Building services engineering service and maintenance engineer

Key information

  1. Status: Approved for delivery (available for starts)
  2. Reference: ST0061
  3. Version: 1.1
  4. Level: 3
  5. Typical duration to gateway: 48 months
  6. Typical EPA period: 3 months
  7. Route: Construction and the built environment
  8. Maximum funding: £18000
  9. Date updated: 01/08/2024
  10. Approved for delivery: 12 September 2017
  11. Lars code: 193
  12. EQA provider: Ofqual
  13. Example progression routes:
  14. Review: this apprenticeship will be reviewed in accordance with our change request policy.
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Details of the occupational standard

Occupation summary

This occupation is found in industrial and commercial buildings, for example office blocks, factories, schools, and hospitals. Building Services Engineering makes buildings work. It is a specialist branch of engineering within the construction sector. Service and maintenance engineers play a key role in planning and completing a range of maintenance work. They also monitor and manage the operation of plant and equipment through building and energy management systems.

The broad purpose of the occupation is to plan and compete a variety of maintenance activities involving industrial and commercial building services engineering systems. They carry out scheduled preventative maintenance as well as any required remedial or corrective repairs. These engineers use building and energy management systems to monitor and manage the operation of plant and equipment.

In their daily work, an employee in this occupation interacts with clients, suppliers, site managers and other trades on site.

An employee in this occupation will be responsible for health and safety appropriate to their scope of work. They make sure systems keep working according to the specifications they were designed with. Service and maintenance engineers will fault find, fault diagnose, repair, and maintain systems, components, and equipment. They work within occupied and unoccupied buildings and facilities on their own, proficiently and without supervision. They must communicate with team members and site managers. In addition to taking environmental regulations into account, they will assume ownership of the quality of their job.

A building services and maintenance engineers must stay updated on the latest industry standards and regulations to ensure compliance and keep the systems in line with current guidelines. Overall, their expertise and attention to detail contribute to the smooth operation and longevity of the systems they maintain. Maintenance engineers also play a crucial role in the overall efficiency and performance of the systems they oversee. 

 Service and maintenance engineers are also responsible for conducting regular inspections and preventive maintenance to identify potential issues before they become major problems. Additionally, they may be required to keep detailed records of their work, including any repairs or replacements made, to ensure accurate documentation and compliance with regulations. 

 

Typical job titles include:

Building services maintenance engineer Maintenance engineer Service and maintenance engineer

Occupation duties

Duty KSBs

Duty 1 Comply with health, safety, and environmental regulations; building regulations; industry guidance notes and relevant codes of practice.

K1 K2 K3 K4 K5 K6 K7 K12 K16 K25 K29 K30 K31 K32 K33 K34 K43

S1 S2 S3 S4 S5 S8 S11 S15 S16 S21 S30 S31

B1 B3

Duty 2 Plan and organise to undertake service and maintenance activities in ways which use resources to complete work, with consideration for cost, quality, time, safety, security and environmental impact.

K7 K8 K9 K10 K11 K12 K13 K14 K15 K17 K18 K19 K23 K24 K25 K27 K29 K30 K31 K32 K33 K34 K35 K36 K39 K43

S2 S4 S5 S6 S7 S9 S10 S11 S12 S13 S14 S16 S21 S26

B3 B5

Duty 3 Prepare work areas to undertake service and maintenance activities.

K7 K9 K10 K14 K15 K16 K17 K20 K21 K22 K23 K24 K25 K26 K35 K37 K39 K43

S1 S3 S7 S14 S15 S19 S20 S21 S22

B1

Duty 4 Carry out planned or reactive maintenance activities on systems.

K9 K10 K12 K14 K19 K20 K21 K22 K25 K26 K27 K35 K36 K37 K39

S4 S7 S8 S10 S15 S17 S18 S19 S20 S21 S22 S23

Duty 5 Provide the client or contract supervisor with recommendations for repairs, replacements, and potential improvements; and the likely impact, cost and timescales for any work required that is additional to the specification or contract.

K20 K21 K22 K27 K34 K38 K40 K41 K43 K45

S13 S17 S18 S19 S20 S22 S23 S24 S25 S26 S28 S30 S33

Duty 6 Finish service and maintenance activities by completing and submitting the necessary reports following contract related processes and procedures.

