Frequently Asked Questions

We serve a wide range of industries and the services those industries encompass, including manufacturing, food processing, pharmaceuticals, HVAC, rooftop supports, ventilation, UV sanitizing, BIM/CAD 3D design & engineering, compliance protocol, safety and commercial industrial construction and improvements.

A manufacturer's rep sells and supports specific product lines on behalf of the manufacturer without ever taking ownership of the inventory. A distributor buys, stocks and resells. MEP Tech Sales represents 10+ specialty manufacturer's across rooftop support, ventilation, coatings, BIM/CAD, cable management, which means you get one point of contact with deep technical knowledge of every product, not just whatever's sitting in a warehouse. Ken Brown has spent 40+ years of sitting on both sides of that counter, as a contractor, a manufacturer, and now a rep - so he knows the difference matters when a spec is on the line.

MEP Tech Sales serves Industrial, commercial, multi-family residential, military/defense, government, data center construction, plus OEM/Industrial markets including food & Beverage processing, pharmaceutical, biotech, chemical, energy, oil & gas, aerospace, and wastewater treatment. The common thread is anywhere mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems have to perform under real-world conditions - rooftops, plants, and job sites, where the term "close enough" isn't good enough.

MEP Tech Sales covers the mid-Atlantic: Virginia, Maryland, Washington D.C,, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Delaware and New JJersey. Based out of Winchester/Cross Junction, Virginia, Ken stays customer-facing throughout the territory as projects move from spec to install.

MEP Tech Sales represents Miro Industries, Anchor Products, Vent Products Co., Air Dynamics, Siltec USA, Microtek UV, Plas-Tech Coatings, DJM (BIM Specialist), Goodhart Sons, MKT Metal Manufacturing, and Delta Prevention. Each line covers a different  piece of the MEP puzzle - rooftop support, ventilation, hygienic cable management, UV systems, specialty coatings, BIM/CAD, and duct fabrication - so engineers and contractors can solve multiple problems through one rep instead of a dozen cold calls. 

Because one rep who knows ten product lines cold beats one manufacturer who each know one. Ken's job is to translate between the spec sheet and the job site - flagging conflicts before they become change orders, and connecting engineers, contractors and manufacturers so the right product gets specified correctly the first time. 

Submit an RFQ directly through the MEP Tech Sales website - www.meptechsales.com or call Ken Brown at 717-600-5182. He'll typically want to know the project type, location, and which system - rooftop support, ventilation, coatings and so on - you're working on so he can loop in the right manufacturer fast.

Submit an RFQ directly through the MEP Tech Sales website - www.meptechsales.com or call Ken Brown at 717-600-5182. He'll typically want to know the project type, location, and which system - rooftop support, ventilation, coatings and so on - you're working on so he can loop in the right manufacturer fast.

A non-penetrating rooftop support system holds ductwork, pipe, conduit, or equipment above the roof surface using weighted or friction-based bases instead of bolts or lag screws through the membrane. It matters because every penetration is a leak path and can void a roof warranty. MIRO Industries builds its duct, pipe and gas-line supports specifically to avoid that trade-off.

A walkway is a path across a roof to get technicians safely to equipment; a service platform is a stationary work surface built around a unit for maintenance access; a crossover or ramp lets workers step over ductwork, piping or curbs without standing on them. Most rooftops need some combination of all three once more than one piece of equipment is up there.

Dunnage or curbs are typically used for larger rooftop units that need a structural frame tying into the building's roof deck, while distributed support systems are built for duct runs, pipe racks and smaller equipment spread across the roof. The right call comes down to unit weight, roof structure and how the load needs to be distributed - exactly the kind of question a delegated design engineer should answer before steel goes up.

Delegated design means the contract documents specify performance criteria - load, wind, seismic - and hand off the detailed engineering to a specialty contractor or manufacturer who provides drawings stamped by a licensed Professional Engineer. For rooftop support and fall protection systems, that PE stamp confirms the system was engineered for your buildings actual roof, loads, and code jurisdiction, not pulled off a generic catalog page.

Under the International Mechanical Code (Section 306.5), permanent access - a hatch or fixed ladder - is generally required once the roof is more than 16 feet above grade, and that measurement is taken to the roof level itself, not to the height of the rooftop unit sitting on it. That trips up more people than you'd expect; get the measurement wrong and you'll find out during inspection, not before.

