Video guides
Niagara 4 Technical Certification Program (TCP) Training Videos
22 videos
These videos follow the Tridium Niagara 4 Technical Certification Program (TCP) lab by lab. Each one is recorded in Workbench by a Tyrrell Products trainer, so you see the exact clicks, property sheets and wire sheets the course uses.
Work through them in order if you are new to Niagara 4, or jump straight to the lab you need a refresher on. They are free to watch and are the best preparation for the instructor-led Niagara 4 TCP course and certification exam.
LAB 01 | Creating a station
Use the New Station wizard in Workbench to create a Niagara 4 station: naming it, setting the admin password and passphrase, then copying it to the platform and starting it.
LAB 02 | Station basics
Find your way around a running station: the Nav tree, component slots, property sheets, the wire sheet and links between components.
LAB 03 | Tag
Apply tags from the Niagara and Haystack tag dictionaries so points carry meaning (equipment, sensor type, units) that hierarchies, searches and analytics can use.
LAB 04-1 | Modbus intro
Introduction to Modbus in Niagara 4: masters and slaves, register types and how the Modbus TCP and Modbus async (RTU) networks are added to a station.
LAB 04-2 | Modbus
Add Modbus devices and proxy points, set register addresses and data types, and check values against the device's register map.
LAB 04-3 | Modbus Detailed
Go deeper into Modbus integration: polling and tuning policies, scaling, word order and diagnosing devices that will not respond.
LAB 05 | JACE communication
Connect to a JACE platform, commission it and build the Niagara network so the JACE station and a supervisor exchange points over Fox.
LAB 06 | Alarms
Add alarm extensions to points, route them through alarm classes to recipients and acknowledge them in the alarm console.
LAB 07 | Histories
Trend points with interval and change-of-value history extensions, view the results in charts and tables, and archive them to a supervisor.
LAB 08 | Schedules
Build weekly schedules with special events and calendars, then link schedule outputs to plant enable points.
LAB 09 | PID loops
Configure a Niagara LoopPoint: proportional, integral and derivative settings, setpoints, and tuning a loop that controls a valve or damper.
LAB 10 | Palettes & templates
Create your own palette of reusable components and turn a finished plant into a template you can deploy across sites in minutes.
LAB 11 | BACnet
Add the BACnet network, configure the local device, discover BACnet/IP and MS/TP devices and bring their objects into the station as points.
LAB 12 | PX Basics
Start building Px graphics in the Px editor: canvases, widgets, labels and binding them to live point values.
LAB 13 | PX Pumps
Animate a pump graphic so its state, alarm and command options follow the live point, using bindings and converters.
LAB 14 | PX Include
Use Px includes to build a graphic once and reuse it on many pages, so a change is made in one place.
LAB 15 | PX Home
Build the station home page that users land on, with navigation to each plant and summary values.
LAB 16 | Relative PX Pages
Use relative ORDs so one Px page serves every identical device, such as all fan coil units on a floor.
LAB 17 | Hierarchies
Generate navigation hierarchies automatically from tags, so users browse by site, floor and equipment instead of by network.
LAB 21 | NAV files
Write a NAV file to define the navigation menu each user group sees when they log in to the station through a browser.
LAB 22 | User Accounts
Set up users, roles, categories and permissions, and choose authentication schemes, so each person sees and changes only what they should.
LAB 23 | Web Supervisor
Bring several JACE stations under a Niagara 4 Web Supervisor: the Niagara network, history import, alarm routing and supervisor graphics.
What is the Niagara 4 Technical Certification Program?
The Niagara 4 Technical Certification Program, usually shortened to TCP or N4 TCP, is Tridium's entry-level certification for engineers who install, configure and maintain systems built on the Niagara Framework. It is the course most building controls companies send new starters on, and it is often a requirement before a systems integrator can buy Niagara licences or a JACE controller through a distributor.
The programme combines classroom teaching with hands-on labs. Each lab builds on the one before: you create a station, add drivers, model equipment, then add the alarms, histories, schedules and graphics a real building needs. By the end you have built a complete small BMS from scratch, and you sit an exam to become a Niagara 4 Certified Professional.
How to use these Niagara 4 training videos
The videos follow the same lab numbering as the course workbook, so you can use them before, during or after formal training. If you are new to Niagara, watch LAB 01 to LAB 05 first. Those cover creating a station, finding your way around Workbench, tagging, Modbus and connecting to a JACE, which is everything you need to get a controller talking to field devices.
LAB 06 to LAB 11 cover the services every building needs: alarms, histories, schedules, PID control loops, palettes and templates, and BACnet integration. LAB 12 onwards is the user-facing side: Px graphics, relative pages, hierarchies, NAV files, user accounts and the Web Supervisor.
Pause each video and repeat the steps in your own Workbench. You learn Niagara by building, not by watching, and every lab can be followed on a local station running on your PC with a demo licence.
- Labs 01–05: stations, Workbench, tagging, Modbus and JACE communication
- Labs 06–11: alarms, histories, schedules, PID loops, templates and BACnet
- Labs 12–17: Px graphics, includes, relative pages and hierarchies
- Labs 21–23: NAV files, user security and the Niagara 4 Web Supervisor
Who should take Niagara 4 TCP training?
The course suits controls engineers, commissioning engineers, BMS service technicians and facilities engineers who maintain a Niagara system in-house. You do not need to know Java or be a programmer. You do need to be comfortable with basic IT (IP addressing, Windows) and HVAC control concepts such as setpoints, interlocks and PID loops.
Engineers moving from Trend, Siemens Desigo, Honeywell or Schneider systems usually find Niagara's component model the biggest change. Once the wire sheet and the idea of drivers, devices and proxy points makes sense, the rest follows quickly. These videos are a cheap way to reach that point before you pay for a course.
Getting certified: the instructor-led Niagara 4 TCP course
Watching videos will not get you certified. The certificate comes from completing the instructor-led course and passing the Tridium exam. Tyrrell Products runs the Niagara 4 Technical Certification Program as a five-day course led by our Tridium-certified in-house trainers, delivered in a virtual classroom of up to six delegates, so there is no travel or hotel cost. It ends with the exam, and successful candidates receive their certification through Tridium University.
After TCP, the natural next steps are the Niagara 4 Analytics, Niagara Cloud Suite and developer courses, or our advanced engineering video guides, which cover platform access, memory allocations, code signing, BQL and the Program Service.
Frequently asked questions
- How long does Niagara 4 TCP training take?
- The instructor-led Niagara 4 Technical Certification Program is a five-day course, including the exam. The free video series here runs to roughly a day of viewing, longer if you repeat each lab in Workbench.
- Is the Niagara 4 TCP exam difficult?
- Engineers who complete every lab and understand why each step is done pass comfortably. The exam tests practical Niagara knowledge: drivers, points, alarms, histories, security and graphics, not memorised theory.
- Can I learn Niagara 4 for free?
- You can learn the fundamentals free from these TCP lab videos and the written guides in this knowledge base. To be certified, and in most cases to buy Niagara licences, you need to complete the official TCP course and pass the exam.
- Do I need a JACE to follow the labs?
- No. Most labs can be followed on a station running on your own PC under Workbench. LAB 05 shows JACE commissioning; you can watch it without hardware and practise it later on site.
