In each project, a qualified party should be organized and designated as the commissioning provider (CxP).

Predesign and Design. Commissioning during predesign and design is most often managed by an independent CxP who is not part of the formal designer-of-record team. An independent, objective view is critical. The CxP normally provides input to the owner and designers but does not have ultimate authority over design decisions. The CxP should also coordinate, conduct, or approve activities such as assisting in development of the OPR, conducting statistical sampling reviews, developing commissioning specifications, and reviewing test procedures. The CxP may also review plan designs.

Construction. During construction, because of the variety of players, construction management scenarios, and the owner’s objectives, numerous methods are used to manage the commissioning process. To maintain objectivity, the CxP should be independent. If the contractor or designer hires the CxP, the potential conflict of interest must be carefully managed. The two primary methods to manage commissioning during construction are commissioning-provider-managed and contractor-managed.

In the commissioning-provider-managed approach, the CxP performs many of the planning and technical tasks, such as developing the commissioning plan and test procedures and directing, witnessing, and documenting execution of tests, performed by either the contractor or the CxP.

In the contractor-managed approach, the contractor may develop the commissioning plan, write test procedures, and direct and document testing, with the CxP reviewing and approving the plan, witnessing selected tests, and reviewing completed test reports. The CxP should report to the owner on the adequacy of a contractor-managed commissioning plan. The contractor may assign staff, a subcontractor, or a subconsultant to manage and coordinate commissioning responsibilities. This approach gives the contractor more responsibility. Some view this method as less objective, but others consider it more integrated into the building delivery process than the CxP-managed approach.

Some project plans use both management approaches, particularly when a substantial amount of electrical equipment is being tested. HVAC and controls follow the commissioning-provider-managed approach, and electrical system commissioning follows the contractor-managed approach, but the entire process is still overseen by the single CxP.

Effective building commissioning requires a team effort. The size and makeup of the team depends on the size and complexity of the project and the owner’s desire for quality assurance. Team members include the owner, occupants, design professionals, construction manager, general contractor, subcontractors, suppliers, equipment manufacturers, and the CxP.

The level of effort of team members changes during the different project phases. For example, during design, the designer is a key player in the commissioning process, whereas the contractor may not have been selected. During construction, the general contractor’s and installing subcontractors’ roles increase.

The scope of work of the CxP, design professionals, and contractors should be clearly and completely identified in their contracts. Without this, change orders, incomplete or missed tasks, and otherwise dysfunctional commissioning may result.

The commissioning team’s responsibilities are to conduct commissioning activities in a logical, sequential, and efficient manner using consistent protocols and forms, centralized documentation, clear and regular communications and consultations with all necessary parties, frequently updated timelines and schedules, and appropriate technical expertise. The following sections summarize the responsibilities of each party. Additional detail is found in the Commissioning Process section.

Commissioning Provider. Specific responsibilities vary with the management scenario and the CxP’s specific scope of services. Ideally, the same party or firm acts as CxP through all project phases. The CxP organizes and leads the commissioning team throughout the project.

Predesign and Design Phase. During predesign, the CxP develops the predesign and design-phase commissioning plan and ensures the OPR is developed.

During design, the CxP develops detailed commissioning activities. The core CxP responsibilities are

Construction. During construction, the CxP is in charge of the commissioning process and makes the final recommendations to the owner about functional performance of commissioned building systems and assemblies. The CxP directs commissioning activities, and is an independent and objective advocate for the owner. The core commissioning activities during construction involve

These tasks may vary (e.g., some commissioning scopes involve reviewing the O&M or electronic facility manuals, preparing detailed maintenance management plans, or conducting operator and maintenance personnel training).

Occupancy and Operations. During occupancy and operations, the CxP helps resolve commissioning issues and directs opposite-season testing. Often, the CxP participates in a near-warranty-end review of system and assembly performance.

Independence. If the CxP’s firm has other project responsibilities, a potential conflict of interest exists. Wherever this occurs, the CxP should disclose in writing the nature of the conflict and the means by which it will be managed. If the CxP is not under direct contract to the owner, the owner’s interests need to be protected through appropriate oversight of the CxP’s work.

Qualifications. The CxP should fully understand commissioning, design, and construction processes and have technical design, operations, maintenance, and troubleshooting knowledge of the systems and assemblies being commissioned. Excellent written and verbal communication skills are critical. The CxP may represent an individual or a team of commissioning experts, depending on system complexity, the number of disciplines involved, and commissioning scope. Thus, the ability to manage diverse disciplines over long timelines is also important.

Construction Manager. The construction manager’s role varies on each project. When they have significant oversight for the owner (e.g., schedule management, submittal review, change order authority), their commissioning role is more like the owner’s: they ensure the contractors execute their commissioning responsibilities according to the commissioning plan, and help resolve issues.

General Contractors.

Design. The general contractor (if yet selected) reviews commissioning requirements and performance criteria for coordination, schedule, and cost implications.

