From correct calculations to controlled design decisions.
A practical, project-based Basis of Design bootcamp for experienced mechanical and public health engineers who want to control assumptions, align specialist interfaces and lead decisions before change becomes costly.
Designed around real UK project challenges. No formal prerequisite, but best suited to engineers with live project experience.
The calculation can be right while the design-control process is wrong.
Many projects progress under a Stage 3 label while still relying on Stage 2-quality information. The drawings move forward, but the brief, specialist inputs, responsibilities and critical assumptions remain open.
The result is not usually a calculation error. It is late redesign: a riser fixed before occupancy is confirmed, a ventilation strategy agreed before the acoustic report is understood, or a system coordinated before its operating philosophy is defined.
Practical controls you can use on a live project.
The bootcamp turns design leadership into visible project outputs—not generic leadership theory.
Basis of Design
A clear structure for requirements, criteria, assumptions, sources, responsibilities and review triggers.
Decision controls
A practical Decision Log, Assumption Register and RAG-weighted Risk Register that work together.
Interface map
A method for identifying specialist inputs, both sides of each interface and the risk of proceeding without confirmation.
Route to closure
Clear recommendations, owners, required-by dates, evidence to close and propagation into the affected documents.
The Basis of Design, from project reality to controlled action.
Six focused learning areas built around the sequence experienced engineers need to control.
Establish the real project basis
- Stage reality versus stage label
- Brief, ERs and controlled information
- Information readiness and decision hierarchy
- When the project should pause or step back
Build a defensible BOD
- Design criteria and information sources
- Clear assumptions, owners and status
- Measurable outcomes and verification
- Live-document structure and change triggers
Control decisions, assumptions and risk
- Decision Log versus Assumption Register
- RAG weighting for cost and programme risk
- Required-by dates and lock points
- Stage freezes and escalation
Manage interfaces and specialist inputs
- Fire, acoustics, structure, façade and energy
- Specialist design responsibilities
- Proceeding-at-risk decisions
- Cross-discipline review and ownership
Read the whole system
- System goal and boundaries
- Part-load behaviour and failure modes
- Controls and cause-and-effect
- Commissioning and operational readiness
Lead the decision
- Options, consequences and recommendation
- Professional challenge and conditional agreement
- Meeting pre-reads, minutes and action tracking
- Evidence-based closure and handover
Learn the method, apply it and have your thinking reviewed.
12 months of access
Revisit the course as your projects change and use the templates repeatedly rather than once.
Three live webinars
Focused sessions on BOD control, systems thinking, interfaces and design leadership in practice.
Q&A support
Bring real questions and clarify how the method applies to the situations in front of you.
Private project-type review
A one-to-one session to review your approach and the design-control questions relevant to your project type.
Bespoke assignment
A practical design task used to demonstrate your reasoning, recommendation and route to closure.
The book included
A copy of From Calculations to Design Leadership: A Working Handbook for MEP Engineers, providing the wider framework behind the programme.
Built for experienced engineers stepping into greater responsibility.
This is likely a good fit if…
- You can complete the calculations but want to own the design recommendation.
- You are moving towards Senior Engineer, Design Lead, Principal or Associate-level responsibility.
- You work on live building-services projects and need a repeatable BOD method.
- You want to challenge unclear information without stopping the project.
- You want your technical judgement to be visible, recorded and acted upon.
It is probably not the right fit if…
- You are looking only for a software or calculation tutorial.
- You want someone else to complete the project design for you.
- You have no current or recent project context to apply the method to.
- You want a certificate without completing the practical work.
Bring a real project challenge. Build a method you can reuse.
The first cohort is intentionally limited so the one-to-one support and project feedback remain meaningful. Register your interest and we will confirm fit, timing and cohort details.
Questions experienced engineers usually ask.
How much time will I need?
The course is designed for working engineers. The most valuable work is applied to a live or recent project, so the effort supports work you already need to structure and review.
Do I need to read the book first?
No formal prerequisite is required. Reading From Calculations to Design Leadership: A Working Handbook for MEP Engineers is helpful, and a copy is included in the programme.
Is this a technical course or a leadership course?
It sits between the two. It is technical design leadership: controlling the basis, assumptions, interfaces, system behaviour, recommendations and decision trail.
Will this cover my exact project type?
The core method applies across project types. The one-to-one project-type review is where the approach is tested against your particular building, stage, stakeholders and risks.
Is this suitable for junior engineers?
It is primarily designed for engineers with live project experience who are moving towards greater review and decision-making responsibility.
What happens after I register interest?
You will receive the current pilot details and a short fit check covering your experience, project context and the outcome you want from the programme.
Make the design basis visible before the project makes it expensive.
Build the method to control assumptions, align interfaces and turn technical judgement into an agreed project decision.
Register interest in the pilot cohort →