If workers routinely access rooftop equipment for maintenance, OSHA general industry rules (1910.28) generally expect guardrails, travel restraint, or another fall protection method near roof edges and skylights. Non-penetrating guardrail systems let you meet that requirement without opening up the membrane. It's worth designing rooftop access and fall protection together from day one, instead of bolting on a fix after someone almost takes a walk off the edge.

Pre-manufactured weatherproof round duct systems minimize field joints, which means fewer seams for water to find and less crew time spent sealing seams 40 feet in the air. Fewer joints in the field also means fewer chances for someone to get the seal wrong.

Most manufacturers recommend at least twice per year inspections - spring and fall - with more frequent checks in coastal, industrial, or high-dust environments. Rooftop conditions are harder on equipment then anyone budgets for; UV, wind-driven debris, and temperature swings age a unit faster than the same unit would age on the ground.

Sun, wind, moisture, and temperature cycling all attack rooftop equipment nonstop, while inside systems are shielded from nearly all of it. That's the argument for weatherproof duct systems and coated components on the roof - you're not fighting the same environment twice.

At minimum: a safe path to the unit, a safe platform to stand on while working, and clearance to open access panels without leaning over ductwork or a roof edge. Skimping on access doesn't save money - it just moves the cost to longer service calls and, eventually, a workers' comp claim.

Dampers regulate and balance airflow so the collection system pulls the right volume from each point in the system - when they're stuck, mis-adjusted, or corroded, collection efficiency drops even if the fan or filters are fine. Most damper problems trace back to corrosion or debris buildup, which is where the right coating or material spec upfront saves a lot of callbacks later.

A damper controls airflow volume within a duct or system - open, closed, or modulating - while a louver is a fixed or operable opening that manages airflow, and often weather, at a wall or roof penetration. Systems frequently need both - louvers to bring air in or out of the building, and dampers to control it once its inside the ductwork.

If the process generates particulate, combustible dust, or fumes that need to be captured at the source rather than just diluted and exhausted, you need a dedicated collection system - general ventilation alone wont meet air quality or combustable dust code requirements (NFPA 652/654), for many industrial applications. This is a common gap between what got specified early in design, and what the process equipment actually needs once it's installed.

In most cases, existing ductwork can be retrofit - UV-C fixtures typically install at the coil or in-duct without major ductwork changes, and dust collection tie-ins depend more on duct sizing and static pressure than on age. The real question is whether the existing system has the capacity and access to support the retrofit, which is worth a site visit before assuming either way.

It comes down to how the bulb gets excited. Most UV systems fire the lamp with electrodes running direct current — Microtek uses RF (radio frequency) energy instead. No electrodes mean less wear at the point where these systems usually fail first, which stretches bulb life out and lowers maintenance costs since there's less frequent bulb replacement. Microtek also custom-designs each system to the application rather than shipping one-size-fits-all fixtures, so what goes into a rooftop AHU isn't the same as what goes into a food plant.

UV-C light installed at the cooling coil or in the duct, disinfects the coil surface and passing airstream, cutting down on microbial growth, biofilm, and the "dirty sock" odor that comes from a fouled coil. It also helps keep coils cleaner longer, which protects airflow and efficiency, not just indoor air quality. 

Start with an updated dust hazard analysis (DHA) - most combustible code requirements (NFPA 652 and related standards) trace back to that assessment, which drives that kind of collection, explosion venting, or isolation, the system needs. If it's been a few years since your last DHA, or the process has changed, that's the first call to make before touching the ductwork.

Specialty coatings come into play anywhere standard finishes can't hold up - high humidity and corrosion, chemical exposure, extreme temperatures, or environments with strict food, pharma, or aerospace cleanliness requirements. Skipping the coating specs because "it's close enough" is one of the most common ways a system fails early - it just fails quietly, over years instead of days.

A food safe coating is formulated and tested to meet FDA and, where applicable, USDA requirements for incidental food contact, meaning it wont leach, flake, or react in ways that contaminate product. Plas-Tech Coatings' fluoropolymer and phenolic lines are built for exactly that kind of scrutiny, on top of holding up to washdown chemicals and repeated sanitation cycles.

Fluoropolymer coatings offer non-stick, low-friction chemical and corrosion resistant properties that standard paints and powder coats can't match, which is why they show up in food, pharma, aerospace, and military-spec applications. They cost more up front, but they're spec'd where failure isn't an option, not where budget is the only concern.

