An office manager in a Farringdon serviced office block called us because tenants on the top floor were complaining about a grinding noise coming from above. It had started as a faint rumble a week earlier and progressed to a sound one tenant described as “like a shopping trolley being dragged across a car park.”...

An office manager in Holborn described the problem perfectly: “The AC makes a noise like it’s starting up, runs for about two minutes, then clicks off. Five minutes later it does the same thing. It’s been doing it all day and the office is getting warmer.” That’s short cycling — the compressor starts, runs briefly,...

A facilities manager in a Moorgate office block rang us in a mild panic because every indoor unit on three floors was flashing an error code simultaneously. Fifty staff sitting in a building with no climate control, the MD asking questions, and all the FM company could tell him was “it’s showing a fault.” The...