Construction. The contractor’s role and responsibilities are

In the contractor-managed approach, the general contractor is often required to hire a third party with direct commissioning skills to manage and execute the contractor commissioning requirements.

Trade Contractors.

Design. Trade contractors of specialty or complex systems or designs should review commissioning requirements and performance criteria of their systems for coordination, schedule, execution, and cost implications.

Construction. The responsibilities of the installing trade contractors (and vendors, as appropriate) include

Commissioning-related activities of trade contractors are to prepare O&M manuals and submissions to the systems manual and provide training on commissioned systems and assemblies. To avoid confusion, the OPR should specify which commissioning activities are the trade contractor’s responsibility, and which are the CxP’s.

Architect and Engineers (Designers).

Design. The design professionals should develop complete basis-of-design (BOD) documentation, including design narratives, rationale, and criteria, according to their scopes of services, and update this document with each new design submission. They provide input to the commissioning plan, respond to questions and concerns by the CxP and others, respond to design review comments, and incorporate commissioning requirements in construction contract documents.

Construction. During construction, designers

Additional tasks sometimes required are to present system description overviews for primary systems during O&M staff training, review and approve testing plans and procedures, review completed test forms, or witness selected tests.

Owner’s Project Management Staff. The owner’s project management staff’s ultimate responsibility is to see that the commissioning plan is executed. The owner, with guidance from the CxP, should include specific responsibilities in all commissioning team members’ scopes of services, make sure there is sufficient time for commissioning in the project schedule, ensure the CxP is receiving cooperation from other team members, and ensure that other owner responsibilities (e.g., developing the OPR, having O&M staff participate during construction) are fulfilled. The owner ensures that all design review and construction-phase issues identified through commissioning are resolved in a timely manner.

Owner’s Representatives. The owner’s representatives are individuals or firms hired to represent the owner’s interest during specified phases of the building process. The owner typically retains the project architect or project engineer responsible for HVAC design and the CxP as a team of owner’s representatives.

Owner’s Operations and Management (O&M) Staff.

Predesign. The owner’s O&M staff should participate in the development of the OPR during predesign.

Design. During design, O&M staff may contribute to reviews of the designer’s BOD, plans, and specifications.

Construction. During construction, the owner’s O&M staff should

Occupancy. During occupancy, the O&M staff should identify any warranty or operational issues and report back to the commissioning team. They should participate in the warranty review and may participate in any seasonal testing. O&M staff might also participate as needed in additional training, particularly any related to the control system or other complex or unfamiliar technology.

Occupants and Users.

Predesign. The occupants and users should participate in the development of the OPR during predesign.

Design. During design, occupants and users may contribute to reviews of the designer’s BOD, plans, and specifications.

Construction. During construction, occupants and users may participate in select training and final inspection and walk-throughs.

Occupancy. The occupants and users report back to the owner and/or the commissioning team about warranty items and other issues they observe related to the performance of the building.

The primary activities and objectives of commissioning during predesign are to

Commissioning Team and Management. During the predesign phase, a team is formed to oversee and accomplish commissioning. Responsibility for leadership of the commissioning team should be defined and assigned to the CxP at the beginning of predesign.

Owner’s Project Requirements (OPR). The OPR forms the basis from which all design, construction, acceptance, and operational decisions are made. It describes the functional requirements of the facility and expectations of how it will be used and operated. It includes project and design goals, budgets, limitations, schedules, owner directives, and supporting information, as well as necessary information for all disciplines to properly plan, design, construct, operate, and maintain systems and assemblies (ASHRAE Guideline 0).

The OPR is generally a set of concise objective qualitative statements, each with one or more quantitative performance metrics or criteria. The following information should be included:

CxP. The CxP ensures that the OPR is developed and is clear and complete. The CxP may develop or help develop the OPR with the owner or provide direction and review of the OPR developed by others. Facilitated workshops, surveys, and questionnaires are useful for developing the OPR. Later during design, additional OPR statements with performance criteria may be added to the formal list, as desired by the owner and commissioning team.

Scope and Budget for Commissioning. During predesign, the owner, with assistance from the CxP, develops a scope and a rough budget for commissioning. At minimum, design-phase activities should be initially scoped. Once a design-phase commissioning plan is developed, the scope and budget may need to be adjusted. The scope and budget should reflect the commissioning objectives in the OPR.

Selecting areas to commission is typically based on the budget, systems or assemblies with which the owner has experienced problems on previous projects, complexity of systems and assemblies, and criticality of the system or assembly in meeting the OPR. During predesign and design, the list of areas to be commissioned may be general (e.g., electrical lighting controls, emergency power, general electrical equipment, HVAC, domestic water system, and envelope fenestration, etc.). Later in design but before scoping construction-phase commissioning, additional detail should be added to each of these categories, and others added as needed to ensure that the scope of commissioning is clear. Adding this detail increases the cost of commissioning; that needs to be specified early in the design phase.

