A culmination of over four years of work by the Trailblazer Employer Group which included a number of BCIA members, the BEMS Controls Engineer Apprenticeship Standard will address an industry wide shortage of BEMS controls engineers who will use the technical skills they learn on the Apprenticeship to keep the buildings of tomorrow running efficiently.
Wendy Belfield, chair of the Trailblazer Employer Group and BCIA member, who led the group that developed the Apprenticeship Standard, added: “This is fantastic news for the BEMS industry and for anybody looking to pursue a career within it. Building Controls is a fast-growing market with numerous opportunities for skilled engineers and this Apprenticeshipwill help to ensure our industry continues to maintain the highest levels of professionalism.”
Commercial buildings represent one of the largest capital expenses for businesses, and building owners and managers are constantly looking for ways to make them more efficient and sustainable – and that is where Building Energy Management Systems (BEMS) play a fundamental role. The challenge for the BEMS controls engineer is knowing how to achieve this level of efficiency.
This Apprenticeship provides the answer, offering a balance of on-the-job assessments and technical training which covers all aspects of the industry including controls hardware and logic; field devices; networking; communication protocols and supervisor software.
Group Horizon’s specialist tutors will deliver the BCIA’s technical course modules BCM00 – BCM15 as part of the Apprenticeship.
Peter Behan, director of Group Horizon, commented: “We are delighted to be working in partnership with the BCIA to deliver their full suite of technical training courses (BCM00 – BCM15) as part of the Apprenticeship. We share the BCIA’s passion for developing new talent and preparing the workforce of the future and it will be a real pleasure to train the next generation of building controls engineers.”
On successful completion of the programme, individuals will receive the Level 4 Building Energy Management Systems (BEMS) Controls Engineer Apprenticeship. In addition, on successful completion of technical modules BCM01 – 03 apprentices will receive the BCIA technical certificate and the BCIA advanced technical certificate on successful completion of BCM04 - 06. Apprentices will also be eligible to apply for an Electrotechnical Certification Scheme (ECS) Building Controls card at associate or integrator level (depending on level of experience) on completion of specific BCIA technical training modules.
BCIA president Terry Sharp said: “This is a fantastic moment for the next generation of BEMS controls engineers and I would like to thank all the BCIA members for their help and support in delivering this Apprenticeship Standard. I am sure that all of our members are as proud of the work which has been achieved as I am and will join me in saying that we cannot wait to welcome these new apprentices to our industry.”