Engineer Building Facilities study plan

Draw from memory a single-line diagram of a typical mid-rise commercial air system - AHU, VAV boxes with reheat, chiller, condenser-water loop, cooling tower - and label every sensor, control valve, and isolation valve on it.

Calculate the sensible and latent load for a 5,000 sq ft office floor from dry-bulb/wet-bulb and enthalpy data, then convert the result into supply airflow in cfm and check it against a 400 cfm/ton rule of thumb.

Write a 12-item preventive maintenance checklist covering chillers, AHUs, and cooling towers, giving for each task the frequency, the failure mode it prevents, and who performs it.

Explain in writing the sequence of operation for a pressure-dependent VAV box from occupied morning warm-up through economizer free cooling, naming what each damper and valve does at each stage.

Trace the electrical service from utility entrance through main switchgear, automatic transfer switch, and distribution panelboards, annotating which loads sit on normal, emergency, and legally required branches.

Perform a demand-factor load calculation for a 400A distribution panel and determine whether 60 kW of proposed tenant load fits in the existing spare capacity.

Sketch the domestic water riser and sanitary stack for an eight-story building, marking pressure-reducing valves, backflow preventers, floor drains, cleanouts, and vent termination above the roof line.

List the monthly, quarterly, and annual maintenance tasks for both traction and hydraulic elevators, and separate code-mandated inspections and tests from routine housekeeping tasks.

Build a citation table mapping at least 12 NYC Building Code and Fire Code requirements to their occupancy trigger, the condition that activates them, and the inspection or test interval they impose.

Mark up a floor plan of a hypothetical six-story mixed-use building with occupant load, required egress width, exit access travel distance, and identify five deficiencies with the specific code basis for each.

Distinguish the roles of DOB, FDNY, and DEP across a full annual compliance cycle and state which filings, permits, and certificates each agency requires and when.

Explain the internal hierarchy of the NYC Construction Codes - construction, fire, energy, existing building, and referenced standards - and where existing-building work and alterations get routed.

Assemble a 12-month compliance calendar covering sprinkler and standpipe ITM, fire pump testing, backflow testing, elevator category testing, boiler inspections, and façade filings, working backward from each deadline.

Solve 15 quantitative life-safety problems: occupant load from floor area and use group, required egress width in inches, travel distance checks, and sprinkler demand versus available water supply.

Explain how a single fire alarm activation cascades through elevator recall, stairwell pressurization, damper closure, and smoke purge, and identify which of those functions must be verified at commissioning.

Estimate the cost and exposure of a compliance gap - a missed annual sprinkler inspection, for example - including violation penalties, insurance implications, and remediation labor.

Build a staffing model for a 400,000 sq ft property: headcount by trade, shift coverage across seven days, on-call rotation, and annual labor hours and cost computed from loaded rates.

Draft three technical and three behavioral interview questions for an HVAC technician and a chief engineer, each paired with a scoring rubric that distinguishes strong from weak answers.

Write a 30/60/90 day onboarding plan for a newly hired chief engineer, specifying what they must demonstrate before being signed off on each system.

Script a coaching conversation for a technician with repeated PM documentation failures, including the documentation trail, the standard being enforced, and the consequence ladder.

Build an operating budget for a 250,000 sq ft property covering repairs and maintenance, utilities, contracted services, and a capital reserve contribution, with each line tied to a driver such as sq ft, headcount, or equipment count.

Score three vendor bids for a chiller replacement on a weighted matrix covering price, schedule, warranty, qualifications, and references, then write the recommendation memo.

Write a scope of work for HVAC water treatment or janitorial services with measurable performance standards, reporting requirements, and a remedy clause for repeated failure.

Differentiate a fixed-fee service contract, a time-and-materials agreement, and a blanket purchase order, and state the risk profile that makes each appropriate.

Work 25 quantitative problems spanning electrical (kW, kVA, power factor, voltage drop), fan and pump affinity laws, static pressure and airflow, lighting power density, and refrigerant pressure-temperature relationships.

Rank five capital projects by simple payback and lifecycle cost, stating the assumptions behind energy escalation and discount rate in each case.

Re-derive every formula you missed and compress the whole set into a one-page formula sheet you can reproduce from memory on exam day.

Connect quantitative outputs back to operations: given a computed load or cost result, state the maintenance or capital decision it should drive.

Sit two full-length timed practice exams of 75 questions and log every miss by domain, error type (knowledge gap, misread, calculation slip, guess), and the source you will use to close it.

Re-teach your five weakest topics from scratch in writing, as if explaining them to a junior engineer, without referring to notes.

Rehearse end to end the verbal walkthrough of a chiller failure in August: diagnosis, tenant impact, temporary cooling, vendor call, communication chain, and the after-action report.

Confirm logistics - exam format, permitted references, timing per question, and your pacing plan for the first and second halves of the test.