Historically, commissioning focused on HVAC. Owners are now asking for more systems to be commissioned, including lighting controls; fire, life, and property safety systems; vertical and horizontal transport systems; envelope; plumbing; landscaping; sustainability features; structural elements; many electrical equipment components; security; data; and communications. Industrial projects may require a separate CxP for large process systems and supporting facilities commissioning. Refer to the section on Commissioning Costs for budgeting guidelines and suggestions.

One predesign-phase commissioning task should be drafting the commissioning plan for the design phase. The CxP develops this plan with review and comment by the owner and designer, and the plan is updated as the project progresses. The design-phase commissioning plan should include the following:

The owner’s project requirements and commissioning plan should be formally accepted during predesign, after review and comment by the CxP.

Design-phase commissioning objectives include the following:

Update Design-Phase Commissioning Plan. The initial design-phase commissioning plan is developed during predesign. As more becomes known about systems and assemblies likely to be a part of the project and as project objectives are clarified, the commissioning plan may need to be updated with additional details. The CxP must participate in value engineering and constructability review sessions to ensure that commissioning can be performed. The owner and designer then review and comment on the updated plan, which then becomes the guide for the rest of the design phase.

Update the OPR. As design progresses, additional OPR and performance criteria are likely to be identified. Other criteria may need to be altered as more detailed budget and design data become available.

Verify the Basis of Design. All BOD elements can be grouped under one of two terms: design narrative or design criteria. These two terms provide a useful separation when writing the design basis.

The design narrative is the written description and discussion of the concepts and features the designers intend (during schematic design phase) to incorporate into the design or what they have incorporated (during the balance of design) to meet the OPR and associated performance criteria as well as codes, standards, and regulations. This narrative should be understandable by all parties of the building construction and operation process, though it may address fairly technical and specialized issues. It includes a brief section on what systems were considered and why they were accepted or rejected, along with the rationale for the system selected. The design narrative should include comparative evaluation results from value engineering and be updated with each phase of design.

The design criteria are the project-specific information, including underlying assumptions for calculations, calculation methodology, codes and standards followed, equipment used as the basis of design, and design assumptions needed to make design calculations and other decisions, such as

Development and Use. The BOD is written by the designer and increases in detail as design progresses. The CxP may need to obtain this explanatory information from the designer. An updated BOD with increased detail should be submitted with each new design submission. Each submission is reviewed by the owner and CxP as part of design reviews.

Develop Commissioning Plan for Construction and Occupancy/Operations Phases. The commissioning plan (Cx plan) is a document that outlines the organization, schedule, allocation of resources, and documentation requirements of the commissioning process. This is an overall plan, developed during the predesign, and updated in design and construction phases, that provides the structure, schedule, and coordination planning for commissioning. The Cx plan includes specifications detailing the scope, objectives, and process of commissioning during the construction and occupancy/operations phases of the project. It must specify the scope of work, roles, responsibilities, and requirements of the construction contractor. For the construction and occupancy/operations phases, it describes the following:

The commissioning plan developed during predesign and design phase is updated to include construction-phase activities. At the beginning of the design phase, the plan is general and is used primarily to guide development of commissioning specifications. The owner and designer review and comment on the plan. As design progresses, the CxP updates and finalizes the plan when the construction documents are completed. The commissioning plan can be issued with the bid documents for reference.

Develop and Incorporate Commissioning Requirements into Project Specifications. The specifications in the Cx plan are needed by contractors so they can include commissioning responsibilities in pricing and understand how to execute the work. Because commissioning is still relatively new to the building industry, descriptive process language should be included, rather than just delineating requirements. Frequently, for reference, the responsibilities of other team members not bound by the specifications (e.g., owner, CxP, construction manager, architect, design engineers) are given in the commissioning specifications to ensure clarity and put the contractor’s responsibilities in context.

The specification should include definitions, a list of equipment and systems to be commissioned, submittal, construction checklist, testing and documentation requirements, and sample checklists and test forms. If the project uses contractor-managed commissioning, the specification should identify skills and qualifications required of the contractor’s commissioning lead.

The OPR, along with as much BOD information as possible, should be included in the construction documents and labeled as informational-purposes-only, to differentiate from the contractor’s contractual obligations. Training and O&M manual requirements of the contractor also should be included.

It is critical that the project specifications clearly define how the quality control and testing functions that have traditionally been a part of many construction projects (e.g., fire alarm, elevator, duct pressure, cleanroom classes, room pressurization, explosionproof requirements, emergency power testing, etc.) will be integrated with HVAC commissioning. Responsibility for checkout and test procedures, including test procedure review, direction, execution, witnessing, documentation, and approval, must all be clearly described. The acceptance criteria for the test should be included in the specifications. Acceptance criteria should be based on the OPR and the systems selected. For example, a project may require tight temperature or humidity tolerances to meet certification criteria. Systems designed for these projects should be able to control to those tolerances. A system with staged cooling (direct expansion with compressor staging) may not be able to meet a ±0.5 K level of control. This should be taken into consideration when selecting the systems for the project.

