HVAC Project & Install Planning

Modules

The eight modules Path E is being built around. Titles and outcomes are published; lesson content is still being written to the same standard as the open paths.

1. 01Drawing literacyPlans, elevations, schematics, legends and revision clouds on current split, RTU and VRF sets — read the set in the right order.
2. 02Scope and constraintsWhat is in, what is out, plus access, occupied sites, tenant hours and the constraints that quietly reshape a day.
3. 03Load and equipment at planning levelNameplate versus design intent on inverter and communicating kit — enough to plan the job, not full design engineering.
4. 04Job plan and BOMTask list, materials, rentals and long-lead items — including line-set, control wiring and A2L-aware components — identified before mobilisation.
5. 05Sequence of workDemo, set, pipe and wire, evacuate and charge, commission — an order that survives the manufacturer's start-up sheet.
6. 06Isolation, permits and interfacesLOTO mindset, refrigerant handling boundaries, other trades on site and AHJ awareness built into the plan.
7. 07Commissioning and evidence packReadings, photos, as-left condition and the manufacturer commissioning fields you actually fill, plus a sign-off structure that holds up later.
8. 08Change orders and callbacksRecognise when scope shifts, and how bad sequencing and stale drawings manufacture callbacks.

Signature labs

Eight planning labs are scoped. Four of the eight briefs are workable now as practice: read the scenario, do the work on paper, then mark yourself against the same rubric a lead would use. These are not engine-graded and carry no certificate.

• E-01 Drawing read

  Practice brief — rubric only

  A current split / RTU / VRF package set: mark the missing gas-line size, electrical, access and revision clouds a lead would refuse to assume.

  Work this brief now — scenario and self-marking rubric

  E-01 — Drawing read: what the set does not tell you

  Customer report: “Here is the set. Price it and start Monday — the consultant says everything you need is on the drawings.”

  • · Mixed package: one 7.5-ton RTU replacement plus a four-head VRF fit-out
  • · Mechanical sheets at two revisions, electrical sheet at a third
  • · No equipment schedule for the VRF branch controllers

  Your tasks

  1. 1. Put the sheets in reading order and record which revision governs.
  2. 2. List every item you would need before mobilising that the set does not state.
  3. 3. Mark the access and structural constraints that change the method.
  4. 4. Write the three questions you would send the consultant in writing.

  Scoring — 100 points, pass at 70

  • Revision control25 pts

    • · Identifies that sheets are at different revisions
    • · States which revision governs and why
    • · Refuses to price from superseded information

  • Missing information named specifically30 pts

    • · Branch controller locations and service access
    • · Line-set routes, lengths and lift
    • · Electrical supply capacity and disconnect locations

  • Constraints that change method25 pts

    • · Roof access, crane or hoist need, occupied-hours restrictions
    • · Structural support for the replacement unit

  • Written questions, not assumptions20 pts

    • · Questions are specific and answerable
    • · Nothing critical is assumed silently

  Automatic fail triggers

  • × Prices the job from a superseded revision without flagging it
  • × Assumes line-set length or electrical capacity rather than asking

  Trainer model answer (tap to reveal)

  1. Establish the governing revision on every discipline before reading anything else.
  2. Read plans, then sections, then schedules, then details — and list the schedule gaps.
  3. Record what is unknown as a question set, not as an allowance buried in the price.
  4. State the access and structural items that determine the sequence and the crew size.
• E-02 Day plan

  Practice brief — rubric only

  Sequence a live occupied-site changeout — A2L or the regional equivalent flagged as awareness, not a licence: demo, set, pipe and wire, evacuate and charge, commission, in an order that survives the manufacturer's start-up sheet.

  Work this brief now — scenario and self-marking rubric

  E-02 — Day plan: an occupied-site changeout that actually finishes

  Customer report: “We trade from nine to six. The old unit has to go and the new one has to be running before we open the next morning.”

  • · Like-for-like packaged unit changeout on a trading retail site
  • · Crane slot booked for a fixed two-hour window
  • · Manufacturer start-up sheet must be completed on the day

  Your tasks

  1. 1. Write the sequence from arrival to sign-off with timings.
  2. 2. Mark the isolation and recovery points and who holds them.
  3. 3. Identify the two steps that will sink the day if they slip, and the fallback for each.
  4. 4. List the evidence you will capture as you go rather than at the end.

  Scoring — 100 points, pass at 70

  • Sequence integrity30 pts

    • · Demo, set, pipe and wire, evacuate, charge, commission in a workable order
    • · Crane window sits where the sequence can actually use it

  • Isolation and recovery placement25 pts

    • · Electrical isolation and proof-dead before disconnection
    • · Recovery completed by the qualified person before any cutting

  • Risk and fallback25 pts

    • · Names the two real critical-path risks
    • · Each has a specific fallback, not 'work later'

  • Evidence captured in-flight20 pts

    • · Photos and readings taken at the step, not reconstructed
    • · Start-up sheet fields planned in

  Automatic fail triggers

  • × Any cutting or hot work planned before recovery and isolation
  • × Plans occupied-hours work that puts the public inside the work area

  Trainer model answer (tap to reveal)

  1. Back-plan from the crane slot; everything that can be pre-staged is done before it opens.
  2. Isolate, prove dead, recover, then disconnect — never in a different order to save time.
  3. Pipe and wire before the evacuation window so the vacuum runs while other work continues.
  4. Capture readings and photos step by step so the start-up sheet is filled from evidence.
• E-03 BOM and risk

  Practice brief — rubric only

  Incomplete drawings plus mixed-generation kit — communicating indoor, legacy outdoor: what you order, what you hold, and what you will not guess from a five-year-old typical.

