Work-term Report (实习工作报告)

Site Inspection for People Hospital in Xiaolan Town

Prepared by Howard He A00688012

Submitted to

Nicholas Petryszak, Co-op Coordinator

Mech 6090

Course date: Ten months

Company Name: Xiaolan Fire Protection Engineering Co., Ltd.

Company address: 57 Jitou Road, Xiaolan Town, Zhongshan City, Guangdong Province, China P.R.C.

Date of Report: 27th August 2012

Summary

I was employed at Xiaolan Fire Protection Engineering Co., Limited,(Xiaolan) located in Zhongshan City, Guangdong Province, China P.R.C. from October, 2009 to June, 2010 and June 1st 2012 to 27th August 2012 as a student mechanical engineer. Zhijian Zhang was my supervisor in the company and he was an expert in plumbing and HVAC. Xiaolan is the town's leading plumbing supplier and assembler. The company was founded at August 1994, and it undertook some big projects in local area in Zhongshan city.

My primary task while employed was to read and interpret blueprints, drawings and specifications; Locate and mark position of pipe connections, holes and fixtures; determine piping system requirements and pipe sizing. In the first two weeks, I studied the building code in order to understand the standard in China. After that, I modified the drawing by using AutoCAD software based on supervisor requirement. After a month later, I start inspection in worksite with supervisor. I needed to locate and mark any position of the pipe connections, holes, and fixture for any changes. After the inspection, I have to write a log or report to inform any modifications to my supervisor.

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Table of Contents

Site Inspection for People Hospital in Xiaolan Town ..................................................................................... i Summary ....................................................................................................................................................... ii Table of Contents ......................................................................................................................................... iii Table of Figures ............................................................................................................................................ iv Introduction .................................................................................................................................................. v Study the Chinese standard building code .............................................................................................. ix Read and interpret blueprints drawings and specifications; ................................................................... xi Locate and mark position of pipe connections, holes and fixtures; .......................................................xiii Determine piping system requirements and pipe sizing. ....................................................................... xiv Write progress log and report and meeting memo ................................................................................ xv Personal Observation .................................................................................................................................. xvi Appendix ..................................................................................................................................................... xix Figure 1: Work Site ................................................................................................................................... xx Figure 2: Front Door of the Hospital ....................................................................................................... xxi Figure 3: Assemble Field 1 ..................................................................................................................... xxii Figure 4 : Assemble Field 2 ................................................................................................................... xxiii Figure 5: Field Inspection ...................................................................................................................... xxiv

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Table of Figures

Figure 1:Work Site.......................................................................................................................... xx Figure 2:Front Door of the Hospital .............................................................................................. xxi Figure 3: Assemble Field 1 ........................................................................................................... xxii Figure 4 : Assemble Field 2 ......................................................................................................... xxiii Figure 5: Field Inspection ............................................................................................................ xxiv

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Introduction

During this work term I was employed at the Fire Protection Engineering Co., Limited, (Xiaolan) located in Zhongshan City, Guangdong Province, China P.R.C. Xiaolan is the town's leading plumbing supplier and assembler. The company was founded at August 1994, and it undertook independently some big projects in local area in Zhongshan city. Additionally the company was undertaking 5 big projects recently during my work term. Therefore, I was so lucky to follow these projects with my supervisor. It is a great opportunities for me to gain useful skill and experience. I was assigned to follow two hospitals’ project. The plumbing system is more complicated in hospital than in hotel. Thus, the projects were so challenge.

Lucky, Zhijian Zhang was my supervisor in the company and he was an expert in plumbing and HVAC. He was a professional engineer, and he had been worked on this area more than 20 years. Therefore, I learned a lot of knowledge and gained useful skill under his training. He never gets tired my questions and he teach me patiently. Being a responsible man is first thing he always emphasis. He always asks me to have positive attitude on what I was doing. During the work term, he showed his knowledge, skills and even life style to me; I was so impressed his attitude to job, to life, to everyone. He was not only my supervisor but also the life teacher. As a mechanical engineering student, my main task was to My primary task while employed was to read and interpret blueprints, drawings and specifications; Locate and mark position of pipe connections, holes and fixtures; determine piping system requirements and pipe sizing. In the first two weeks, I studied the building code in order to understand the standard in China. After that, I modified the drawing by using AutoCAD software based on supervisor requirement.