The CxP ensures that contractor responsibilities for commissioning are appropriately incorporated into the project specifications. Placing the general commissioning requirements, process descriptions, and specifications in a single section is one method that makes it easy for all parties to know where to look for their responsibilities and find common terminology. The weakness of this method is that some contractors may not realize that this is part of their responsibilities, because it is not described in their sections; therefore, it might be beneficial to split at least part of the commissioning requirements into the applicable sections, with a reference back to the section that describes the common commissioning processes.

Often, the commissioning provider writes the commissioning specifications and then works with the designer to integrate them into the project specifications. Alternatively, the designer can develop the commissioning specifications, with the CxP reviewing and recommending for ultimate revisions.

Begin Developing Systems Manual. During design, the systems manual contains the OPR, BOD, and drawings and specifications, updated at each design submission and during and after construction. The CxP is often responsible, with cooperation of the project engineer or discipline design engineers, for assembling and maintaining the systems manual; however, the contract documents for the CxP or design professionals should delineate who is responsible for this task.

The systems manual differs significantly from traditional O&M manuals. This manual expands the scope to include other project information developed and gathered during commissioning, such as traditional equipment O&M data, design and construction documents (OPR, BOD, plans, specifications, and approved construction submittals), system schematics, final commissioning report, training records, commissioning test procedures (executed documents and blank templates), and optimization and diagnostic data (which can include operational procedures for specific emergency situations, seasonal changeover procedures, fire and emergency power response matrix, smoke management system operation during and after fire, energy efficiency recommendations, troubleshooting guide, existing building commissioning frequency, and diagnostic building automation system trend logs). Scopes of work should clearly identify whether the systems manual includes all project systems and assemblies or just commissioned ones. For more information, see ASHRAE Guideline 4-2019.

After the contractor is selected, the contractor also becomes a member of the commissioning team and cooperates with the CxP. The owner, designer, contractor, and commissioning provider each have development responsibilities for parts of the systems manual. Construction documents should list the contents and requirements for the systems manual and the responsible party for generating, compiling, and finishing each part of the required documentation. Systems manuals should be available for and used in operator training. Much of the systems manual can be put into electronic media format, with the ability to search and auto-update enhancing the usability and accessibility of the data.

Define Training Requirements. During the design phase, the training requirements of O&M personnel and occupants are identified relative to the systems and assemblies to be installed in the facility. O&M personnel must have the knowledge and skills required to operate the facility to meet the OPR. Occupants also need to understand their effect on the use of the facility and the ability to meet project requirements. Both groups require training. For more information, see ASHRAE Guideline 1.3-2018.

Training needs can be identified using a group-technique workshop, interviews, or surveys with the owner and occupant representatives after the systems and assemblies have been specified, and before issuing the construction documents. The contractor’s training responsibilities need to be incorporated into the project specifications and should include requirements for the number of training hours for each item of equipment or assembly and submittals of training plans and qualifications of trainers. Training likely requires participation of the designer (for system overviews), the CxP (for system overviews, existing building commissioning, optimization, diagnostics, and using and maintaining the systems manual), and possibly the contractor, and should be included in their scopes of work. Because turnover in O&M and occupants will occur, training materials should be reusable (e.g., video, written manuals, computer presentations). If needed, hands-on operational training may also be a part of the contractors’ scope, which can be clarified in the contract.

Perform Design Reviews. Design review by parties not part of the formal designer-of-record team should be conducted to provide an independent perspective on performance, operations, and maintenance. These document reviews, conducted by experts in the field, should start as early as possible, when options and issues can be more easily resolved. The reviews may be coordinated by the CxP and should include the owner’s technical staff. The CxP may attend some design team meetings, and formally reviews and comments on the design at various stages of development [ideally, at least once during schematic design (predesign), design development, and construction document phases]. The CxP’s design review is not intended to replace peer-to-peer design reviews that check for accuracy and completeness of the design and calculations.

A targeted design review may cover the following:

Potential system performance problems, issues likely to result in change orders, areas where correct installation is difficult, energy efficiency improvements, environmental sustainability, indoor environmental quality issues, fire protection, life and property safety issues, operation and maintenance issues, and other issues may be addressed in these design reviews, depending on the owner’s desires and CxP’s scope. Required reviews ensure that training and systems manual requirements are adequately reflected in construction documents.

Some reviews use sampling, giving 10 to 20% of the drawings and specifications for an in-depth review; if only minimal issues are identified, the owner accepts the submission. If significant issues are identified in the sample, either the submittal is sent back to the designer for revamping and a thorough review, or the CxP may perform a thorough review, depending upon the scope of work defined in the CxP’s contract. After the design team has addressed the issues, the CxP performs a new review. In this type of review, the design team is still responsible for their traditional peer review of construction documents for accuracy. The CxP makes recommendations to facilitate commissioning and improve building performance, without approving or disapproving either design or documents. The design team is ultimately responsible for design. The CxP should be able to justify all of the recommendations made. It is the responsibility of the owner or project manager to evaluate all review findings with the design team and see that the responsible team member implements the approved ones. All issues are tracked to resolution and verified in later reviews to have been incorporated as agreed.

