Top 10 Elements of Commissioning — No. 8: Training
No matter how technically successful a project’s functional performance testing is, if the people responsible for maintaining proper operation of the new systems do not know what they need to do and why, system performance and efficiency will likely start to degrade immediately upon turnover.
No. 8 in my top 10 elements of commissioning is training of future building operators. No matter how technically successful a project’s functional performance testing is, if the people responsible for maintaining proper operation of the new systems do not know what they need to do and why, system performance and efficiency will likely start to degrade immediately upon turnover. This is not because an owner’s facilities operations team is incompetent or indifferent, it's because building systems are no longer clearly understood just by looking at the installed pieces and parts.
Although operator training by the construction team has long been an industry-standard construction project requirement, its execution has been allowed to wither into a project closeout box to check with as little effort as practical. There are many reasons for this, and any “blame” lies with all parties, including the building owner, who have not taken the training requirement seriously. I don’t want to rehash the past, but I do want to outline how training can be delivered in a meaningful and efficient way under the guidance of commissioning professionals.
During the design phase, the project specifications need to be customized to match the owner’s needs. The standard industry training specification templates are too generic to be included without customization and clarification regarding how training needs to be applied to the project at hand. The commissioning professional can facilitate and document this customization process by serving as a bridge between future building operators and the design and construction team.