Building Services Engineering

Building services engineering is the discipline responsible for the systems inside buildings that make them habitable, efficient, and safe. Heating, ventilation, air conditioning, electrical systems, plumbing, lighting, fire safety, and increasingly renewable energy and building automation systems all fall within its scope. As the built environment sector works to reduce its carbon footprint and meet net-zero targets, building services engineers are at the centre of designing, installing, and managing the systems that will determine how energy-efficient our buildings actually are.

This four-year full-time programme at London South Bank University includes a foundation year, providing an accessible route into the degree for students who have the experience, drive, and determination to work in the sector but whose academic background benefits from additional preparation. You will study the core engineering sciences, thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, electrical principles, and control systems, alongside the specialist building services content that distinguishes this discipline. A sandwich year in industry and a work placement are built into the programme, giving you substantial professional experience in a real engineering environment and making your graduate profile considerably stronger with employers.

With a typical entry tariff of 72 points, the programme is designed to be genuinely accessible while providing the rigorous technical education that professional engineering demands.

Building services engineering graduates are in strong demand. The construction industry faces a well-documented shortage of qualified engineers in this specialism, and the push for energy efficiency and net-zero buildings is intensifying that demand. Graduates work in consulting engineering practices, with contractors, for building services specialists, and within large organisations that manage their own building portfolios.

Roles include design engineer, project engineer, energy consultant, and commissioning engineer. Many graduates go on to pursue chartered engineer status through professional bodies, which is a widely recognised mark of professional achievement. Others move into technical management, sustainability consultancy, or further study at postgraduate level in energy systems, building physics, or sustainable construction.