If the CxP is contracted through a designer, the designer’s commissioning manager or subconsultant may manage the contractor’s issues log. In that case, to minimize conflicts of interest, the CxP is often required to report all issues simultaneously to the designer and to the owner.

Accept Design-Phase Commissioning Activities. Commissioning should include the owner’s formal acceptance of the BOD, updated OPR, Cx plan, and the design, after review and comment by the CxP.

Additional Commissioning Team Tasks. Additional design-phase responsibilities of the commissioning team (led by the CxP, who is frequently responsible for these requirements) include the following:

Commissioning activities should take place throughout the construction phase and include verification and documentation that

The following primary commissioning activities (in approximately sequential order) address commissioning objectives. The CxP coordinates and ensures that all activities occur and perform successfully.

Bidding and Contract Negotiation. A member of the commissioning team (usually the CxP) may attend the prebid conference to present an overview of commissioning requirements and answer questions. Changes that occur during bidding and contract negotiations related to commissioned systems and assemblies are also reviewed to ensure they agree with the OPR.

Commissioning Planning and Kickoff Meetings. The CxP coordinates construction-phase planning and kickoff meetings. The planning meeting held with the contractor, owner, designer, and CxP focuses on reviewing requirements and establishing specific communication and reporting protocols. The commissioning plan is updated from this meeting. The kickoff meeting is held with additional construction team members, who generally include the mechanical, controls, electrical, and test and balancing contractors. At this meeting, the commissioning provider outlines the roles and responsibilities of each project team member, specifies procedures for documenting activities and resolving issues, and reviews the preliminary construction commissioning plan and schedule. Team members provide comments on the plan and schedule, and the CxP uses these suggestions to help finalize the commissioning plan and schedule.

Commissioning Plan Update. The planning and kickoff meetings usually result in an updated commissioning plan. Later, any project phasing or other schedule and scope-related issues (e.g., testing and training plans and schedules) are clarified in further updates.

Submittal Reviews.

Construction Submittals. The CxP reviews equipment and material submittals of commissioned systems and assemblies to obtain information needed to develop construction checklists, make meaningful observations of construction progress, and aid in developing comprehensive tests. This process also verifies that contractors are providing high-quality submittals that meet the construction document requirements, and that architects and engineers provide a quality review so construction-related performance issues are identified before construction progress makes them more difficult and expensive to address. Submittals could be reviewed concurrently by the design team to allow any discrepancies to be identified before formal approval, but the construction submittal review should also be compared to the architects’ and engineers’ reviews to verify that the architects and engineers are providing a thorough review of the submittals.

Controls Submittal and Integration Meeting. Before the contractor develops the controls submittal, the CxP coordinates a controls integration meeting to discuss and resolve methods for implementing performance specifications or strategies, interlocks between systems, priority of control between packaged controls and the central control system, the control system database, point names, graphic details and layout, access levels, etc.

Coordination Shop Drawings. The CxP may help the owner monitor the development and coordination of shop drawings to ensure synchronization between trades.

Early O&M Data. Information beyond typical construction submittals requested by the CxP includes installation and start-up procedures, operation and maintenance information, equipment performance data, and control drawings before formal O&M manual submittals. This information allows the CxP to become familiar with systems and assemblies to develop construction checklists, start-up plans, and test procedures.

Contract Modifications Review. Construction documentation issued during this phase, including requests for information, construction field directives, and change orders, should be reviewed by the CxP to identify issues that may affect commissioning and compliance with construction documents, BOD, or OPR.

Schedule Commissioning Field Activities. The CxP works with the discipline design engineers, contractors, and construction manager to coordinate the commissioning schedule and ensure that commissioning activities are integrated into the master construction schedule.

Construction and Commissioning Meetings. The CxP attends periodic planning and job-site meetings to stay informed on construction progress and to update parties involved in commissioning. During initial construction, the CxP may attend regular construction meetings and hold a line item on the agenda. Later, the CxP may convene entire meetings devoted to commissioning issues, with more frequent meetings as construction progresses. Attendees vary with the purpose of the meeting. Team members should be represented at meetings by parties with technical expertise who are authorized to make commitments and decisions for their respective organizations. The CxP should distribute minutes from these meetings.

Progress Reports. The CxP provides periodic progress reports to the owner and contractor with increasing frequency as construction progresses. These reports indicate current progress, next steps, and critical issues affecting progress and construction schedule.

Update Owner’s Project Requirement and Basis of Design. When contract negotiations and/or changes and clarifications made during construction alter or add to the OPR or BOD, these documents should be updated. Normally, the CxP updates the OPR and the designer updates the BOD. Final construction updates to these documents are made at the end of testing, typically a few months into occupancy.