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After a month later, I start inspection in worksite with supervisor. I needed to locate and mark any position of the pipe connections, holes, and fixture for any changes. After the inspection, I have to write a log or report to inform any modifications to my supervisor.

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The Employer

Xiaolan, a fire protection engineering company, was established in August 1994. The company is part of urban construction and development of subordinate enterprises of the Corporation, which specializes in fire protection and plumbing construction company, which currently holds the Guangdong Province Public Security Fire issued a Class A fire engineering construction qualification certificate issued by the Ministry of Construction B design of fire protection engineering qualifications.

The company is now a registered capital of 3 million, 120 employees, of which there are 38 titles in engineering and technical personnel and economic management, the enterprise owns machinery and equipment 76, also it has an experienced and technical professional installation team. The type of work is complete, with strong construction strength and a higher technical level.

Currently, the company set up offices, design, engineering, quality and security department, business department, material supply, the Ministry of Finance, Human Resources and other departments, management improvement. Since its inception, the company has to undertake a number of large, high degree of difficulty of fire engineering, including: Xiaolan government office building, twelve-floor high Holiday Inn, twenty five story high Ming An Plaza, Chen Xinghai Hospital Building, rural credit cooperatives, office buildings, an insurance company office, crown bowling alley, Showtime bowling alley, Xiaolan High School, secondary School in Xiaolan and a group of commercial and residential new fire engineering Jucheng Hotel, and agricultural Bank of China. The construction of the project construction area of nearly 40,000

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square meters in the Meijia Science and Technology Co., Ltd. industrial plants, nearly 120,000 square meters of factory buildings and nearly 100,000 square meters of high-rise buildings. Those projects have won various construction units praise and trust.

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Co-op Job Overview

The total work term period is divided into 5 parts, the detail is listed below:

Study the Chinese standard building code

As I first time work in the Chinese company, I am not familiar with the work process. My supervisor tell me to study the Chinese building code specific for Zhongshan city. Two different countries have different building code. I have to fully understand the code before I start reading and interpreting the drawings. The first stage is the most tough part to get through. China has totally different building style and standard by comparing to the Canada. It has so many different types of constructions and functions for a building. The code is very detail for types of buildings. Such as the distance between two sprinklers; the pressure for the pipe have to be no less than 15 psi; the building has at least two 4-meter wide road for the fire truck for high rise residential building, etc. Also, I have to memorize the some basic and common used data, so I do not have to look up the building code every time. It requires lost of reading and

understanding. My supervisor tells me that do not just read thought that code, or I just forget what I read right away. The suggestion he gives me is that, go to the work site with the book. When see any already assembled pipes or sprinklers, I have to refer it to the book. It is one stone kills two birds. Referring the code in the field place is helping me to understand and memorize code easily and check the worker if they follow the code to finish their jobs. Therefore, I study from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m., and I go to the work site with supervisor from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.. It does help me to learn the code in the job site especially I talk to the assembly

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worker. They are all expert on assembling pipes and sprinklers. They know where exactly to put the pipes and sprinklers; they know how to connect two different size of pipe together; they know where to stop or start. China is a high power distance country, so the lower position is not getting respect from high position. In this case, the assembling workers are in the lower position, and supervisor and I are high position. However, I do not care this inequality, I talk to those workers when my supervisor is in the meeting. I find that, those worker are very glad to tell who they are and how they work. They very like to share their stories to me, and they would like to tell me their job. Even though they are not highly educated, but they know what they are doing, and that is what I want. When I do not understand the code, I just translate the code in a simple way they understand, and they just answer my questions in a very detail way. It is way much better to read the code by my own.

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Read and interpret blueprints drawings and specifications;

