FAQ: MCR & BMS engineering

MCR covers all equipment and automation that measures, commands and regulates a building's technical systems (heating, ventilation, air conditioning, plumbing). It ensures operation, comfort and energy performance of HVAC installations. Depending on the region and the document, the same services appear as MSR (German-speaking Switzerland) or I&C (instrumentation and control).

MCR works at the field level: sensors, actuators and controllers that drive each piece of equipment. The BMS (Building Management System), also called BAS, centralises, visualises and coordinates all installations from a single station. MCR is the field; the BMS is the conductor. French-language specifications say GTB, GTC or GTE, German ones GLT or GA: the same scope, described on our BMS supervision and integration page.

BACnet is an open, standardised communication protocol (ISO 16484-5) for building automation. It lets equipment from different manufacturers communicate: interoperability guaranteed, no vendor lock-in, easier future extension. Our BACnet object reference sets out the functions expected for each type of installation.

Not necessarily. “BACnet compatible” says nothing about what is really implemented. What binds a supplier is its PICS (the document declaring the objects and services supported), its BTL certification, which verifies those declarations independently, and the BIBBs required in the specification. A tender document that simply asks for “BACnet” opens the door to equipment that talks poorly, or not at all, to the supervision layer. We systematically require the PICS, the BTL certificate and the EDE file of the points list.

No, and it is rarely desirable. Each protocol has its own ground: BACnet for HVAC automation and supervision, KNX for lighting and blinds, Modbus and M-Bus for meters and plant equipment, OPC UA for exchanges with operational IT. What matters is that every protocol is open and documented, and that the gateways between them are defined at design stage, not improvised during commissioning. Those supply limits belong in the specification, at the design stage.

It displays, alarms, logs and configures. It does not control. Control runs in the controllers and the local regulators, and it must keep running with the server switched off. Supervision is the layer above: graphics, alarm acknowledgement, trend curves and historical data, schedules and calendars, setpoints, user management, reports, remote access. That boundary belongs in the specification: otherwise one bidder prices a system that displays and another one that drives sequences, and the two bids stop being comparable. We set the split out in our article on tendering a supervision system.

Workswell covers the full cycle of an MCR/BMS project across six areas: energy audit and consulting, design and planning including tender documentation, supervision and integration (BACnet, KNX, Modbus, M-Bus, OPC UA), commissioning and construction supervision, BMS cybersecurity to IEC 62443 and owner's engineer services (BAMO).

The BAMO, owner's engineer, called “AMO” in most Swiss public tenders, does not design the installation: it represents your interests towards those who design and build it. Scoping the need, schedule and decision milestones, coordination of architects, HVAC and electrical engineers, contractors and the operator, analysis of variants and comparison of bids, cost and variation control, through to acceptance and warranty. You keep the decisions, we carry the technical load: see our BAMO page.

As early as possible, ideally from the preliminary studies and concept design (phases 2 and 3 of SIA 112). MCR scoped at the end of the process means forgotten measurement points, controls that do not talk to each other, and discoveries at commissioning. Half a day of workshop at concept stage costs less than three weeks of rework before handover. On an existing building, an MCR audit is the right starting point.

Yes, frequently. We carry out acceptance testing alone on installations designed by third parties: the integrator who programmed an installation cannot be its own inspector. We also take over ageing supervision systems, federate heterogeneous portfolios onto a single supervision platform, and audit the existing installation before any renovation decision.

Yes. We support the replacement of obsolete controllers (SAIA-Burgess and other brands) from preliminary design through to commissioning, acting as site supervisor. We take over the existing installation, ensure compliance with the KBOB guidelines and maintain building operation throughout the works.

On the basis of a scope agreed in writing, either as a lump sum or on a time basis depending on the mandate, with reference to the SIA 108 regulation for engineering services. You receive a detailed offer before any commitment, separating included services from options. A first thirty-minute conversation is usually enough to frame the need and the order of magnitude.

Yes. Workswell is an independent engineering firm with no commercial ties to any manufacturer or integrator, which guarantees neutral solutions chosen solely in the client's interest and for the performance of the installation.

Workswell is based in Sion and operates mainly in Valais and throughout French-speaking Switzerland.

Yes. Workswell's studies and projects comply with the applicable SIA standards and with the KBOB and SBAT guidelines that apply to public tenders and high-performance buildings.

The KBOB, the coordination conference of the construction and property bodies of Swiss public clients, publishes a recommendation on the use of BACnet in buildings: object naming, addressing structure, points lists, documentation to be delivered. It is the reference for public-sector buildings and increasingly appears in private specifications too, because it makes an installation comparable, verifiable and transferable to another integrator. Our address generator and our BACnet object reference derive directly from it.