Coordinate Owner’s Representatives Participation. The commissioning plan should describe participation of the owner’s representatives in work such as submittal review, construction checklist verification, construction observation, test procedure review and execution, and O&M manual review. The CxP normally coordinates this participation with the contractors.

Construction Observation. The CxP should make planned, systematic visits to the site to observe installation of systems and assemblies. The owner’s staff may assist in construction observation. The CxP should verify that the first few of any large-quantity items (e.g., variable-air-volume terminal units) are installed properly and used as a mock-up or standard to judge the rest of the installation. Any conditions not in compliance with the construction documents or BOD or that may affect system performance, commissioning, operation, or other project requirements should be documented. These observations normally focus on areas where observers have found problems before, or spot-check items on construction checklists. Less often, practitioners are tasked with validations or detailed inspections verifying that equipment or assemblies have been installed properly in every detail. Some practitioners make formal construction observation reports, whereas others merge findings into the regular issue logs and progress reports. Site visits should be used to verify completion of construction checklists.

The CxP normally witnesses many of the contractor’s start-up activities for major equipment to ensure checklists and start-up are documented properly and to gain additional feature and function information from installing technicians.

Record Documents. Contractors should be required to immediately update the record drawings when any deviations from the construction document occur. During the construction phase, the CxP should verify that the record documents are kept up to date by comparing the installation with the construction documents, and verify that any changes have been recorded on the record documents.

Construction Checklists and Start-up. At the beginning of construction, construction checklists are developed (usually by the CxP in cooperation with the discipline engineer, but sometimes by the contractor or equipment manufacturer) for most commissioned systems and equipment. They are attached to or integrated with manufacturer’s installation and start-up procedures. In most projects, contractors fill out the checklists during installation, during normal checkout of equipment and systems, and before and during system start-up, though some commissioning practitioners fill out the checklists themselves. The contractor fully documents start-up and initial checkout, including the construction checklists to ensure systems are ready for testing, and submits them to the CxP, who reviews the forms and spot-checks selected items in the field later in the project.

Some CxPs statistically sample items on checklists to verify proper completion (typically random or targeted sampling of 2 to 20%). If an inordinate fraction of the sampled items are deficient (typically more than 10%), the contractor is required to check and document all remaining items. The contractual documents need to contain details of the sampling and actions based on the results.

Commissioning Issues Management. The CxP keeps a record of all commissioning issues that require action by the design team, contractor, or owner. The issues should remain uniquely identified, be tied to equipment and systems, and prioritized relative to performance, cost, and schedule. Issues are tracked to resolution and completely documented. The CxP distributes the updated log to the owner, contractor, construction manager, and HVAC design engineer at construction and commissioning meetings. This log can also be placed on project web sites. If the CxP is hired through a contractor, the contractor’s commissioning manager or subconsultant may manage the contractor’s issues log. In that case, to minimize conflicts of interest, the CxP is often required to report all issues simultaneously to the contractor and to the owner.

Developing Test Procedures. Step-by-step test procedures and project-specific documentation formats are used for all commissioned equipment and assemblies. Manual tests evaluate systems with immediate results. Monitoring testing uses the building automation system or data loggers to record system parameters over time and analyze the data days or weeks later. Automated testing gathers or analyzes system performance data completely electronically, or with significant help from software. The system contractor should prepare and submit test procedures to the CxP, discipline engineer, and construction manager.

Test procedure writing begins immediately after the submittal, because test procedures need to be reviewed and approved before testing occurs, which is generally scheduled about three to six weeks after the submittal review. Test procedures may be based on specifications, applicable standards and codes, submittal data, O&M data, data shipped with the equipment, approved control drawings, and existing test procedures of similar equipment or components. Tests should cover all functions and modes.

Procedural documents clearly describe the test prerequisites, required test conditions, individual systematic test procedures, expected system response and acceptance criteria for each procedure, actual response or findings, and any pertinent discussion. Test procedures differ from testing requirements found in the specifications, which describe what modes and features are to be tested and verified and under what conditions. Test procedures describe the step-by-step method of how to test. Simple checklists may be appropriate for testing simple components, but dynamic testing of interacting components requires more detailed procedures and forms.

The responsible HVAC design engineer should organize the preparation of HVAC system testing, adjusting, and balancing (TAB) procedure together with the test and balancing professional and the commissioning provider, depending on their scopes of work. The CxP is responsible for verifying that the test procedures are written and appropriate for determining that equipment, assemblies, and systems function correctly. All parties should have input into the final test procedures to ensure that equipment, assemblies, systems, or people will not be endangered or warranties voided. Industry standard test procedures [e.g., ASHRAE, Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Institute (ARI)] should be referenced whenever possible.

Testing and Verification.

Responsibilities and Management. Traditional air and water testing, adjusting, and balancing is often performed by the contractor or by an independent licensed professional employed by the contractor or by the owner. Building envelope, elevators, and building electrical system testing are generally excluded from HVAC commissioning, but may be included in whole-building commissioning. The CxP reviews the testing and verification plan along with the results, and may spot-check the results to verify the testing was completed. There is some movement in the industry to centralize coordination for quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC) functions under the commissioning team. Each project is unique, and different approaches can be warranted.