After three weeks code-studying, my supervisor starts giving me drawings to read and interpret. It is quiet challenge for me because the Chinese drawing is different from Canadian drawing. Also, I have to re-study the Chinese drawing symbol again. Some are similar, but most of them are different. It is kind of time consuming, but it will be benefit to myself in the future career. Before reading the drawing, I have to know how to print drawings. Fortunately, I have learned AutoCAD, and it helps me set the print setting very quickly. However, the printer is not that user friendly. My supervisor tells me that I have to make friends with printer first. It means I have to learn the skill to handle this special printer. The printer is almost 7years old, but the boss is not willing to buy a new one. The printer will stick very easily by jamming the paper inside the machine. Therefore, I have to hold the paper very gentle until the paper fully printed. I have to be patient enough wait for the printing. In order to get used to handle the printer, I take all the drawing plots for my colleagues. After ten operations, I feel it become my friend. Once the printer gets stuck by other colleagues’ wrong operation, it is my show time! I can fix it in five minutes, so most colleagues call me printer guy. It is never too late to learn. When I have difficulties on interpreting the drawing, I can ask my supervisor directly. On the other hand, supervisor is always busy, so my office colleagues and internet are my second option. They are very please to teach me anytime when I have questions. Interpreting the drawings or specifications can not be done in one or two hours, and it takes time to get many pieces of information together. In order to not miss the any information, I have to write it down in my notebook. Once I finish getting the entire note done, I explain what I interpret to

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my supervisor. It is good a habit to have the notebook handy, so any important information and suggestion from supervisor can be record right away. Once the reading and interpreting is done, I can review my notebook anytime. Therefore, I am well prepared for the next reading and interpreting.

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Locate and mark position of pipe connections, holes and fixtures;

In order to double check the data, I have to locate and mark the positions for pipes, holes, and fixtures. For the pipe length, it requires the scale ruler to measure the length for different size of the pipe. For example, a pipe line in the drawing is dividing into 4 sections: DN 200, DN 100, DN 65, and DN 40. DN is represented diameter. The number means the size in millimeter. Therefore, I have to get the DN 200 in total for the whole drawing. Also, I have to get all the number of sprinklers and fire hydrants. After I get the entire data ready, I have to compare the data with supervisor. It is one stone kills two birds. I can double check the data, and it is good for me to practice find the pipe connections, holes and fixtures. Practice makes perfect. It is always a good practice repeat doing the same thing again. After two weeks’ training, I am sensitive to the pipes, holes and fixtures’ symbol in the drawing. If supervisor asks me to locate any fixtures or pipes, I can measure the total in five to ten minutes. It does improve my reading skill by doing that.

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Determine piping system requirements and pipe sizing.

Once I finish reading and interpreting, my supervisor gives me a simple project to follow. This project is about the main hospital in my hometown. My supervisor fully follows this project, and he gives me small part to me to practice. He gives me the floor plant to me first and asks me to read and interpret the drawing first. It is an electronic version, so it is easy for me to measure the length and area. In order to design a piping system, I have to fully understand about the building. I measure the total area, and look up the standard. It is a hospital, so it requires A level piping system. After I confirm the piping system, I start calculating the pipe sizing. It has so many different ways to design. I choose the way to save material. However, my supervisor does not approval my design. The reason is that I ignore the corner section for saving pipes. He suggests me that, safe is always in the first priority. Then I re-design the pipe system and re-calculate the pipe size. Calculating the pipe sizing is not difficult but so much repeated work to do. On the other hand, it is a good practice to do the pipe sizing because it is helpful for the site inspection. When I do the field inspection, I know what size for the pipe should be. If the workers assemble the wrong size, I can tell immediately instead of look up the drawing. Once I do it by hand, I have a good picture in my mind. Therefore, I can tell what is going wrong in the work site when doing the inspection. It saves time and energy.

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Write progress log and report and meeting memo

Record is always important to keep things on track. Sometime it is too busy to write a log for the inspection. A small notebook in my pocket is often comes in handy. I can write down a few important word on the notebook in the field, and I try to remember what is going on base on those key words. Camera is helpful too, but it is not convenient to bring it. Voice recorder is useful in the meeting, but is not populated in China. Those workers are between age 20-40, and most of them are less educated. They are not familiar these high technology. Also it is kind of messy in the field, so it is not a good idea to bring that much stuff when doing the site inspection. However, the meeting memo is a very important tool to communicate between general contractor and our company. The meeting is held every morning from 8:30 to 9:30. The general contractor lists all the problems out, and they ask the entire departments to negotiate and come out a good solution. Almost the meeting points out a series of problems to us every day, and my supervisor need to explain immediately. He always talks to the assembler after the meeting. It is a very difficult job to do the interaction between assemblers and general contractor. Therefore, he is too busy to write any log or memo, and I am the best candidate to undertake this job. The more I write the log/ memo, the more I get familiar.

