours

  Knowledge

  • Roles and responsibilities within the building services industry, how they relate to one another and their hierarchy.
  • Health and safety regulations and procedures, relevant to the occupation and the craftsperson’s responsibilities. For example, Health and Safety at Work Act – responsibilities; Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH); Working at height. Working in confined spaces. Situational awareness. Isolation and emergency stop procedures. Emergency evacuation procedures. Slips, trips, and falls. Safety equipment; guards, signage, fire extinguishers. Provision and use of Work Equipment Regulations (PUWER); Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR).
  • Limits of authority, when to escalate tasks and issues, and to whom.
  • Building services engineering related procedures, processes, standards, and codes of practice.
  • The purpose, function and roles involved with site inductions and toolbox talks.
  • Methods of safe working including risk assessments, method statements, control measure application and safe systems of work.
  • Principles of risk assessments, for example hierarchy of risk.
  • Methods of hazard identification and risk management.
  • Health and safety control equipment including personal protective equipment (PPE).
  • Building fire safety legislation: purpose, application and impact.
  • Manual handling techniques including material handling equipment (MHE).
  • Waste management techniques: recycling, reuse and safe disposal of waste.
  • Environmental and sustainability regulations and guidance. Environmental management systems standard. Environmental Protection Act.
  • Mechanical sustainable energy systems: carbon reduction, solar, rainwater and heat recovery.
  • Energy sources: low carbon (Combined heat and power (CHP), biomass ground source heat pumps (GSHP)) zero carbon heat and power, wind, solar photovoltaic or thermal, hydro aiming for net zero energy in use. System efficiencies.
  • Principles of planning work programmes: order, resource and time management, stages and needs.
  • Work area and task preparation, setting out techniques.
  • Principles and techniques of efficient use of resources: cost, time, quality, safety.
  • Principles of securing and storing equipment and tools.
  • Methods of interpreting and extracting relevant information from drawings, specifications and work instructions.
  • Principles of Computer Aided Design (CAD) and Building Information Modelling (BIM).
  • Project management techniques and styles for building services engineering.
  • Design principles for installation of new heating systems: industrial and commercial, low temperature and medium temperature systems.
  • Principles and techniques for pipework fabricating, including jointing: compression, screwed, crimped and bending for prefabricated or modularised components and distribution systems.
  • Water system installation and pre-commissioning techniques: hot - open vented, unvented, indirect, secondary circulation, instantaneous. Cold - indirect and direct.
  • Air conditioning, heat rejection, chilled beams, fan coil units, air handling units.
  • Operating principles for testing of new and existing industrial and commercial systems including electrical and electronic components, hydraulic and pneumatic methods.
  • Commissioning practices and techniques applicable to building service engineering.
  • Operating principles for decommissioning and disassembly of new and existing industrial and commercial systems.
  • Operating principles and requirements of installations containing environmental energy sources: low carbon (Combined heat and power (CHP), biomass ground source heat pumps (GSHP)) zero carbon heat and power, wind, solar photovoltaic or thermal, hydro aiming for net zero energy in use.
  • Operating principles and requirements of gas, oil and solid fuel systems.
  • Materials, equipment and fittings used to install building services engineering systems.
  • Fire protection system installation techniques. Sprinklers: wet, dry, alternative wet and dry. Hose reel: wet riser. Dry riser, foam installations, gas extinguishers, carbon dioxide.
  • Types of faults on systems and how to diagnose them; electrical, hot, and cold water, heating and ventilation.
  • Principles underpinning building services engineering: measurement, force and pressure, heat and power.
  • Quality management standards. Quality assurance principles and practice.
  • Handover procedures for commissioned systems.
  • Factors that delay the completion of planned work and mitigation techniques.
  • Team working and collaboration principles.
  • Principles of equity, diversity and inclusion in the workplace. Unconscious bias.
  • Verbal communication techniques. Giving and receiving information. Matching style to audience. Barriers in communication and how to overcome them. Sector specific terminology.
  • Written communication techniques: paper based and digital. Plain English principles. Sector specific terminology.
  • Documentation, including methods and requirements, electronic and paper: energy usage, job sheets, risk assessments, equipment service records, test results, operations manuals, handover documents and manufacturers’ documentation, work instructions, checklists, waste environmental records, permits to work and any legal reporting requirements.
  • Information technology and digital systems used to support building service engineering operations. General data protection regulation (GDPR). Cyber security.
  • Electrical safety testing techniques.
  • Techniques for configuring systems.

  Skills

  • Apply safe working practices and comply with safe working methods including method statements.
  • Produce risk assessment.
  • Select and use personal protective equipment (PPE).
  • Identify and report hazards and risks in the workplace. Take action to mitigate hazards and risk.
  • Move, lift and handle materials safely.
  • Comply with environmental and sustainability regulations and standards.
  • Apply waste management techniques.
  • Interpret information from, for example, drawings, specifications, and system schematics.
  • Apply design techniques.
  • Plan work activities and order.
  • Apply resource management techniques and principles when planning work.
  • Prepare area of work for setting out and work activities for self and others; carry out prework checks.
  • Anticipate and minimise delays to planned work.
  • Select materials, components, fittings and bracketry required to complete work tasks.
  • Secure and store equipment and tools.
  • Carry out pre commissioning activities.
  • Fabricate pipework systems including pipe bending.
  • Install systems for example cold water, hot water, return, heating, chilled.
  • Use pipe-jointing techniques.
  • Carry out the testing of a system following installation.
  • Diagnose faults on systems.
  • Apply electrical safety testing techniques.
  • Complete a final quality inspection.
  • Apply decommissioning and disassembly practices.
  • Complete system handover activities.
  • Apply team working principles.
  • Follow equity, diversity and inclusion procedures.
  • Communicate verbally and in written form, including internal and external customers and colleagues, using sector specific terminology.
  • Use information technology and digital systems. Comply with GDPR and cyber security regulations and policies.
  • Record or enter information – paper based or electronic.
  • Collaborate with others including customers, colleagues, internal and external stakeholders, other trades.
  • Investigate problems to identify the underlying cause and solution.
  • Work within limits of authority and escalate issues.
  • Conduct toolbox talks and site inductions.
  • Apply configuration techniques.
  • Apply commissioning practices and techniques.

  Behaviours

  • Prioritise health and safety for themselves and others.
  • Takes personal responsibility for their own sustainable working practices.
  • Predicts and pre-empts problems with a proactive approach.
  • Promote an inclusive workplace for example, respectful of different views.
  • Collaborate and promote teamwork within the team and across disciplines.
  • Committed to maintaining and enhancing competence of self through continued professional development (CPD).
• Apprenticeship category (sector): Construction and the built environment
• Qualification level: 3; Equal to A level
• Course duration: 36 months
• Maximum funding: £18,000 ; Maximum government funding for ; apprenticeship training and assessment costs.
• Job titles include:
  • Building services engineer
  • Craft engineer
  • Heating and ventilating craftsperson
  • Heating and ventilating fitter
  • Mechanical services fitter

View more information about Building services engineering craftsperson (level 3) from the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education.