One Page Explanation of Commissioning

                                 One Sheet Explanation of:
                             COMMISSIONING SERVICES

The purpose of commissioning is to ensure that the Owner receives facilities and systems
that meet its design and operational requirements.
In current practice, Commissioning Services are provided by 3rd party Commissioning
Agents. (Abbreviated CxA in general and BECxA for Building Envelopes.) The simultaneous
commissioning of mechanical systems and the building envelope is known as “Total
Commissioning”.
Buildings that are properly commissioned typically have fewer change orders, tend to be
more energy efficient, and have lower operating and maintenance costs.
In theory, 3 rd party commissioning should not be required, as the Architect or Engineer
(Designer) of record is both responsible and liable for ensuring that the owner's
requirements are met in in the design, construction and turnover of the facility.
The extent to which the Designer verifies that the owner's requirements have been met
before the facility is handed over is unfortunately a function of time and money. In trying to
remain competitive, the Designer must gauge the level of risk his or her firm is willing to
accept by limiting their own commissioning activities. Most often, the decision made is to
“wait and see”, then pay for repairs. That approach, however, often results in failures that
are not immediately apparent and repairs that are not permanent. In either case, the owner
must spend considerable time and effort in managing, negotiating, and compensating for
operational deficiencies until the deficiency is diagnosed and corrected.
The use of a 3 party CxA serves six purposes:
              rd

   •   It engages a specialist practitioner that is well versed in the typical design failures
       that result in warranty issues, so that they may be eliminated inexpensively during
       design and construction.
   •   It provides for peer review of the design so that areas of concern may be discussed
       from the combined perspectives of the designer and future maintainer.
   •   It verifies that systems are designed to meet the Owner’s needs, and that they are
       installed as designed and working correctly at building delivery.
   •   It avoids the potential conflict of interest situation of the Designer having to
       establish whether any failures that may emerge are related to the design or to the
       installation/construction of the design.
   •   It provides a benchmark of building performance to facilitate future operations,
       maintenance, and recommissioning.

   •   It provides for lower overall life‐cycle costs for the Owner.
A properly executed commissioning program begins with clearly stated Owner’s Project
Requirements and then engages the Owner, the Designers, the construction manager, the
specialist sub‐contractors and the CxA to identify and prevent potential problems from
developing.
The initial cost of commissioning depends more on the complexity of the building design
than on its size. For ‘typical’ building projects, the anticipated cost of total building
commissioning is approximately 1% (+/‐ .5%) of the cost of     1 construction.

Nationwide, it is generally agreed that Total Building Commissioning generates a three‐
year simple payback on industry-standard fees.
Once a building is operational, systems begin to wear. Recommissioning is normally
performed every three to five years to maintain top levels of building performance and
after any significant building changes to identify new opportunities for improvement. 2
During recommissioning, the building operating and maintenance systems are examined
and cleaned as needed, parts may be fixed or replaced, and systems reset as if they were
being installed new.


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1 APPA, US General Services Administration (GSA), and US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) all recommend

budgeting between 0.5% and 1.5% of construction cost for CxA services, depending on building specifics and
complexity. The National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS) advises 0.3% to 1.0% of project budget for
BECx services. The National Association of State Facilities Administrators (NASFA) recommends budgeting
1.25% to 2.25% of Construction Cost for Total Building Commissioning (CxA + BECx)
2 The actual interval is adjusted to ensure that there is always a positive return on investment for the

delivered services.

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