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Personal Observation

It is a good practice to get involved in this job because I learn a lot. Culture different is one of the most challenging issue. China is a high power distance country, so it is not easy to get approach to stranger. They need more time to “warm up” than Canadian. However, once the friendship is built, it will last very long. They prefer do things in a group. Unlike Canadian, they require personal space. For Chinese, beer is a good tool to build up friendship. In order to do well on the job, the first thing is to make good friends to your supervisor and colleagues. They are my source of answers, and they are more like my teacher rather than colleagues. It is never too late to learn a new skill/ technology. As long as I put my heart on it, nothing is impossible. Repeating doing the same thing is good way to memorize the process. Don't rush to the end and always get clear before the start the project. Do thing right in the beginning, and don’t jump to the conclusion. It is a good practice to ask supervisor before doing modification. Because of the inequality, carefully dealing with people with different positions is required. Assembly worker is less educated, and they are not easy to understand the “big word”. Therefore, my job is a bridge to translate technical wording to simple wording that they can understand. When talking to the high position, I have to be humble enough give them respect. This manner is from culture, and it is deep in mind. When in Rome, do as Romans do. As Co-op student, I am quiet popular in the company because I am an international student. I am the only one who studies aboard. Therefore, they always are curious about Canada. I am accepted by the colleagues very soon in the company. My boss is immigrated in Australia, so we have many in common. He is very like to talk to me about job and family. He is an interesting boss, and he always shares his stories with me. The best work experience is doing the site

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inspection in different area. The worse is studying the boring Chinese standard. The best thing is hanging out with colleagues in the restaurant. However, the worst thing is getting criticism from supervisor. It definitely helps my future career. It gives me a clear indication for my next job. When calculating the pipe sizing and sprinklers, the academic material I have studied help me a lot, and it saves me time and effort. Therefore, I do very enjoy the work term; I gain lots of useful experience and practical knowledge. I makes lots of friends during the work term, and they are in my prefer contact list. They are just too nice and open-minded.

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Conclusions

During this work term I was involved in designing a small project. Additionally I performed many calculations for pipe size, pipe length and sprinkles. In order to accomplish the desired project, I have to uses the AutoCAD software, which is widely used in the industry. Additionally I used Microsoft office extensively to communicate ideas between general contractor and supervisor.

I have learned the different ways how these pipes and sprinklers are assembled. I have obtained hard skills to interpret engineering drawings used in the industry, which is a key requirement in mechanical engineering. Moreover, I have used a variety of engineering tools, such as AutoCAD software and Microsoft Office. I have obtained extensive knowledge about different types of assembly processes, and the way these processes are developed. I have experienced the requirements of project management and consulting with many different team members.

For the soft skill, verbal communication is critical in promoting co-worker engagement. Making people comfortable at their place of employment makes them much more productive and effective. Also I have acquired a basic knowledge about working in the industry and coping with other staff members in China, which I believe key in my future career paths in engineering. Many of these skills can be taught, but experience, it cannot be taught, sold or given away. This is the most important thing that is gained during work term. I appreciate the opportunity and more importantly the experience I gained working at the company.

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Appendix

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Figure 1: Work Site

That is work site for the Xiaolan Hospital. It will open before the 1st October, 2012, so all the department are rush to finish their work. The top part is almost finished, but the decoration needs to be started immediately. Therefore, once the entire piping system is ready, they can start renovation.

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Figure 2: Front Door of the Hospital

I am holding the meeting memo in front of the hospital before I attend the daily meeting in the morning. Tea is required for the hot and stuffy meeting room. Safety helmet is always

mandatory in the work field. If anyone not follow the rules, punishment is employed anytime once getting caught. This field is seem to be clean and tidy because it is evaluated every day.

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Figure 3: Assemble Field 1

This is the assemble field for workers to cut the pipe. The filed looks messy, but that is best way the worker can keep. It has lots of the potential security risk. For example, the electric wires are all over the floor and wall. There is no protecting cover for the cutting tools, there is no warning sign either. It is very dangerous for people work around the field.

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Figure 4 : Assemble Field 2

As mentioned above, the field is messy, and nobody care about this situation. Project

management is seriously bad. Therefore, safety helmet is the only way to prevent the accident happen.

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Figure 5: Field Inspection

The pipe in red is for sprinkler and fire protection. The black duct is for the HVAC system. The brown pipe is for the plumbing. In practice, department need to negotiate in order to fit all the pipe systems in limited space. We often fight for own space in the meeting.

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