c

&

E E R

SKYPOD RESIDENCE

BOON PEW

& ASSOCIATES

M & E ENGINEER WORK SCOPE

MECHANICAL AND

ELECTRICAL

SYSTEM

CONTENT

INTRODUCTION

PERSONAL &

COMPANY PROFILE

M&E ENGINEER

PROJECT

2

1

5

3

ROLES & RESPONSIBILITIES OF A M&E

ENGINEER IN A CONSTRUSTION

RELATION BETWEEN OTHER PROFESSIONS

SKYPOD RESIDENCE

ROLES & RESPONSIBLILITIES

OF OUR INTERVIEWEE IN

THIS PROJECT

PROBLEMS FACED AND

SOLUTION

INTRODUCTION

What comes to mind when you think of mechanical and

electrical engineering? Think you know what this profession

is all about? Ever wondered what it takes to be a M&E

engineer? In this month’s issue, we have conducted an

exclusive interview with a M&E engineer, Ir Kew Boon Pew.

Through our interview session, we have learned and found

out so much more about the world of mechanical and

electrical engineering. There are a lot more that lies within a

M&E engineer. Get the inside scoop of their job description,

responsibility and challenges all in this magazine.

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PERSONAL

COMPANY

PROFILE

Ir Kew Boon Pew, aged 49 in 2015, was born in the year of 1966 in

Malaysia. He finished his primary and secondary studies locally and headed to

University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia for tertiary studies in the year

of 1982. He took up Mechanical & Electrical (M&E) Engineering course there. He

graduated after six years of studies and returned to Malaysia in the year of 1989.

Since then, he started working as a M&E engineer in Sepakat Setia Perunding,

which is presently a leading multi-disciplinary engineering consultancy firm in

Malaysia. He worked there with a basic salary of RM1800.00 per month. After a

period of time working under the company, Mr. Kew had gained enough working

experience and thus he sat for the Board of Engineer Malaysia (BEM) Exams. In the

year of 1993, he had successfully received the title “Ir” from BEM at the age of 27.

Four years later, he opened his own company namely “Kew & Associates”, which is

a M&E engineer firm at Bandar Puteri, Puchong. Up until now, he has handled over

20 massive projects and is still striving for the better in the future.

1997. Kew & Associates has a total of 10 employees including 5 draftsmen and 5 graduate M&E engineers. His company has involved in many small and massive projects such as low rise and high rise apartments, condominiums,

factories and etc.

KEW & ASSOCIATES JURUTERA PERUNDING | M & E | CONSULTING ENGINEERS

No.26-2, Jalan Puteri ½, Bandar Puteri, 47100 Puchong, Selangor Darul Ehsan.

Kew & Associates was established by Ir Kew Boon Pew himself in

STUDIED AT UNSW

WORKED IN MALAYSIA AFTER GRADUATE

ENTITLED AS A PROFESSSIONAL

ENGINEER

ESTABLISHED KEW&ASSOCIATES

S

AGE

27 years old 16 years old 22 years old 31 years old

“Ir”

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Before any project begins, discussion must

be done with the clients. The concepts,

requirements and thoughts regarding the

construction will be discussed. The M&E

engineer will design and implement systems

that are practical and most energy efficient. He

will also create many systems based on the

different requirements and purposes. Then,

Tender drawings will be produced.

Later on, the M&E engineer will produce detail

drawings

Not only that, the mechanical & electrical

engineer has to approach several authorities to

get approval.

M&E engineer has to do testing work

every 2-3 days to ensure systems are built

according to requirements. This process

usually lasts for about one month. Testing

of lifts usually takes a longer time as

inspection from JKKP is needed in order to

get the APA number of the lifts.

ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

IN A CONSTRUCTION PROJECT

Before Construction

During Construction

contractor. The M&E engineer has do

site inspection to make sure that the

contractors do according to plan.

To improve on their work, the M&E

engineer and team will have meeting

every period of time in order to check

progress and coordinate with other

building teams such as civil and structural

(C&S) engineers.

After Construction

This process is lead by the main

Upon completion of the project, the

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M&E ENGINEER

ARCHITECT

CIVIL AND STRUCTURAL

(C&S)ENGINEER

CLIENTS

NOMINATED SUBCONTRACTOR

M&E Engineer needs to deal with many people in a project such as

architect, civil and structural engineer, clients, nominated subcontractor and so on.

In every project, M&E engineer needs to design the mechanical and electrical

system of a building according to client’s needs and requirements. Besides, M&E

engineer needs to determine the spaces, whether it is sufficient for the mechanical

and electrical system based on the architect’s drawings, if there is insufficient

space, M&E engineer need to inform architect to make changes. Apart from that,

M&E engineer also needs to coordinate with C&S engineer to make sure structure

of the building suits the mechanical and electrical system. M&E engineer also needs

to inspect the progress of mechanical and electrical system and solve problems

faced by nominated contractor during mechanical and electrical system

construction.

M&E ENGINEER

IN THE CONSTRUCTION TEAM

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SK

S K Y P O d

INTRODUCTION TO

SKYPOD

Skypod is a fully integrated

mixed-development located in

the highly sought-after

township of Bandar Puchong

Jaya. This freehold

development comprises two

tower blocks with 26 storeys.

All units feature practical and

elegant designs to capitalize on

space, natural lighting and

environmentally friendly

elements. Located below the

residences is the convenience

of retail shops. Client of this project is a

developer named IOI group.

The construction is leaded by

Jasmurni Construction

Sendirian Berhad follow by 8

nominated subcontractor.

This project started in May

2012 and was expected to

complete in January 2015 but it

was delayed due to insufficient

workers.