K10 K26 K27 K28 K37 K39 K42 K45

S7 S10 S14 S15 S17 S18 S23 S25 S33

Duty 7 Restore work area to a safe and clean condition on completion of service and maintenance activities.

K17 K28

S10 S15 S25

Duty 8 Communicate and liaise with own project team, and those in other teams, such as clients or specialist contractors.

K2 K7 K8 K9 K17 K20 K21 K22 K26 K28 K34 K38 K40 K41 K42 K43 K44

S3 S4 S6 S13 S16 S19 S20 S22 S24 S26 S27 S28 S29 S30 S31

B2 B5 B6

Duty 9 Prepare and complete required work documentation.

K38 K39 K40 K42

S4 S5 S16 S27 S28

Duty 10 Plan and project manage servicing and maintenance activities.

K2 K4 K5 K6 K7 K8 K9 K10 K14 K20 K21 K22 K23 K24 K25 K34 K35 K36 K39 K42 K44

S2 S4 S5 S6 S7 S8 S10 S13 S16 S21 S22 S25 S26 S27 S30

B2 B6

Duty 11 Develop and maintain competency in using a range of practical and workshop activities.

K9 K10 K11 K13 K14 K16 K17 K19 K25 K34 K35 K36 K37 K42

S6 S12 S13 S14 S17 S18 S21 S23 S32

B2 B4 B5 B6

KSBs

Knowledge

K1: Regulations and legislation that impact the sector and its safe operation. Back to Duty

K2: Company policy and procedure that impact the sector. Back to Duty

K3: Individual and organisational consequences for non-compliance to regulations and legislation. Back to Duty

K4: Principles of risk assessments, for example hierarchy of risk. Back to Duty

K5: Methods of hazard identification and risk management. Back to Duty

K6: Control measure application and method statements. Back to Duty

K7: industry related procedures, processes, standards, specification, and codes of practice. Back to Duty

K8: Principles of project management. Back to Duty

K9: Principles of planning work programmes. Back to Duty

K10: Scientific principles underpinning building services engineering including measurement, force and pressure, heat and power, materials, and electricity. Back to Duty

K11: Sustainability principles and techniques. Back to Duty

K12: Environmental and sustainability regulations, legislation, standards, and guidance. Back to Duty

K13: Waste management techniques including recycling, reuse, and safe disposal of waste. Back to Duty

K14: Principles and techniques of efficient use of resources, for example, materials, time, and cost. Back to Duty

K15: Preparation requirements for starting work including setting out. Back to Duty

K16: Principles of selection, use, securing and storing of hand and power tools, equipment, and components. Back to Duty

K17: Factors that delay the completion of planned work. Back to Duty

K18: Reasons for, and techniques in, amending or replanning of work. Back to Duty

K19: Design, layout, and operating principles of the installation of systems. Back to Duty

K20: Principles and practices of pre-commissioning building service engineering systems. Back to Duty

K21: Principles, practices, and standard operating procedures of testing and commissioning building service engineering systems. Back to Duty

K22: Principles, practices, and standard operating procedures of decommissioning building service engineering systems. Back to Duty

K23: Materials, equipment, technologies, and processes used to complete planned maintenance activities on building services engineering systems. Back to Duty

K24: Materials, equipment, technologies, and processes used to complete reactive maintenance activities on building services engineering systems. Back to Duty

K25: Principles of isolating building services engineering systems. Back to Duty

K26: Principles and practices of identification, diagnosis and resolution of faults in building service engineering systems. Back to Duty

K27: Methodology for replacement of components. Back to Duty

K28: Handover techniques and processes. Back to Duty

K29: Principles of safe working with gas in systems and components. Back to Duty

K30: Principles of safe working with electricity in systems and components. Back to Duty

K31: Principles of safe working with oil in building service engineering systems and components. Back to Duty

K32: Principles of safe working with hot and cold water in systems and components. Back to Duty

K33: Principles of safe working with heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems and components. Back to Duty

K34: Limits of competence on safe working with gas, electricity, HVAC, water, and oil. Back to Duty

K35: Principles of mechanical sustainable energy systems for example, carbon reduction, solar, rainwater and heat recovery. Back to Duty

K36: Principles and procedures for using information technology and digital systems to monitor and manage the operation of plant and equipment. Back to Duty