Yes - coating lifespan depends on the exposure, chemical, thermal, mechanical wear, and the specific coating system., - most manufacturers publish inspection and recoat intervals. Building that into a preventive maintenance plan up front is a lot cheaper than an emergency recoat after a failure shows up during a food safety or process audit.

MEP BIM coordination is the process of modeling mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems in 3D and running clash detection before anything is fabricated, so conflicts between ductwork, piping, conduit and structure, can get caught early on a screen, instead of on-site with a torch. Every clash caught in coordination is a change order that never has to happen.

2D CAD shows what a system looks like from one angle at a time; BIM builds a coordinated 3D model that captures how every system reacts in real space, plus data like dimensions, materials, and clearances. For rooftop and mechanical room layouts especially, that third dimension is where most real-world conflicts actually live.

Yes - laser scanning and 3D mapping can capture as-built conditions on existing structures, which is critical for retrofit or renovation projects where the original drawings don't match what's actually up there anymore. It's a lot cheaper to scan the roof once than to remeasure it three times during construction.

The earlier the better, ideally during design development, before rooftop supports, ductwork, and equipment placement are locked in so clashes and access issues get resolved on paper. Coordination after subs are awarded still has value, but by then you're negotiating around decisions instead of making them.

That depends on the contract structure, but on projects using delegated design for rooftop or mechanical systems, the specialty contractor or manufacturer's engineer typically coordinates their scope within the overall BIM model managed by the BC or MEP engineer. Getting that responsibility spelled out in the contract, not just assumed, is what keeps everyone out of a finger-pointing situation later.

A coordinated model lets you plan support locations, walkway routes, and equipment clearances against the actual roof structure and adjacent systems before a single support goes down, catching conflicts with structural members, other trades' equipment, or code-required clearances early. That's the difference between a rooftop that was planned and one that just happened.

Environmental pathogen control, Listeria and Salmonella monitoring in ready-to-eat areas, and allergen management remain the top two. Allergen-related recalls continue to be the single most common cause of FDA recalls. Facility design and equipment choices, especially anything that's hard to clean or creates harborage points feed directly into both.

FSMA Rule 204 requires enhanced traceability recordkeeping for high-risk foods, with an expectation that facilities can produce records within 24 hours of an FDA request. That puts pressure on facilities to have systems and equipment layouts that support fast accurate tracking, not just food-safe materials.

Sanitary design means equipment is built to be cleaned completely and quickly - smooth of deads or crevices where product or bacteria can hide, and materials that hold up to washdown and sanitizing chemicals. Siltec's hygienic stainless steel cable trays are built around that standard specifically for food and pharma environments where a hard-to-clean cable tray becomes a contamination risk, not just a maintenance headache.

3-A Sanitary Standards are voluntary but widely referenced design and material for equipment used in food and dairy processing, covering things like drainability and cleanability. While cable trays and structural supports aren't always mandated to meet 3-A directly, specifying components designed to that philosophy is how plants stay ahead of both auditors and inspectors.

Stainless steel resists the corrosion, chemical exposure, and  constant washdown that would degrade standard steel or aluminum quickly, and the right grade, usually (304 or 316) holds up to sanitizing agents without pitting or rusting. Once a support or tray starts to corrode, it stops being cleanable, and an uncleanable surface is a compliance finding waiting to happen.

Rooftop mounted equipment, ductwork, and supports still matter because leaks, dust, pest entry points, and contamination pathways often start at the building envelope - a poorly sealed roof penetration or degraded rooftop ductwork can introduce moisture or pests that work their way into a facility. That's part of why non-penetrating rooftop support systems, and coated weatherproof ductwork matter even when the roof itself isn't 'food contact.'

Systems need to handle process specific particulate - flour, sugar, protein dust - without creating cross contamination between zone, hold up to washdown and sanitizing cycles, and meet combustible dust standards where applicable. This is exactly where a rep who knows both the HVAC side and the food compliance side earns their keep - most HVAC-only vendors don't think about allergen cross-contact, and most food safety consultants don't spec ductwork.

Fall protection is consistently one of OSHA's most-cited standards across all of construction, and rooftop work - unprotected edges, skylights, unguarded roof openings - is a recurring source of those citations. Most of it is preventable with the same non-penetrating guardrail and travel-restraint systems that also protect the roof membrane.

Under OSHA's General Industry Standard (1910.28) fall protection is generally required when workers are within 15 feet of a roof edge on a low-slope roof, and it's required at all distances of skylights and unprotected roof openings regardless of proximity to the roof edge. "We Don't Go Near The Edge" - isn't a fall protection plan... it's a gamble.