PROJECT

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When the project first started, the mechanical and electrical

(M&E) engineer, Ir Kew Boon Pew had a discussion with the

client. The discussion includes the concepts, requirements and

thoughts of the client for the project. Later on, he conducted a

meeting with his draftsmen and the draftsmen produced tender

drawings. After tender, Ir Kew checked the shop drawings from

subcontractors showing conduit run, cable run and etc. At the

same time, Ir Kew received plans from the architects and checked

on it. After finalizing everything, he started to get approval from

local authorities by sending a formal letter (including calculation

of the amount of electricity needed for every unit in the building

and etc.) to respective authorities.

During the construction stage, Ir Kew was in charge of monitoring

the mechanical and electrical components of the building. This

includes the sewerage works, the electrical, telephone & extra-

low voltage (ELV) services, lift services, swimming pool & jacuzzi

system, sanitary plumbing services, fire protection services, air

conditioning & mechanical ventilation services and internal water

reticulation.

S K Y P O D

Roles & responsibilities Ir. Kew boon pew

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Sample of approval letter to

local authorities

Calculation of the amount

of electricity needed for

every unit in the building

sample

S K Y P O D

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Mechanical & Electrical system FIRE PROTECTION SYSTEM The fire protection system built in

Skypod includes the sprinkler system, standpipe system and the fire alarm

system. First, the sprinkler system provide early fire control, helping to

mitigate the hazards for occupants and firefighters alike. Next, the

standpipe system consist of a fixed piping system and hose valve

connections to preclude the need for long hose lays within tall buildings. It

is combined with the sprinkler systems as they both are fed by a single

water supply. Lastly, the fire alarm system consist of interconnected

devices and controls to alert building occupants to fire. Ir Kew had to

ensure the fire protection system to be installed and runs smoothly by

doing monitoring work during construction.

INTERNAL WATER RETICULATION The internal water

reticulation sector includes the design, operation and maintenance of

water distribution and wastewater collection system. It comprises all

the public pipe works in the building including the pumping systems,

access chambers and their construction and maintenance. During

construction, Ir Kew had to monitor the work of installation piping from

bulk meter to domestic water tank at all the shop front.

S K Y P O D

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SWIMMING POOL mechanic system built in Skypod

includes swimming pool pumps, filters and automatic salt water

chlorination system. The pumps act as the heart of the entire

sewers had sufficient capacity. The factors that should be

considered for the capacity are the peak hourly rates of flow and

the peak rates of flow from industrial plants. Besides that, Ir Kew

had to verify that the sanitary sewers are at a certain grade and

alignment to transport sewage from residential area to the point

of disposal.

Mechanical & Electrical system

mechanical system. What is does

is that it circulates water through

the filter and heater. The filters

process the water in the pool as it

is pumped. As for the automatic

salt water chlorination system, it

purifies water effectively, ensuring

that the pool is free from harmful

bacteria.

SEWERAGE SYSTEM For

the sewerage system of Skypod,

Ir Kew had to make sure that the

sanitary sewers were designed

with suitable materials. He also

had to assure that the sanitary

S K Y P O D

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LIFT SYSTEM Skypod consist of 2 towers and have 10 lifts in

total, tower 1 consist of 2 lift lobby and each lobby comprises 3

lifts including a fire lift, tower 2 has only 1 lift lobby with 4 lifts

including a fire lift. Ir Kew has to ensure the lift systems function

well according to several factors such as personal spaces,

interpersonal distances, physical dimensions. He has to be

concern about circulation efficiency, for example the location and

arrangement of the lifts and the coordination with lobby,

stairway and corridor.

AIR CONDITIONING & MECHANICAL

VENTILATION Skypod is designed and constructed in such a

way that the form and fabric of the building minimizes the use of

mechanical ventilating or cooling systems for cooling purposes.

Besides, the ventilating and cooling systems installed by Ir Kew in

Skypod are energy efficient and are capable of being controlled to

achieve optimum energy efficient. These air-conditioning and

mechanical ventilation for cooling purposes lead to increased

energy use and higher carbon dioxide emissions. Therefore,

controls should be done to prevent the operation of simultaneous

heating and cooling within any area of the building.

Mechanical & Electrical system

S K Y P O D

10

The problems faced during the construction of

Skypod includes the fan ducting issue, TNB

inspection issue and the fire alarm panel issue.

Firstly, regarding the fan ducting issue, a few fan

ducts mounted at Skypod are not accurately 2.1m

from the ground. Hence, Ir Kew had to liaise with the

Civil & Structural engineer to ensure clear shaft of

2.1m and then reinstallation of fan ducts was

conducted. Next, another problem faced was TNB

inspection issue. Refer to TNB site inspection dated

02/05/14, Ir Kew had to monitor the installation

work of 2 layers 3 nos 150mm dia. HDPE pipe to be

extended beyond external drain apron as per TNB

requirement. Lastly, the initial use of zonal fire alarm

control panel had been replaced with one repeater

fire alarm panel at the guard house. This is because

when several floors or zones are monitored by one

fire alarm control panel, a repeater fire alarm panel

can replace the zonal fire alarm control panel on

each floor or in each zone for easy identification.

S K Y P O D

Problems faced & ITS Solution

11

WEE SUE WEN

TAN MIN CHUEN

Ir KEW BOON PEW

NG KWANG ZHOU

TAM ZHAO WEI

YEAP PHAY SHIAN

Through our interview session with Ir Kew Boon Pew, we have

gained more knowledge about the work scope of a M&E

engineer. We get to further understand the relationship

between a M&E engineer and our future profession (architect

or quantity surveyor). This has definitely give us advantages

when we step into the world of construction. Being a M&E

engineer is never a simple nor easy task. They hold great

responsibilities in the construction industry. We are truly

grateful that Mr. Kew is willing to share his experience and

stories with us. It is an awesome learning journey after all.

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