K37: Principles and techniques of building management systems set points, time schedules and temperatures. Back to Duty

K38: Types of documentation that a service and maintenance engineer may encounter and use. Back to Duty

K39: Methods of interpreting and extracting relevant information such as manufacturer's instructions, drawings, plans, specifications, or previous reports. Back to Duty

K40: Written communication techniques. Back to Duty

K41: Spoken communication techniques. Giving and receiving information. Matching style to audience. Barriers in communication and how to overcome them. Back to Duty

K42: Principles of providing internal feedback to improve the quality of business products and services. Back to Duty

K43: Principles of equity, diversity, and inclusion in the workplace. Back to Duty

K44: When to escalate tasks and issues, and to whom. Back to Duty

K45: Principles and practices of repairing components. Back to Duty

Skills

S1: Apply safe working practices and comply with safe working methods, including highlighting control method application and safe systems of work. Back to Duty

S2: Comply with current company policies and procedures. Back to Duty

S3: Undertake dynamic risk assessment to identify and manage a safe working environment. Back to Duty

S4: Produce a risk assessment. Back to Duty

S5: Produce a method statement. Back to Duty

S6: Plan work activities. Back to Duty

S7: Apply sustainable principles and techniques. Back to Duty

S8: Comply with environmental and sustainability regulations, standards, and guidance. Back to Duty

S9: Follow organisational and site procedures for waste management across the site. Back to Duty

S10: Plan, organise, and carry out tasks in a way that utilises resources, for example cost, quality, safety, security, and environmental impact. Back to Duty

S11: Plan, organise, prepare, and secure area of work for setting out and work activities. Back to Duty

S12: Minimise delays to planned work. Back to Duty

S13: Amend and replan work activities. Back to Duty

S14: Prepare and maintain work areas to ensure safe access and egress for self and others. Back to Duty

S15: Select, use, secure and store hand and power tools, equipment, and components. Back to Duty

S16: Interpret information from sources such as manufacturer's instructions, drawings, plans, specifications, or previous reports. Back to Duty

S17: Carry out testing and commissioning of a building services engineering system. Back to Duty

S18: Carry out decommission of a building services engineering system. Back to Duty

S19: Undertake planned maintenance activities to building services engineering systems. Back to Duty

S20: Undertake reactive maintenance activities to building services engineering systems. Back to Duty

S21: Isolate building service engineering systems. Back to Duty

S22: Identify and diagnose faults and outline solutions for resolution. Back to Duty

S23: Replace components. Back to Duty

S24: Communicate options in writing for repairs, replacements or improvements including the impact of cost, and timescales in writing. Back to Duty

S25: Handover completed maintenance activities. Back to Duty

S26: Use information technology and digital systems to monitor and manage the operation of plant and equipment. Back to Duty

S27: Record or enter information - paper based or electronic. Back to Duty

S28: Provide internal feedback. Back to Duty

S29: Communicate verbally with internal and external stakeholders using sector specific terminology. Back to Duty

S30: Follow equity, diversity, and inclusion principles and policy. Back to Duty

S31: Refer problems outside of own responsibility or authority to the relevant person. Back to Duty

S32: Identify, carry out and record industry related continuing professional development (CPD) activities. Back to Duty

S33: Repair components. Back to Duty

Behaviours

B1: Promotes safe working. Back to Duty

B2: Supports equity, diversity, and inclusivity workplace culture. Back to Duty

B3: Takes personal responsibility for sustainable outcomes. Back to Duty

B4: Takes ownership of work, performance, and training, committing continued professional development (CPD). Back to Duty

B5: Adapt to new and changing situations with stakeholders. Back to Duty

B6: Collaborate with customers, other trades and the whole team. Back to Duty

Qualifications

English and Maths

English and maths qualifications must be completed in line with the apprenticeship funding rules.

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Version log

Version Change detail Earliest start date Latest start date
1.1 Occupational standard, end-point assessment and funding band revised. 01/08/2024 Not set
1.0 Approved for delivery. 12/09/2017 31/07/2024
Employers involved in creating the standard: BESA, Choice Training Ltd, FP Hurley, HE Simm, Laing O'Rourke, Leeds College of Building, NG Bailey, The City of Liverpool College

Crown copyright © 2025. You may re-use this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. Visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence

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