As a building automation maintenance supervisor I spend a lot of time troubleshooting the system.
There are days where I put in twelve to fourteen hours just tracing down wiring to make sure the system is up and running properly.
There are times I wonder if the company I work for should really trust their entire system to my watch. Years ago when I went to trade school to become an Electronics technician I never imagined I would have this much responsibility. Over the years I paid attention and did my job as well as I could and it paid off when I got the promotion to my current position. It is important for someone with my job to have a working knowledge of both electronics and computers because I not only have to troubleshoot the system but at times I have to program it as well. The infrastructure of the building depends on the automation working properly and if one area, such as lighting isn’t working it can affect other parts as well. Our building is fully automated and it isn’t as simple as turning back on a circuit because once the lighting goes down it triggers other system breakdowns at the same time. Each part of the system must be reprogrammed or reset once the lighting is restored and in order to do this it takes expert knowledge of how the system is connected. The main communication panels for the system are located in the basement where computers constantly monitor and adjust things accordingly depending on the time of day and areas of use. I love my job and solving issues but it can be tricky sometimes too.