Engineering & Technical Support

Engineering and Technical Support (ETS) is a branch of the Facilities Operations and Maintenance Division. This team consists of technical experts in several areas with credentials including Professional Engineer (PE), and Qualified Commissioning Process Provider (QCP). This branch provides five main areas of support to University operations:

  • Engineering Support
  • Arc Flash Analysis Program
  • Maintenance Operations Support
  • Warranty and Commissioning
  • Contracted Maintenance Management

Engineering Support

ETS provides technical advice from engineers experienced in building automation systems (BAS), electrical systems, and heating, ventilation, air-conditioning and refrigeration (HVACR) systems by:

  • Reviewing major systems, including HVACR, for efficient operation
  • Providing technical expertise on systems solutions, repairs, and replacements
  • Identifying scope of projects
  • Reviewing capital project documents, including electrical, mechanical, and controls
  • Ensuring compliance with university standards
  • Performing BAS digital upgrades, including prioritizing which buildings to upgrade and reviewing design, bid, construction and testing
  • Providing input and supporting the continuous improvement of our campus Design and Construction Standards

Need Service?

Facilities Service Center 
Main: 512-471-2020 
UT Works

General Inquiries: facilities@austin.utexas.edu  
Events & Moving: 
fs-events@austin.utexas.edu

Arc Flash Analysis Program

This team is led by an experienced electrical engineer, who provides standards compliance and guidelines for working safely on electrical systems at the University. The program:

  • Performs arc flash analysis and identifies the proper safety precautions
  • Identifies the federal and industry standards that govern compliance and safety guidelines required at UT
  • Defines roles and responsibilities at the university for proper Arc Flash compliance
  • Arc Flash Analysis Flow Chart – Provides guidance on when and where arc flash analysis is required for projects at UT
  • Arc Flash Analysis Equipment Labels – calculated by arc flash engineer to provide proper arc flash precautions for identified equipment

For more detailed information, visit our Arc Flash Analysis Program page.

Maintenance Operations Support

ETS provides support throughout our zone maintenance program. Our field supervisors and technicians can consult this group, and vice versa.

Welch building's mechanical space
Mechanical Room at Robert A. Welch Hall

Maintenance support works through collaboration and has many benefits, including providing opportunities for technicians to increase knowledge; improving effective identification and diagnosis of issues; allowing a long-term, sustainable, and customer-focused approach; and avoiding unresolved issues and improper or “patch” repairs.

ETS staff also supports Maintenance Operations by: incorporating engineering standards; developing processes; developing preventative maintenance instructions; troubleshooting issues beyond the systemic level; providing technical support for fire-life-safety equipment; and using engineering principles in evidence-based diagnosis.

ETS helps Maintenance Operations with equipment inventory and preventive maintenance (PM) instructions. Each piece of equipment has a unique ID that allows efficient tracking for scheduling PM, which in turn serves to preserve or extend the life or investment in the equipment.

  • New buildings - Set up an accurate equipment inventory and provide PM instructions. For example, the Gary L Thomas Energy Engineering Building (GLT) contains over 2,000 pieces of equipment, which had to be set up in our PM Program.
  • Existing buildings - Collaborate with Maintenance Operations to ensure accurate equipment inventories and corresponding PM instructions.

Warranty & Commissioning

Planning, Design and Construction (PDC) is responsible for the development and construction or renovation of large-to medium-scale facilities at the University. The ETS team supports these efforts in several ways, including warranty and commissioning support and managing the identification of our equipment.

Warranty

Proactive warranty servicing avoids unnecessary repair costs and time and engages and builds customer satisfaction. Our warranty specialist provides support to PDC by:

Photo of G. B. Dealey Center for New Media (DMC) exterior
Watchful warranty servicing protects the University’s investments, such as the G. B. Dealey Center for New Media (DMC)
  • Tracking when buildings enter their warranty period
  • Coordinating with our zone maintenance shops to identify issues
  • Logging any issues that occur on warrantied buildings and creating a work order to get the issue addressed
  • Tracking and identifying work orders that should be warranty work
  • Tracking the resolution of warranty issues and their completion date
  • Getting confirmation from zone shops that the warranty work was completed
  • Attending warranty meetings and warranty walkthroughs
  • Covering one-year warranties on large projects

Warranty Work Order Standard Operating Procedures and Contact Information Forms:

Commissioning

Our commissioning specialists keep an eye on new construction on campus, helping to avoid future issues in new facilities and increase customer satisfaction with the final product.

How do we know if new building systems are working right and meet expected needs, standards, and specifications? This is where our team comes in. Their support includes:

  • Helping to develop the scope of commissioning
  • Participating in the external commissioning process
  • Witnessing integrated functional testing
  • Obtaining closeout documentation
Equipment Identification Process

The Equipment Identification (EQ ID) Process provides a comprehensive maintenance service to our campus and is critical to our organization's purpose. As buildings and projects are completed, it is important that Facilities Operations and Maintenance (FOM) knows the information listed below so that we can provide timely service to the building occupants.

  • Equipment being installed with critical equipment information
  • Location of equipment
  • Manufacturer's information and manuals

The documents below describe the process for Planning, Design and Construction (PDC) and their contractors to provide FOM information about equipment installed during projects. This information includes description, specifications, manufacturer, and location of each piece of equipment. From this information, an asset label is applied to the equipment for tracking and identification. Following substantial completion, we can begin regular preventive maintenance and support to the building's purpose through regular service to the equipment.

PDC Projects - Click and download the following documents:

CIP Projects - Click and download the following documents:

Contracted Maintenance Management

FOM takes pride in providing a high level of technical expertise and training for our technicians. However, certain maintenance requires the use of highly specialized equipment or expertise that is not efficient for us to provide. For those instances, ETS negotiates the contracts that provide these services on campus. Examples include routine and emergency maintenance for autoclaves, automatic doors, uninterruptible power supply (UPS) systems, grease traps, cranes and hoists, the carillon, water treatment, chillers, toxic gas monitoring systems, and bleacher systems.

ETS is responsible for managing the contracts and all related costs, including:

  • Standing time and materials contracts to support small projects
  • Service agreements for critical operations, such as data centers
  • Safety inspections and code compliance

For more information, contact Jose Lopez jose.g.lopez@austin.utexas.edu.