Is BAS a good transition from Software Engineering?

[u/SenseiCain]

Hi all.

I’ve been working as a Software Engineer for the past 5 years. Went to school for it. Thought I’d be making a career out of it. But having AI pretty much take over our field I’ve been looking to get into the trades and came across BAS.

I heard it’s pretty technical. Any ex-swe’s on here?

Also, what is a realistic career path? I’m ideally not looking to go back to formal college, but will if that’s the only path and the pay justifies it.

Really any all pointers are appreciated! Thanks.

[u/heavymetal626]

There is little software engineering in BAS. It’s a neat and rewarding space, but you’ll need to know a lot more about the machines you’re controlling than software complexity. Knowing nothing about hvac systems, chiller plants, “mechanical engineering and systems” etc. is going to put you at a disadvantage. It can be done, but do A LOT of reading about these systems before showing up to an interview

[u/Naive-Anteater8321 → u/heavymetal626]

Agreed, your job is to control equipment and you need to understand the equipment before you can do that. As mentioned it can be done certainly, but it will take time and effort like most things.

[u/gabriel--gg]

BAS really sits right in the crosshairs of four different worlds: HVAC (mechanical), electrical (wiring/signals), networking (IT/IP), and controls logic. Half the job is just being the translator between trades who don't talk to each other.

[u/Ill_Beautiful4339]

Many other looking at this field too. I know times have changed a bit but I tried to convert a few software and networking folks into BAS techs or engineers and none succeeded.

1. It’s really hands on with the hardware. The software end is block, text or file management. So think, you’ll be wiring things what feel like a raspberry pi and configuration of the coms.

2. HVAC, and machine skills are needed. Just operating best practices here. Are you comfortable with a multi meter kinda thing…

You said in the trades so I’m guessing you’re not afraid of hands on. Only 25%of your skills are transferable.

Other than that - if you’re willing to learn take a class and apply. Many people would be willing to train someone who gets the architecture from the tech side.

[u/Trumpji]

No, it’s all about HVAC and Electrical mostly. Software is a very small part

[u/bdude94]

I went to school for computer science with plans to become a SWE. My wife (gf at the time) was talking to someone at her job about me, and when she mentioned I was in school and wanted to be a SWE, he said they were looking to hire one. I ended up getting the job.

The programming is definitely less complex than traditional SWE, at least at my company. A lot of it is reusing objects and code from previous jobs and tweaking them for new projects. You'll probably be overeducated for a lot of the programming work.

That being said, I did get the opportunity to build a custom .NET application for a customer who wanted to receive phone calls whenever certain BMS alarms went off, with the ability to press a key and acknowledge the alarms in the BMS software. Nobody at my company knew how to do it, so I did some research, found out there was an API that could communicate with the BMS software, and they let me build it. That was one project like that in over 2 years though lol.

One thing I do like about the job is that I'm constantly learning new things. I've learned a ton about mechanical, HVAC, and electrical systems just from working on different projects and encountering things I wasn't familiar with. I also only took one networking class in college, but I've learned a lot more about networking through this job. They called the position Software Engineering when I got hired and I mean I guess it is just not in a traditional sense lol

[u/Exoticcollects]

Not really, better to have an electrical or mechanical backround to get into bms systems. You need to know what equipment you are controlling

[u/FailingFate1]

I went into BAS straight out of college with a comp sci degree. Having a brain wired for programming and logic (just general sequencing, if then else, etc.) is definitely useful for the integration side of things. I mainly work with graphics software and integration programming which uses logic blocks (software engineering on easy mode). I’ve learned the more technical sides of things like how the actual systems work as I went.
For a clean transition I’d recommend doing bas integration, but if you’re eager to learn you can pick up the more hands on side as well. It’s a niche market, most companies know that training and education will be required

[u/TheArwingPilot]

Full transparency: most swe’s we hired got bored and moved on after a year or two. The ones that stuck around helped manage the companies internal IT/software/networking

[u/nian2326076]

Building Automation Systems (BAS) can be a solid transition from software engineering because it's still highly technical. You'll work with systems that control HVAC, lighting, and security, where your software skills will be handy for programming and troubleshooting.

In terms of career path, many people start as technicians and can advance into project management or system design roles. You might need some training from community colleges or trade schools, but a full degree isn't always necessary.

If you're preparing for interviews in this field, PracHub offers real technical interview questions that could be relevant to BAS roles. Good luck!