Critical issues include ensuring that

For systems not usually thoroughly tested by the contractor, such as specialty plumbing, the test procedure should be provided by the plumbing design engineer; for building envelope test procedures, by the architect or structural design engineer; and for interfaces between systems (security, communication, electrical, controls, HVAC, fire protection, emergency power), by the CxP with cooperation of related design engineers, along with contractors, who should provide interface drawings (Shieh 2009) and may write test procedures that go beyond HVAC tests. The CxP then directs, witnesses, and documents each test executed by the contractor after the contractors have ensured that the systems will pass these tests. The controls subcontractor usually executes the tests, although the CxP may test some equipment with or without the contractor present.

Testing that has traditionally been conducted by the contractor (e.g., fire alarm, fire protection, elevator, duct and pipe tests, emergency power, some electrical equipment) ideally should be centrally coordinated. This can be the responsibility of the contractor or of the CxP. The specifications should clearly establish testing and documentation requirements and define the responsible party. The level of confidence and objectivity can be increased by requiring experts in specific disciplines to witness tests, particularly in some electrical system and envelope assembly field testing. Increasing the required amount of field witnessing by the CxP also improves the confidence that commissioning was correctly performed.

Within a given discipline, there may be differing levels of autonomy. For example, in tests of electrical equipment (e.g., circuit breakers), the contractor may conduct and document the bolt-torque tests, and also be required to hire an independent certified testing agency to conduct other necessary tests that require more specialized expertise and test equipment.

The owner’s technical staff can assist in and benefit from participation in any of the above scenarios. The designer and owner’s project management staff may witness selected tests.

Verification Testing Scheduling. Verification testing should be performed after equipment and assemblies are complete and started up, construction checklists checked out and submitted, air and water balancing completed, and the contractors’ systems testing finished. The contractor is then ready to turn the system over to the owner. Most projects require a certificate of readiness from the contractor certifying that the system has been thoroughly checked out and verified to be completely functional. Ideally, manual testing occurs before substantial completion, but schedule slippage may require testing to occur after this milestone. Some short-term monitoring may be completed with manual testing, but sometimes is postponed until early occupancy. Opposite-season and other deferred testing should be conducted during seasonal changes or peak seasonal conditions.

Testing Scope. At a minimum, testing includes observing and documenting system operation and function during normal operation, through each of their sequences of operation, and all other modes of operation and conditions, including manual, bypass, emergency, standby, high and low load, and seasonal extremes, and comparing actual performance to that specified in the construction documents. Testing may also be conducted to verify performance criteria found in the BOD and OPR, including system optimization, though deficiencies in these areas are not normally the contractor’s responsibility.

Manual Testing Methods. Testing includes observing normal operation; changing set points, schedules, and timers; and exercising power disconnects, speed controls, overwriting sensor values, etc., to cause perturbations in the system. System response and results are recorded on test procedure forms, and any issues are documented. Small corrections are often made during testing. Less pressing corrections or issues with unknown solutions are investigated later, corrected, and retested.

Building automation systems (BAS), when present, can be the backbone for conducting much of the testing, collecting, and archiving data. Before using the BAS, critical sensors, actuators, and features should be verified as calibrated so the system readouts are reliable (although all sensors and actuators should have been calibrated by the contractor and documented on construction checklists). The results are viewed on the building automation system screen or at the equipment. Other tests may require hand-held instruments or visual verification (e.g., evaluating caulking and flashings on window installations).

Monitoring. Some testing requires monitoring (trending) system operation over time through the BAS or data loggers (when the BAS does not monitor desired points). Monitoring can be used to document that systems are performing properly during test conditions over the monitoring period. However, this is not a substitute for manual testing, which can cover a wide range of conditions. Monitoring provides a view of system interactions over the course of normal, start-up, shutdown, and weekend operation. Normally, the CxP analyzes monitored data and submits a report, with any concerns added to the issues log.

Automated Testing. Various semiautomated testing is conducted in permanent onboard equipment controllers. Currently, most truly automated testing focuses on identifying electrical faults in controller components and is used during vendor start-up and troubleshooting activities. Some use logic to identify parameters outside limits, which indicate component malfunctions such as hunting and calibration issues. Different types of automated testing intended to help commissioning are under development. Some are primarily tools to gather and display monitored data; others help the analyzer make diagnoses. Equipment manufacturers often integrate automated commissioning testing capabilities into onboard controllers on their equipment.

Training. Training should include, as appropriate, (1) the general purpose of the system; (2) use and management of the systems manual; (3) review of control drawings and schematics; (4) start-up, shutdown, seasonal changeover, and normal, unoccupied, and manual operation; (5) controls set-up and programming; (6) diagnostics, troubleshooting, and alarms; (7) interactions with other systems; (8) adjustments and optimizing methods for energy conservation; (9) relevant health and safety issues; (10) special maintenance and replacement sources; (11) tenant interaction issues; and (12) discussion of why specific features are environmentally sustainable. Occupants may also need orientation on certain systems, assemblies, and features in the building, particularly sustainable design features that can be easily circumvented.

