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Shops, cafes, studios and mixed-use buildings
Where a business loses trading every day a part is on order, the honest wait matters more than the honest price. We give you both before anything is ordered.
Every unit found, and a parts list to go with it
Every unit located and identified by model and serial number, matched to the area it actually serves, its measured condition recorded, and dead or abandoned plant marked as dead. On a building that has changed tenants several times, some of what is up there will not be connected to anything.
Then the commercial readings: airflow and static pressure, refrigerant charge, economiser operation, filter condition and the pressure drop across it, belt and bearing condition, condensate drainage, and combustion analysis on gas heat.
And the part of this survey nobody else does: a list of the consumable and wear parts each unit takes — filters, belts, capacitors, contactors — with the numbers. On a business that cannot afford to be shut, knowing which four parts are worth keeping on a shelf is worth more than any maintenance contract.
Four kinds of building, four different problems
Cafes and restaurants
Make-up air balanced against hood exhaust, measured rather than assumed. A kitchen out of balance pulls conditioned air from the front and the street and makes both impossible. We work on the air; we do not clean hoods, certify fire suppression or touch refrigeration. On a kitchen we will also tell you which two parts to keep on a shelf.
Shops and studios
Usually a zoning problem rather than a capacity one: one thermostat governing a space with a glass front and an interior back. Rebalancing, a second sensor and a schedule set to actual trading hours will fix most of it, and all three are cheaper than plant.
Mixed-use, with flats above
Noise and vibration stop being a comfort question and become a tenancy question. Siting, isolation and run schedule get decided before the equipment is ordered rather than after the first complaint. We measure sound pressure and give both parties the same figures.
Small labs and workshops
Where the heat is made inside the building, extraction at the source beats cooling the room it escapes into. Where extraction is a containment question rather than a comfort one — fumes, dust, anything hazardous — that is an industrial hygienist’s field and we will say so rather than take it on.
What we do in premises
- Written plant survey with a parts list
Every unit found, identified, measured and mapped, with the consumable and wear part numbers alongside.
- Planned maintenance
Scheduled visits, the same readings each time, written specifically enough that a lease obligation can be shown to have been met.
- Repair and replacement
Repair diagnosed and costed with the part named and the wait stated. Replacement quoted beside it.
- Critical spares advice
Which two or three parts are worth holding for a business that cannot be shut, and which are not worth the shelf space.
- Make-up air and kitchen balance
Extraction measured against supply, with the figures written down.
- Noise and vibration
Sound pressure measured before and after, equipment sited and isolated, and an honest answer where a plan will not work above a flat.
Work we turn down
| We decline | Who it belongs to |
|---|---|
| Central chiller plant and cooling towers | A different discipline with different tickets, and we are not going to learn it on your building. |
| Proprietary building management systems | We will work with the controls in front of us and tell you what a schedule is doing. Programming a manufacturer-locked system belongs to whoever holds the licence. |
| Commercial refrigeration | Walk-ins, display cases and ice machines are adjacent and are not the same trade. |
| Hood cleaning and fire suppression | Separate licensed jobs. We do the air balance around the hood. |
| Laboratory fume extraction | Where extraction is a containment question it needs an industrial hygienist and a specialist contractor. |
| Acoustic certification | We measure sound pressure and build quiet plant. Signing a space off to a criterion is a consultant’s work. |
Tell us the building
What it is used for, whether anybody lives above it, how many units there are, and what a day of downtime actually costs you. 1676 Shattuck Ave, Berkeley. Monday to Friday, 7.30am to 4.30pm.