Andrew Perks - owner of safety and compliance company A Perks Enterprises , a SAIRAC Exempt Fellow , as well as a regular contributor to this publication as a subject expert in ammonia refrigeration - explains what sparked his interest in HVAC engineering .
INCORPORATING COLD CHAIN
BUSINESS AND TRAINING
The ammonia advocate : Andrew Perks ' passion for efficient refrigeration By Eamonn Ryan
Andrew Perks - owner of safety and compliance company A Perks Enterprises , a SAIRAC Exempt Fellow , as well as a regular contributor to this publication as a subject expert in ammonia refrigeration - explains what sparked his interest in HVAC engineering .
He admits it was more a ‘ stumble ’ than a ‘ spark ’. His history commences in Scotland in 1947 . “ I have always been interested in mechanical things , my father was a tool setter , and I loved pottering around in his little workshop . Back in 1962 it was a case of taking whatever job you could get . I always wanted to be an electrician , but an apprenticeship for fitting and turning came up at L Sterne & Company - and that was my introduction to refrigeration .”
Since undertaking his apprenticeship in Glasgow in the 1960s he has held a variety of positions , including : contracts engineer , project engineer , refrigeration design engineer , company director for a refrigeration contracting company and eventually owing his own contracting company and low-temperature cold store . Jumping ahead , he is now involved in adding skills to the ammonia industry ,
All images supplied by Andrew Perks .
Andrew Perks and Stewart Mason .
is Merseta and Ceta accredited and has written a variety of unit standards for SAQA that define the levels to be achieved in training in our industry . He is involved in drawing up ammonia plant audits of refrigeration systems to quantify their compliance with the legal requirements of SANS 10147 . He is a SAQCC Gas registered inspector / designer .
Back during his time in Glasgow he completed his City & Guilds Certificate and a Higher National Engineering Diploma . He studied in mechanical engineering where he was involved in plant layout and design .
Thereafter , a defining moment came when he chose to move into the drawing office as a contracts / projects engineer when he was 19 . “ I always enjoyed technical drawing and really enjoyed contracting . From the drawing office I requested the opportunity to expand my knowledge and was sent to a site that I had done all the drawings and projecting for . Well , being a
Andrew Perks 2013 training with Fire Department in Durban .
bit energetic and a bit of a know it all and wanting to get things moving along on site I started to organising other people on the site . The supervisor said there was only room for one supervisor on site and I was kicked off site . As penance I was made to work on a fishing trawler in mid-winter
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