There are two primary reasons building owners find value in the commissioning process. First, successful third-party commissioning delivers a high level of confidence that the building systems meet the owner’s requirements at the end of a design and construction project. Second, commissioning can help set the stage for the owner to continue realizing high performance from the systems long after project closeout.
In my Top 10 Elements of Commissioning list, No. 7 was systems documentation, and No. 8 was systems training. Those are two of the three elements associated with long-term, sustainable operation. This month, No. 6, owner’s operation and maintenance (O&M) participation, is the third.