When a data centre design reaches construction, errors cost multiples of what they cost to catch at the drawing stage. Mission Critical Engineers provides independent design review, owner’s representation, construction verification, and basis of design development — with no design or construction stake. Our obligation is to the owner and the specification, from concept through construction sign-off.
Every Design Decision Has a Consequence.
Design errors that reach construction cost multiples of what they cost to catch at the drawing stage. Independent design review — conducted by engineers with no relationship to the design team — is the most effective risk mitigation available to a data centre owner before construction begins.
MCE reviews both new data centre builds and retrofit or upgrade projects against the stated basis of design and owner requirements — power systems, standby generation, cooling topology, redundancy architecture, protection and controls coordination, and BMS integration. Findings are issued as a structured technical report with a prioritized deficiency register.
We verify that the redundancy level specified in the BOD — N+1, 2N, or 2(N+1) — is faithfully reflected at every system, subsystem, and component level across power and cooling infrastructure. Redundancy that exists on paper but fails under real operating conditions is a design deficiency we are specifically positioned to identify.
Single-line diagrams, switchgear topology, transformer sizing, UPS configuration, ATS/STS logic, standby generation, and protection coordination are reviewed against the stated design intent and redundancy requirements.
Chiller plant topology, CRAH sizing, cooling redundancy paths, economizer design, and liquid-cooling infrastructure — including direct-to-chip and immersion systems for AI and high-density deployments — are reviewed to confirm that the cooling infrastructure meets the facility’s availability requirements under both normal and failure conditions.
Relay settings, control sequences, BMS integration, and alarming logic are reviewed to confirm they are consistent with the power and cooling topology and will respond correctly under fault conditions. Auxiliary systems — including control power, fire suppression, and life-safety — are reviewed for correct integration with the primary infrastructure, as systems that appear secondary in scope can become critical dependencies under fault or alarm conditions.
Physical routing, spatial separation, and independence of redundant paths are reviewed to confirm that systems designed as independent remain genuinely separate as built — across power distribution, cooling, and controls infrastructure.
Your Engineering Authority on the Ground.
The period from design completion through construction handover is where performance intent is most at risk. Equipment substitutions, field modifications, and coordination gaps between trades can quietly erode the redundancy and reliability the design was built to deliver — without any single decision appearing significant in isolation.
MCE acts as the owner’s independent engineering representative during the design and construction phase — reviewing submittals, RFIs, and design changes against the BOD and specification before approval, evaluating substitution requests against performance intent, and providing technically rigorous oversight with no design or construction stake. Our obligation is solely to the owner and the specification.
Construction verification confirms that what is built matches what was designed. MCE conducts structured site verification at defined project milestones — equipment installation, electrical and mechanical infrastructure, and pre-commissioning readiness — before functional testing begins.
Building the Engineering Foundation.
Before detailed engineering begins, the performance intent of a facility must be defined with precision. A well-constructed Basis of Design document establishes the benchmark against which every subsequent design decision is measured — and every design review, commissioning test, and construction verification is conducted.
MCE develops or reviews Basis of Design documents at the concept stage, translating owner operational requirements into clear engineering performance targets — redundancy level and topology, power density and capacity, availability and maintainability requirements, cooling strategy, site and utility interface, and the applicable codes and standards framework the design must satisfy.
BOD development is scoped to concept and pre-design stage. MCE does not produce construction drawings or detailed engineering specifications.
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