Failures in air-conditioning systems Available to Purchase

Air conditioning, like all mechanical systems, fails from time to time. Apart from the discomfort it causes, such failures can mean significant financial costs or losses for some of the parties involved in designing, delivering or maintaining the systems. The cost of engineering services installation in modern buildings can vary from around 10% to almost 40% of the total cost of construction, and this is much greater as a proportion of life-cycle costs. When things go wrong, it can be very expensive and one or more of the parties will want to find out what caused the problem, how it can be resolved, how much the remedial works will cost and, importantly, who was responsible, because they will most likely be liable for the bill. An overview is provided of three cases where air conditioning has failed and the liability was disputed. These cases include: a film archive where a dehumidifier unit generated heat and moisture instead of removing moisture; a large office complex where water chillers failed after only 12 months and hundreds of control valves failed; and a large chilled water system that was corroding beneath the insulation for 10 years before the corroded pipes started leaking.