Build stage 2
MEP and construction
MEP and construction is the second stage of a data center build. A general contractor puts up the building and the mechanical, electrical and plumbing (MEP) trades install the systems that power and cool the servers. It overlaps with power and site work at the start and with commissioning at the end.
By Czarina Tabayoyong, Founder, Critical Path Hiring. Former Amazon, AWS and Google recruiter.
Last reviewed · First published
Reviewed as terms, pay and markets change.
Work
The building shell
The general contractor (GC) runs the job. Crews pour foundations and slabs, erect the steel, and close in the roof and walls so the inside can be worked on in any weather. Many builds use prefabricated parts, such as electrical rooms built as skids or modules off site and set in place by crane.
Electrical systems
Electricians install the gear that takes power from the utility service to the servers: switchgear, transformers, uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) and their batteries, power distribution units (PDUs), busway and branch circuits. Most data centers build two separate power paths so a failure on one side does not drop the load.
Mechanical systems
Pipefitters and sheet metal workers install the cooling plant and the equipment that moves heat out of the data halls: chillers, cooling towers or dry coolers, pumps, piping and computer room air handlers (CRAHs). AI halls with liquid cooling add coolant distribution units (CDUs) and piping that runs to the racks.
Controls and low voltage
Controls contractors install the building management system (BMS) that runs the mechanical plant and the electrical power monitoring system (EPMS) that tracks every breaker and UPS. Low-voltage crews install fire alarm and suppression, security, cameras and the fiber and copper cabling.
People
General contractor
- Project executives and project managers
- Superintendents and MEP superintendents
- MEP coordinators who resolve clashes between trades before install
- Field engineers, schedulers and safety managers
- Quality managers who track installation against the drawings
Trade contractors
- Electrical foremen and journeyman electricians
- Pipefitters, plumbers and sheet metal workers
- Controls technicians and BMS programmers
- Fire protection and low-voltage technicians
Owner side
- Construction managers who represent the owner on site
- Owner's MEP engineers who review submittals and change orders
Commissioning overlap
Commissioning agents are on site during construction. As each system is installed, they run level 2 checks on equipment delivery and installation and level 3 checks on startup of individual pieces of equipment. The issues they log here are what the GC and trades fix before level 4 functional testing.
Hiring impact
This stage needs the most people of any stage, and the trades are hired mostly by the GC and the trade contractors. Owners and GCs hire the leadership roles directly: MEP superintendents, MEP coordinators and quality managers who have delivered mission critical work. Candidates from commercial construction can move into this stage, but the ones who have built a data center can name the switchgear, UPS and cooling systems they installed and the commissioning levels they supported.
For when to open each search against the build schedule, see the hiring timeline by build stage.
Related
Construction labor gap by metro
Tracked capacity under construction against the local construction workforce.
Construction versus permanent jobs
How many construction jobs each permanent data center job comes with.
When to hire by build stage
Which searches should be open before each milestone, from design to first rack.
Czarina Tabayoyong
Founder and principal recruiter, Critical Path Hiring. Czarina recruits commissioning, MEP, power and critical facilities people for data center builds. She previously recruited cloud and data center architecture talent at AWS Professional Services, and PMO and project delivery talent for hyperscale data center campuses in Texas and Virginia.
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