INTEGRATED ENGINEERS

NZ AND UK based technical advisory consultancy built on the premise that experienced engineers reduce risk and cost.


Conversley, inexperienced engineers increase risk and cost. Integrated Engineers has been established to provide clients and their project teams with experienced engineering resources to guide them through the design, construction and operational processes.

Specialising in Building Services, we provide technical advisory, peer reviews and expert witness for mechanical, electrical and hydraulics engineering services.

We specialise in hospitals, laboratories and complex / critical engineering building projects. Our fees are variable and reasonable and tailored to the scope. They pale into insignificance when compared to cost and risk of failure, especially when the lawyers start to engage us. There is a dearth of inexperience around the world, and unless you are lucky enough to get a company's 'A' team your risk multiplies.

Integrated Engineers work directly for clients, architects, consultants, quantity surveyors, contractors, project managers, insurance companies and lawyers.

"It is time to give back to the industry that has sustained our careers. I started Integrated Engineers in 2018 and soon found that more clients were asking for independent advice. This ranged from early business cases to reviewing detailed designs to operational failures. So, in 2021, we decided to work exclusively in the Technical Advisory Space.

We assist and guide design and construction teams through the maze of good engineering practice, code compliance, sustainability, and cost-effective solutions to improve performance outcomes and avoid potential disasters. We are able to draw on a network of highly experienced and well qualified engineers throughout New Zealand and beyond.
Ian Booth - BSc(Hons) CMEngNZ CEng(UK) MCIBSE MABSANZ EurEng - November 2023".

Technical Advisory

When should a client seek technical advice? Optimally, once the need has been established and the cost/benefit analysis requires a cost.

Ideally, the client will engage an experienced design team to produce a business case. Integrated Engineers work closely with the client, the designers and the cost consultant to optimise the design.


We are of course also able to integrate with the design and/or construction teams at any stage in the building process and onwards through operations, to provide technical advise on an adhoc basis.

Our focus is on complex buildings where health and safety is essential. Buildings which carry a high degree of risk require resilient proven solutions.

These factors are critical in hospitals and laboratories where higher levels of competency and attention to detail are fundamental to the outcomes of the facility.

We have many years’ experience in the design, construction and commissioning of hospitals and laboratories including:

Hospitals - operating theatres, isolation suites, CSSD, radiology, dialysis and support spaces.

Projects for: ADHB, WDHB, CMDHB, CDHB, MCDHB, CCDHB, NHS - Salisbury, Liverpool, Isle of Wight, Sheffield, Manchester.

Laboratories - bio-containment PC1, PC2, PC3, quarantine, chemistry, pathology, microbiology and teaching laboratories, animal rooms, glasshouses, and ISO Class cleanrooms.

Projects for: Health New Zealand / Te Whata Ora, Ministry of Primary Industries, ADHB Labplus, University of Auckland, Victoria University Wellington, Sheffield University, Manchester University, Oceania Dairy, Invent Farma, Novartis, Pfizer, Andaris, Medimmune.

PEER REVIEWS

Peer Reviews are an integral element of the building process especially for complex and critical projects such as hospitals and laboratories, where the main focus is health and safety.

Do you need a peer review?


We find ourselves in a world where working spaces and processes are becoming more hazardous as viruses and technologies evolve and risks become more onerous. Add inadequate training and poor quality control, too often results in deficient buildings.

In addition, as all businesses, engineering consultants are under pressure to win work and make them commercially successful. Consequently, resources are under pressure and corners are cut. This can expose their clients to risk. Hospitals and laboratories have their own risks to manage without having poor performing buildings to worry about.

Therefore, specifically when there are compounding risks, the answer is a resounding yes, because an effective peer review will discover errors and will highlight under and over design, code compliance failures, cost excesses, energy wastage, and wasted space. It will also be able to recommend proven best practice alternatives to achieve the same objectives.

Ideally, a peer reviewer will be commissioned to be a contributing member of the business case team, or at the very least at concept stage, to assist the project and provide knowledge exchange. They act as critical checkpoints in the building process. Bringing the peer reviewer in at detailed design stage is not too late but may incur significant redesign costs and programme implications if faults are discovered, especially when the earlier design deliverables achieved staged approvals.

Peer reviewers find errors and faults through a systematic process of examination and evaluation using proven knowledge and experience and, where applicable, drilling down to engineering fundamentals. They also ask pertinent questions - who, what and why. Only a highly experienced engineer can do this effectively.

EXPERT WITNESS

If we are engaged as an Expert Witness, then you can be assured something has gone seriously wrong and the insurers will want to know clearly where the fault lies.


Our role here is to carry out a forensic examination of the design, the installation, the equipment, the commissioning, and the operations of the building services before and up to the problem,incident or dispute, to establish causes and effects and then present the evidence and opinion in a manner that lawyers and their clients can comprehend all the valid technical details and support legal arguments.

If the case progresses to court or mediation our reports and opinions will be used when determining the verdict and help to facilitate settlements.

Regardless of who engages us, our duty is to the court and the truth.

For obvious reasons of confidentiality, we are unable to provide examples of cases we have been involved in, however we can request references from our clients.

Inevitably, we find failures are usually due to negligence (human error) at some stage in the building process. These errors could be by the designer, the installing contractor, the equipment supplier, the commissioning team, the controls engineer or the building’s facilities management team.

In hindsight, most, if not all incidents could have been avoided if the people involved carried out appropriate risk assessments in their roles and responsibilities and implemented ‘simple weakest link’ / ‘single points of failure’ / ‘what if’ scenarios and applied effective ‘make safe’ processes and procedures. Clients and project managers also have a responsibility to appoint competent teams - proven architects, engineers, and contractors to deliver their buildings.

CONTACT US

Devonport, Auckland, New Zealand

Integrated Engineers are based in Auckland, New Zealand and operate nationally and internationally.

T: (+64) (0)9 445 1687
A: Level 1, 49 Victoria Road, Devonport, Auckland, 0624 New Zealand
Contact: Ian Booth
E: ian.booth@integratedengineers.co.nz
M: (+64) (0)21 057 1852