IEC 62443 structures the cybersecurity of industrial and building automation systems: segmentation of OT and IT networks, device authentication, access logging, update management. The Cyber Resilience Act applies from 11 December 2027: every connected product placed on the European market must comply, with security updates guaranteed for at least five years. In practice, the controllers and gateways chosen today must already anticipate this, or they will be obsolete in regulatory terms before the end of their technical life. See our BMS cybersecurity page.

The building owner. Without commented source code, configuration files and the tools to modify them, you remain dependent on a single supplier for every change or correction. Our tenders therefore always require handover of the source code, licences and full documentation, so that you can develop your installation with the integrator of your choice.

In public procurement, no: the specification must be technology-neutral, and a reference to a product is only admissible as an indication, together with wording that allows an equivalent. In the private sector it is permitted, but it amounts to giving up competition, voluntarily, on the longest-lived item in the installation. The test is simple: strike every brand name out of the document and count the suppliers who can still answer it. That is exactly the work we do in design and tender documentation.

By imposing five things in the tender: the exact licence model and its holder, the PICS of the supervision workstation with the list of services actually implemented, the engineering data due at acceptance (native project file, point cross-reference table, ETS project without password), the terms of read access to the trend database, and the level of rights handed to the operator on the engineering tool. The structure of the pricing schedule then has to be imposed, along with a common reference scenario (number of points, client workstations, users, calculation horizon) otherwise different licence models simply cannot be added up. Enforceable wordings and the pricing structure are in our article on tendering supervision.

Yes, but on a condition that surprises everyone: the measure must not be too profitable. ProKilowatt, the Swiss Confederation's competitive tendering scheme, covers up to 30 % of the investment cost of an electrical efficiency measure, and funds only what would not happen without it. A measure with a payback below four years is deemed economically viable, and it is not supported. There are two routes: the individual project, from CHF 70,000 of investment, and enrolment in an existing programme for standardised measures. Thresholds, deadlines and the documents required are set out in our article on ProKilowatt and the four-year threshold.

Because a subsidy exists to trigger what would not happen otherwise. On ventilation, the difficulty is that the best retrofits sit precisely on the profitable side of the threshold: a drive often runs 4,000 to 6,000 hours a year, and fan power varies approximately with the cube of the airflow, which makes this the item where a modest reduction produces the largest gain. The four-year threshold is therefore not an obstacle to work around but a sorting criterion: below it, you carry out the work without applying; above it, the scope extends beyond the motor (wiring, controller, reprogramming, a new handover) and an application makes sense.

Before any commitment. Only measures not yet implemented are supported, and implementation starts before the site work: it includes the unconditional decision to proceed, signing the contracts and ordering the equipment. You therefore have to wait for the award decision before ordering. The direct consequence on ventilation: a motor that fails on a Tuesday morning is not a subsidy application, because the replacement will be ordered the same day, and like for like. The subsidy is only available for anticipated renewal, the kind decided while the plant is still running.

On three quantities, and that is where applications go wrong: actual running hours rather than the theoretical time programme, power genuinely absorbed rather than the nameplate figure, and today's airflow rather than the one in the handover file. The three errors do not point the same way: combined, they can overstate the saving just as easily as halve it. Overstating gives a good ranking and then a problem at verification; understating means abandoning a project that would have passed the threshold. A supervision system already logging these quantities makes the exercise almost free; failing that, a control system audit and a measurement campaign before the works are worth more than an assumption to be defended later under scrutiny.

Yes. Since 2026 a second federal instrument targets the same potential: efficiency gains by electricity suppliers, which assign every distributor above a certain size a quantified savings target to be achieved among its end consumers; ventilation and drives appear there as standardised measures. Cantonal programmes come on top, with conditions that vary from one canton to the next. The schemes cannot be combined and the choice is made before ordering, which makes it the first question to settle rather than the last. We have not yet handled an application under the electricity suppliers' instrument.

Two public tools, drawn from our own mandates and usable without registration: the KBOB address generator, which builds the hierarchy and designation of installations according to the Workswell addressing directive v1.1.0 (address limited to 16 ASCII characters), and the BACnet object reference, which lists building automation functions and the expected objects under recommendation v2.0.0. Both serve to write a specification and to check what is delivered against it.

The client area gives access to your project documents: reports, points lists, acceptance files, operating documentation. Access is personal and compartmentalised: each client sees only their own documents. We issue the credentials; if you have trouble signing in, write to info@workswell.ch.

By phone on +41 27 326 60 00, by e-mail to info@workswell.ch or through the contact form. We analyse your needs and propose an approach tailored to your project: a first conversation commits you to nothing.