Integration of a variety of non-BAS controls and systems has become an increasingly important aspect of building projects. These controls/systems range from packaged HVAC equipment to “fully engineered” mechanical systems (e.g., VRF and lab controls) to non-mechanical equipment/systems (lighting controls, electrical equipment, security, fire alarm, etc.), and even to building operations or enterprise systems (e.g., energy management/tracking, CMMS, tenant billing systems). And “IoT” has the potential for further accelerating this trend.
This has led to an increasing number of projects that are integration-intensive (i.e., integration of non-BAS controls/systems has become a major portion of the scope vs. that of the core BAS installation efforts). Therefore, I thought it useful to revisit the notion of “who should do system integration.” This is a question that has been floating around for years without any definitive conclusion to date. Arguments have been made about whether a BAS contractor should be the system integrator vs. whether system integration should be provided by a separate contractor operating at a different level/location in the construction hierarchy (e.g., the division 23 vs. 25 argument).