Non-penetrating guardrails use weighted or counterbalanced bases instead of penetrating the membrane, which means you get OSHA / code-compliance fall protection without opening new leak points or voiding a roof warranty. It's one of the few places in construction where the safer option, and the option that protects the building... happen to be the same one.

A federal OSHA heat injury and illness prevention rule has been moving through the rulemaking process, and several states already have their own heat standards on the books, generally requiring water, shade or cooling, acclimatization protocols, and rest breaks once termperatures cross a defined threshold. Rooftop run hotter than ground crews thanks to reflected heat and no shade, so it's worth planning for now rather than waiting on the final language.

Confirm the support system has an engineered, PE-Stamped design for the actual roof and loads; confirm fall protection is in place for the install crew, not just the future maintenance techs, and confirm the roofing manufacturer has signed off on any penetrations or attachment method. Skipping any one of those three is how a rooftop job turns into a warranty dispute or an incident report.

Liability typically follows the party responsible for the design and installation under the contract, which is exactly why delegated design with a PE-Stamp and a documented installation process matters. It's not just a formality, it's the paper trail that shows the system was engineered and installed to spec if something ever gets questioned.

Plan access and fall protection into the design before the crew ever gets on the roof, use non-penetrating systems where possible, and don't let "we've always done it this way," substitute for a current site-specific plan. The crews that get hurt are usually the ones improvising a solution the design should have already provided.

In a world where hygiene, safety, and innovation matter more than ever, MicroTek UV stands at the forefront of UVC disinfection technology. The company is pioneering smarter, safer, and more sustainable solutions, harnessing the power of ultraviolet light to protect what matters most - from food and beverages to healthcare and beyond. MicroTek UV's mission is to deliver cutting-edge UVC systems that eliminate harmful microorganisms without chemicals and without compromise. Whether the goal is extending product shelf life, ensuring regulatory compliance, or reducing environmental impact, MicroTek UV is redefining the standards of clean.

MicroTek UV is a UK-based UVC disinfection manufacturer with 15+ years of experience building chemical-free disinfection systems for water, air, surfaces, and fluids — ISO 9001, CE, and UL-listed. What sets them apart is that every system is custom-built for the application rather than sold as a one-size-fits-all fixture, and their RF-excited lamp technology (versus standard electrode lamps) extends bulb life and cuts maintenance costs.

MicroTek UV systems show up across food & beverage, dairy, healthcare, agriculture, aquaculture, horticulture, HVAC, pools, drinking water, wastewater, and process/reuse water. For MEP Tech Sales customers, the most common fits are food & beverage processing, HVAC/air systems, and industrial water treatment.

Yes, that's exactly where MicroTek's PureBev line comes in. Standard UV struggles once liquid gets cloudy because the light can't penetrate far enough, but PureBev uses a thin-film/annular approach that shortens the distance UV has to travel while the reactor keeps circulating product through the UV field — opening up applications like juices, cloudy beverages, sugar syrups, and liquid food ingredients that conventional UV can't touch.

Electrodeless UV lamps generate UV output using RF (radio frequency) energy instead of the electrodes inside a conventional lamp, which removes the main wear point that shortens standard lamp life. The payoff is long lamp life, stable output over time, high efficiency at the germicidal wavelength, and less maintenance, which matters most in demanding industrial operations running around the clock.

They start with the process, not the catalog, flow rate, UV transmission, target organism, required log reduction, temperature, pressure, product characteristics, existing equipment, installation position, cleaning requirements, and validation needs all factor in. For opaque liquids, that goes even further into viscosity, solids content, Brix, and optical characteristics before anything gets specified.

Yes, MicroTek isn't locked into one reactor type or technology, so a single facility can combine low-pressure, high-output, electrodeless, medium-pressure, thin-film, air, and surface UV as needed. A beverage producer, for example, could use MicroTek across incoming water, product treatment, packaging surfaces, tank headspace, and production air/HVAC, more of a UV solutions partner than a single-equipment vendor.

Yes, UV can be applied to tank headspace (the air above stored product) and to packaging itself, in addition to the product or surface being treated. That matters for producers trying to close every microbiological gap in a process, not just the obvious ones.

Yes - laser scanning and 3D mapping can capture as-built conditions on existing structures, which is critical for retrofit or renovation projects where the original drawings don't match what's actually up there anymore. It's a lot cheaper to scan the roof once than to remeasure it three times during construction.