  Work this brief now — scenario and self-marking rubric

  E-03 — BOM and risk on mixed-generation kit

  Customer report: “Match the existing. Just order what the last one used and we will sort the details on site.”

  • · Communicating indoor section proposed against a legacy outdoor unit
  • · Five-year-old typical detail with no equipment schedule
  • · Long-lead line-set and control components

  Your tasks

  1. 1. Split the bill of materials into order-now, hold-pending-confirmation and will-not-order.
  2. 2. State the compatibility question you must resolve before anything is ordered.
  3. 3. Identify the long-lead items and the date they must be committed.
  4. 4. Write what you will not guess and why.

  Scoring — 100 points, pass at 70

  • Compatibility named first30 pts

    • · Recognises communicating-to-legacy control mismatch as the governing question
    • · Refuses to order controls before it is resolved

  • BOM discipline25 pts

    • · Clear order / hold / refuse split
    • · Consumables and supports not forgotten

  • Long-lead handling25 pts

    • · Long-lead items identified with commit dates
    • · Programme impact stated

  • Explicit assumptions register20 pts

    • · Every assumption written down
    • · Nothing critical inherited from an old typical

  Automatic fail triggers

  • × Orders a communicating indoor section without confirming outdoor compatibility
  • × Copies quantities from an old typical without measuring the actual job

  Trainer model answer (tap to reveal)

  1. Resolve the control-generation question before a single control component is committed.
  2. Order what the measured job proves; hold what depends on the compatibility answer.
  3. Commit long-lead items only once the governing question is closed, and say what the delay costs.
  4. Publish the assumptions register with the BOM so nobody inherits a silent guess.
• E-04 Handover pack

  Practice brief — rubric only

  Assemble evidence another technician or inspector can use: as-left readings, photos, sequence notes and the manufacturer commissioning fields you actually fill.

  Work this brief now — scenario and self-marking rubric

  E-04 — Handover pack another technician can actually use

  Customer report: “The client wants the O&M today. Just put the manuals in a folder and send it.”

  • · New split system plus controls integration, commissioned yesterday
  • · Readings taken on paper by two different technicians
  • · Drawings not yet redlined against the installed job

  Your tasks

  1. 1. List what the pack must contain to be usable by a technician who has never seen the site.
  2. 2. State how you handle a reading you cannot substantiate.
  3. 3. Redline policy: what gets marked as-built and by whom.
  4. 4. Write the outstanding-items list and who owns each item.

  Scoring — 100 points, pass at 70

  • Pack completeness30 pts

    • · As-left readings with units and where they were taken
    • · Photos of concealed work, sequence-of-operation notes, settings record

  • Evidence integrity25 pts

    • · Unsubstantiated readings are re-taken or marked outstanding
    • · No figure is transcribed from the drawing as though it were measured

  • As-built discipline25 pts

    • · Installed deviations redlined
    • · Named person responsible for the redline

  • Outstanding items with owners20 pts

    • · Every open item has an owner and a date
    • · Nothing hidden in a covering note

  Automatic fail triggers

  • × Signs off readings the technician did not take or cannot substantiate
  • × Issues a pack that presents drawing values as measured values

  Trainer model answer (tap to reveal)

  1. Build the pack for the stranger who will service this site in three years.
  2. Any number you cannot stand behind is re-measured or listed as outstanding.
  3. Redline the drawings against the installed job before the pack is issued.
  4. Close with an owned, dated outstanding-items list — not a disclaimer paragraph.
• E-05 As-built reconciliation

  Coming with curriculum

  The installed job has drifted from the set — routes moved, equipment relocated, line-set length changed. Reconcile what is installed against what was drawn and state which commissioning values are now invalid.

• E-06 Occupied-site access and staging

  Coming with curriculum

  Trading hours, shared lifts, tenant restrictions and a single loading bay: plan material staging, crew movement and protection so the work is possible without shutting the site down.

• E-07 Mixed-generation controls interface

  Coming with curriculum

  Communicating equipment landing on an existing BAS: plan the point list, the sequence of operation you will actually be handed, and the commissioning steps that prove the interface — not just the mechanical plant.

• E-08 Commissioning evidence review

  Coming with curriculum

  Review someone else's commissioning pack before handover: find the fields filled from drawings instead of measurement, the readings with no units, and the items nobody owns.

Planned certificate on completion: HVAC Project & Install Planning Certificate (Academy). Certificates are issued only for completed, live requirements — never for a curriculum still in development.