The CxP helps the owner ensure that adequate training plans are used by the contractor and that training is completed according to the construction documents. (See the discussion of defining training requirements in the section on Commissioning During Design.) Some CxPs conduct testing with a sample of trainees to verify the efficacy of the training.

Most training should be accomplished during construction, before substantial completion. However, for complex systems (e.g., control systems), multiple training sessions should occur before and after substantial completion. Training for systems that will not come into operation until the next season may be delayed. A meaningful training program typically includes using the operation and maintenance components of the systems manual, which must be submitted by the contractor before training begins. Selected training materials can be video-recorded as desired by the owner.

Commissioning Record. The CxP compiles all commissioning documentation and project data, which are submitted and become part of the systems manual. The commissioning record contains the salient documentation of commissioning, including the commissioning final report, issues log, commissioning plan, progress reports, submittal and O&M manual reviews, training record, test schedules, construction checklists, start-up reports, tests, and trend log analysis, grouped by equipment.

Final Commissioning Report. The CxP should write (or review) and submit a final commissioning report detailing, for each piece of commissioned equipment or assembly, the adequacy of equipment or assemblies meeting contract documents. The following areas should be covered: (1) installation, including procedures used for testing equipment with respect to specifications; (2) functional performance and efficiency, including test results; (3) O&M manual documentation; and (4) operator training. Noncompliance items should be specifically listed. A brief description of the verification method used (manual testing, trend logs, data loggers, etc.) and observations and conclusions from the testing should be included. The CxP updates the final commissioning report after occupancy/operations-phase commissioning. The commissioning documents also should include, among other things,

Systems Manual Submittal. The CxP usually compiles the systems manual and provides it to the owner. At the end of construction, the designer, contractor, owner, and CxP provide elements of the systems manual generated during the construction phase. The systems manual should include commissioning test procedures, results of commissioning tests, issue logs and resolution, system schematics, O&M information, record drawings, construction checklists, walk-through records, start-up reports, and trend log analysis, grouped by equipment. The CxP normally reviews and approves systems manual submissions by the contractor and designer, similar to traditional O&M manual reviews. Electronic systems manuals, now developed occasionally, will likely become standard in the future. The owner should specify the format of the system manual in the contract scope, whether all in traditional paperwork, all electronic files, or in both formats.

Commissioning during this phase should ensure the following:

Verifying Initial Training Completion. The CxP ensures that any remaining training is conducted according to the contract documents, either by reviewing documentation of the training or through witnessing portions of the training. This normally applies to control systems and training on major systems for which peak season is not near the end of the construction phase.

Seasonal Testing. Seasonal testing verifies proper operation of those systems for which peak-load conditions are not available before substantial completion. Additionally, intermediate-season testing may be required for part load, and changeover testing may be required. For example, when completion occurs in winter, final full-load cooling system testing must wait until the following summer. Intermediate-season testing verifies system changeover controls and ability to maintain space conditions per OPR. Testing should be performed by the appropriate contractor and witnessed by the CxP and building operators. However, the owner’s operations staff and the CxP, if sufficiently proficient with the controls system, can execute the tests and recall contractors only if there are problems.

Near-Warranty-End Review. The CxP may also be asked to return a few months before the contractor’s one-year warranty expires, to interview facility staff and review system operation. By acting as the owner’s technical representative, the CxP assists facility staff to address any problems or warranty issues.

Documentation Update. Any identified operations-phase concerns are added to the issues log and the final commissioning report is amended to include occupancy and operations-phase commissioning activities. Changes to the BOD, OPR, or record documents are documented by updating the systems manual near the end of the warranty. Changes to sequences of operation require particular care in ensuring that these updates occur.

Commissioning Process Evaluation. The CxP should meet briefly with the owner; general, controls, mechanical, and electrical contractors; and mechanical and electrical designers to discuss the commissioning process for this project. Topics to be addressed include what went well, what could be improved, what would best be done differently next time, etc. This will benefit all parties in commissioning future projects. The CxP will submit a report on this meeting to the owner.

Additional Activities. The CxP may also be given other responsibilities during the warranty period, such as helping develop a maintenance management program, optimizing system performance, and developing electronic facility manuals.

Ongoing or Continuous Commissioning. Ongoing monitoring and periodic retesting and calibration of selected systems and assemblies are recommended to ensure they comply with the OPR, operating and functioning optimally throughout their life. This is sometimes referred to as continuous commissioning. Some methods rely more on semicontinuous monitoring of primary system performance parameters with periodic analysis. Other approaches consist of existing building commissioning, recalibrating and retesting targeted systems and components on a regular schedule, including both manual testing and monitoring. Calibration and test frequency vary with equipment and its application.