Yes - That's the point of an engineering-first approach, if UV isn't appropriate for an application, a credible partner says so upfront rather than force-fitting a standard unit; if it might work, they look at the actual process data and figure out how to test and validate it. That's a different conversation than "what size UV unit do you want."

Environmental pathogen control (Listeria and Salmonella monitoring in ready-to-eat areas) and allergen management remain the top two - allergen-related recalls continue to be the single most common cause of FDA recalls. Facility design and equipment choices, especially anything that's hard to clean or creates harborage points, feed directly into both.

FSMA Rule 204 requires enhanced traceability recordkeeping for high-risk foods, with an expectation that facilities can produce records within 24 hours of an FDA request. That puts pressure on facilities to have systems, and equipment layouts that support fast accurate tracking, not just food-safe materials.

Sanitary design means equipment is built to be cleaned completely and quickly - smooth of deads or crevices where product or bacteria can hide, and materials that hold up to washdown and sanitizing chemicals. Siltec's hygienic stainless steel cable trays are built around that standard specifically for food and pharma environments, where a hard-to-clean cable tray becomes a contamination risk, not just a maintenance headache.

3-A sanitary standards are voluntary but widely referenced design and material for equipment used in food and dairy processing, covering things like drainability and cleanability. While cable trays and structural supports aren't always mandated to meet 3-A directly, specifying components designed to that philosophy is how plants stay ahead of both auditors and inspectors.

Stainless steel resists the corrosion, chemical exposure, and  constant washdown that would degrade standard steel or aluminum quickly, and the right grade, usually (304 or 316) holds up to sanitizing agents without pitting or rusting. Once a support or tray starts to corrode, it stops being cleanable, and an uncleanable surface is a compliance finding waiting to happen.

Rooftop mounted equipment, ductwork, and supports still matter because leaks, dust, pest entry points, and contamination pathways often start at the building envelop - a poorly sealed roof penetration or degraded rooftop ductwork can introduce moisture or pests that work their way into a facility. That's part of why non-penetrating rooftop support systems, and coated weatherproof ductwork matter even when the roof itself isn't 'food contact.'

Systems need to handle process specific particulate - flour, sugar, protein dust - without creating cross contamination between zone, hold up to washdown and sanitizing cycles, and meet combustible dust standards where applicable. This is exactly where a rep who knows both the HVAC side and the food compliance side earns their keep - most HVAC-only vendors don't think about allergen cross- contact, and most food safety consultants don't spec ductwork.

Fall protection is consistently one of OSHA's most-cited standards across all of construction, and rooftop work - unprotected edges, skylights, unguarded roof openings - is a recurring source of those citations. Most of it is preventable with the same non-penetrating guardrail and travel-restraint systems that also protect the roof membrane.

Under OSHA's general industry standard (1910.28) fall protection is generally required when workers are within 15 feet of a roof edge on a low-slope roof, and it's required at all distances of skylights and unprotected roof openings regardless of proximity to the roof edge. "We Don't Go Near The Edge" - isn't a fall protection plan - it's a gamble.

Non-penetrating guardrails use weighted or counterbalanced bases instead of penetrating the membrane, which means you get OSHA / code-compliance fall protection without opening new leak points or voiding a roof warranty. It's one of the few places in construction where the safer option, and the option that protects the building... happen to be the same one.

A federal OSHA heat injury and illness prevention rule has been moving through the rulemaking process, and several states already have their own heat standards on the books, generally requiring water, shade or cooling, acclimatization protocols, and rest breaks once termperatures cross a defined threshold. Rooftop run hotter than ground crews thanks to reflected heat and no shade, so it's worth planning for now rather than waiting on the final language.

Confirm the support system has an engineered, PE-stamped design for the actual roof and loads; confirm fall protection is in place for the install crew, not just the future maintenance techs, and confirm the roofing manufacturer has signed off on any penetrations or attachment method. Skipping any one of those three is how a rooftop job turns into a warranty dispute or an incident report.

Liability typically follows the party responsible for the design and installation under the contract, which is exactly why delegated design with a PE stamp and a documented installation process matters. It's not just a formality, it's the paper trail that shows the system was engineered and installed to spec if something ever gets questioned.

Plan and access and fall protection into the design before the crew ever gets on the roof, use non-penetrating systems where possible, and don't let "we've always done it this way," substitute for a current site-specific plan. The crews that get hurt are usually the ones improvising a solution the design should have already provided.