Difficult Building Services Engineering Interview Preparation Guide

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This is a Certificate of non-action by Council stating that Council will not require the demolition or rectification of structures outlined in the Building Certificate. Often the certificate is requested on the sale or purchase of a property. The certificate is not a Development Consent and in the case of illegal building works, additional fees to accompany the Building Certificate application may be required to be paid to Council. The certificate also does not represent a detailed building inspection report but rather addresses any illegal building works or major structural matters that may require the building to be upgraded, altered or demolished.

When an owner requests a change to the construction contract, the impacts to the scope, cost and schedule are documented and incorporated into the contract via a change order. Unit prides itself on having very few change orders as a result of the thoroughness of the design-build process. Please ask our customers about their change order experience. There should be no surprises.

Design-build is a construction delivery system where a single source is responsible for design, construction and warranty, including:

►Architecture and all engineering drawings
►Pricing at the preliminary drawing phase, or in some cases, after seeing the site civil drawings
►All management and construction through project completion
►As-built drawings and a comprehensive Owner's Manual containing subcontractor and supplier list, warranty and maintenance information and finish schedules.

For the life of the building.

A building consent lapses and is of no effect if the building work to which it relates does not commence within 12 months after the date of issue of the building consent, or any further period that the building consent authority may allow. If building work does commence within 12 months, then the owner has 2 years from the date of the granting of the building consent to complete the building work before the building consent authority will follow up on the building consent and decide whether or not to issue a code compliance certificate. A building consent authority can agree to an extension to the 2-year period.

Issuing occurs once the building consent authority has granted the building consent, produced the relevant documentation and attached other relevant information such as the PIM and development contribution notice.

A building consent is granted when the decision is made that the application complies with the requirements of the Building Code and the building levy is paid.

The first step you should undertake to object to a notified development is to come in to Council Chambers and discuss the issues you are objecting to with Council's Building Services Section. One of Council's Building Surveyors will be happy to discuss the Development with you and explain any questions you may have. If you still have an objection, please submit this objection in writing to Council. Should you wish to remain confidential, please advise Council of this in your objection as objections are generally made available to the public.

Is low impact type of development, which can be approved by either Council or other accredited private certified without notification of neighbours and with pre-determined conditions of consent. Council and other accredited certifiers can assess these applications and they have a 7-10 working day turn around time for approvals, subject to requirements of assessment.

Minor development that does not require any approvals are regarded as Exempt Development.

It is the written approval issued by Council after the development application is determined. The development consent will often contain certain written conditions, which must be met before an Occupation Certificate can be issued. These conditions should be read carefully prior to commencing your development project. Your builder should also be given a copy of the Development Consent prior to any works commencing on site.

►Exploring typical examples of effective written and graphical communication between the various members of the project team.

►Examining the client requirements and developing an initial brief to aid production of the design solution.

►Operating criteria for specification such as fitness for purpose, visual appearance, costs, resistance to degradation, and ease of working on site.

►Producing various options of sketch designs to satisfy a given brief that complies with financial, legal and environmental constraints.

►Producing specifications to meet the requirements of client.

►Extracting constructional and dimensional data from the specification, drawings, the project site and materials specifications.

►Producing formal drawings and documentation needed in the life-cycle of a project.

►Exploring the techniques used to prepare price estimates.

►Exploring tendering methods used for a variety of construction works and identifying the documentation associated with each method.

Identifying and describing the various stages of the design process, the factors that affect progress towards the final design solution and the
need to work with others to achieve the design solution.
Examining the various stages of the planning process in construction projects.

This seems like a general question but is particularly relevant to the construction industry as you will often have to deal with difficult colleagues, clients or suppliers. The best answers will be industry related. If you do not have industry experience then try to thing of an example that relates, e.g. dealing with a supplier in a different industry. Your ability to maintain professionalism, demonstrate diplomacy and communicate effectively will all be assessed here.

This question is testing your industry knowledge. If you have prepared thoroughly before the interview, it will shine through when is comes down to these testing questions. This question basically wants you to describe your daily routine, as well as your role within a larger context. An accurate answer would be appropriate here, but try not to make it sound like you are reading the job specification.

Tell me about an important issue you encountered recently?
Do you prefer to work in a small, medium or large company?
What are your long-term goals or career plans?
Time when you made a suggestion to improve the work?
Your greatest weakness in school or at work?

What are you expecting from this firm in the future?
What are three positive character traits you don't have?
How do you see your job relating to the overall goals?
Who else have you applied to/got interviews with?
What do you believe are your key strengths?

How did you handle meeting a tight deadline?
What do you think, would you be willing to travel for work?
What would make you happy in a job?
What support training would you require to be able to do this job?
What three character traits would your friends use to describe you?

Which subjects did you enjoy during your qualifying degree?
What is the difference between a good position and an excellent one?
What is a typical career path in this job function?
What type of work environment do you prefer?
What irritates you about other people?

What are you looking for in terms of career development?
Have you done this kind of work before?
Have you ever had to deal with conflicting deadlines?
What steps do you follow to study a problem before making a decision?
Describe a situation where you had to plan or organize something?

How would you describe your work style?
Are you planning to continue your studies?
What do you like and dislike about the job we are discussing?
How do you keep track of things you need to do?
How do you decide what gets top priority when scheduling your time?

How have you changed in the last five years?
Situation in which you had to arrive at a compromise?
Where do you see yourself in five years time?
What was the most stressful situation you have faced?
If you were hiring a person for this job, what would you look for?

Describe a situation in which you had to collect information?
How did you react when faced with constant time pressure?
Tell me about an important goal that you set in the past?
When given an important assignment, how do you approach it?
What are three positive things your last boss would say about you?

This question will require you to display industry knowledge but there is room for subjectivity. The three most common constraints are time, money and resources. But an interviewer may find a different answer interesting if you are able to justify it. Any knowledge you have of the red tape surrounding planning regulations may be highlighted here, and will impress your interviewer.

A competent Building Services Engineering Technician is expected to be able to demonstrate the following skills and competences:

► Systems design in the building services fields,
► Develop the various types of drawings encountered during the life cycle of a project from the tender preparation stage to the production of as built
drawings,
► compile materials schedules and support the project team in material certification,
► Surveying and works measurement.