From refrigeration mechanic to Senior Technician, Mechanical and Cooling in Australia
A way in from outside the industry.
What’s different
Comes in with the refrigerant licence; learns the site’s chilled-water and air systems at scale, and the speed a data hall needs when cooling fails.
Skills to build
What a Senior Technician, Mechanical and Cooling needs. Some of it will come with your background.
Procedures and documents
- Carry out a method of procedure (MOP) Leads others
- Write and review a MOP Independent
Safe isolation
- Isolate mechanical and stored energy Leads others
- Isolate and lock out a single energy source Independent
- Isolate plant with several energy sources Independent
Liquid cooling
- Liquid-cooled IT and its loops Leads others
- Maintain filtration Leads others
- Operate and monitor a CDU Leads others
- Respond to a coolant leak or a CDU failure Leads others
- Sample and test coolant Leads others
- Fill, flush and vent a TCS loop Independent
- Pressure-test a loop and verify its materials Independent
Cooling plant
- Operate air handlers and respond to their faults Leads others
- Operate chilled water pumps and valves Leads others
- Psychrometrics and the thermal envelope Leads others
- Respond to rising temperatures Leads others
- Restart cooling in an emergency Leads others
- Start, stop and change over chillers Leads others
- Operate cooling towers Independent
- Operate dry coolers and closed-loop heat rejection Independent
- Operate in-row and close-coupled cooling Independent
Refrigerant handling
- Check for refrigerant leaks Independent
- Evacuate and charge a system Independent
- Recover refrigerant Independent
- Refrigerant safety and law Independent
Leadership
- Coach and assess others Independent
Emergency response
- Recognise and report a suspected cyber incident Assisted
Licences it adds
- Refrigerant handling licence (ARCtick) · Required
- Provide First Aid (HLTAID011) · Usually asked for
- The licence of the state or territory where the site is · Preferred
- NSW Qualified supervisor certificate (electrical wiring work), NSW
- VIC Electrician’s licence (A Grade), Victoria
- QLD Electrical work licence (electrical mechanic), Queensland
- WA Electrician’s licence, Western Australia
- SA Electrical worker registration, South Australia
- TAS Electrical practitioner licence (electrician), Tasmania
- ACT Electrician licence (unrestricted), ACT
- NT Electrical work licence (unrestricted electrical mechanic), NT
Not legal advice: check with the regulator for your state.
Questions about data centre careers? Ask about data centre careers
Sources and licences
- Critical Facilities reference framework © Facility Labs. (CC BY 4.0)
- Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, OSCA – Occupation Standard Classification for Australia, 2024, Version 1.0, and its correspondence to ISCO-08. CC BY 4.0. (Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International)