Total System Responsibility (TSR)

Total System Responsibility is what makes a Mechanical Contractor unique from other players on a construction team. Only the general contractor and Mechanical Contractor tend to have responsibilities from beginning to end of a project. A Mechanical Contractor's work begins with the underground piping and doesn't end until systems are in operation for beneficial occupancy. In fact, with a design/build contract, the Mechanical Contractor gets involved with the project even before ground is broken.

Unlike static "build and forget" structures, the Mechanical Contractor bears responsibility for dynamic systems that represent the cutting edge of modern technology. Mechanical systems are the very heartbeat of a building. They entail some of its most expensive and critical equipment.

What is a Mechanical Contractor?

Ask 10 construction users to define a Mechanical Contractor and you are likely to get 10 variations of an answer.

The common understanding of the term "Mechanical Contractor" embraces plumbing, sheet metal and various other specialty trades that work with mechanical systems. However, a stricter definition may be in order.

The modern Mechanical Contractor is one whose expertise spans numerous specialty trades. He or she is the construction team member responsible for all or most of the mechanical systems of a building, with capabilities spanning engineering, installation and operation. Moreover, he/she is a construction professional whose technical knowledge is supplemented by keen understanding of construction finance, technology, management and labor relations.

The Mechanical Contracting profession arose from the steam and hot water fitting craft more than a century ago. This work had much in common with plumbing, so the early master plumbers and fitters frequently added each other's trade to their business.

Time was when a Mechanical Contractor was responsible for putting plumbing and heating into a building. Times change. Progress races forward. Today's Mechanical Contractor remains the person you look to for expert plumbing and heating, but he's so much more.

Nowadays his contract is apt to cover not only plumbing and heating but also process piping, sheet metal, temperature control, insulation, testing and balancing, sprinkling, energy management, service and maintenance and more. On certain types of projects the Mechanical Contractor frequently serves as the prime contractor overseeing excavation and backfill, rigging, electrical, instrumentation, concrete and all other trades as well.

The best way to describe the work of a Mechanical Contractor is not in terms of the end results of plumbing, heating, cooling, piping,
etc. Rather his true realm of expertise lies in the manipulation of the physical processes that achieve those results.

The modern Mechanical Contractor is one whose expertise spans numerous specialty trades.

Mechanical systems are marked by movement of fluids and gases, often under high temperatures and pressures, in the service of a safe and comfortable environment or some industrial process. Any system involving the conveyance of fluids or gases is within the bailiwick of a Mechanical Contractor.

A key term is "system. "Its mechanical systems comprise a building's ecology. Gases, fluids, gravity and electricity interact to create a total environment that is more complex than the sum of its parts. A Mechanical Contractor understands their interaction and how to ensure safe and efficient system operation.

What Is

Total System Responsibility is what makes a Mechanical Contractor unique from other players on a construction team.

Only the general contractor and Mechanical Contractor tend to have responsibilities from beginning to end of a project.

A Mechanical Contractor's work begins with the underground piping and doesn't end until systems are in operation for beneficial occupancy. In fact, with a design/build contract, the Mechanical Contractor gets involved with the project even before ground is broken.

Unlike static "build and forget" structures, the Mechanical Contractor bears responsibility for dynamic systems that represent the cutting edge of modern technology. Mechanical systems are the very heartbeat of a building. They entail some of its most expensive and critical equipment.

The Mechanical Contractor understands the complex machinery better than anyone else. His work is more complex and liabilities greater than that of any other trade.

When system design is part of his contract scope, he will be the one selecting cost-effective boilers, chillers, air handlers and other major operating units. Otherwise he works closely with the specifying engineer to select the most appropriate equipment, components and controls. The special expertise Mechanical Contractors bring to the job also results in savings from "better way" value engineering suggestions even while the project is underway.

Furthermore, Mechanical Contractors employ skilled craftsmen. This is particularly true for Mechanical Contractors who are signatory to agreements with the United Association of Plumbers and Pipefitters (UA). The UA offers an unlimited supply of the world's best trained plumbers and pipefitters. No project known to man is beyond their capabilities.