New tests and test improvements are now included in the newly published version of ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 135.1-2013, Method of Test for Conformance to BACnet.

According to ASHRAE, the standard defines a standard method for verifying that an implementation of the BACnet protocol provides each capability claimed in its Protocol Implementation Conformance Statement (PICS) in conformance with Standard 135, BACnet® -- A Data Communication Protocol for Building Automation and Control Networks.

Standard 135.1 provides a set of procedures for verifying the correct implementation of each claimed capability, including BACnet services (as initiators, executors, or both), BACnet object-types (including both required properties and optional properties), the BACnet network layer protocol, data link options, and all special functionalities.

The newly published standard includes new tests for new extensions to the BACnet standard; test improvements developed in cooperation with the BACnet Testing Laboratories; and references the latest version of Standard 135, published in 2012, according to Carl Neilson, chair of the Standard 135 and Standard 135.1 Committees.

“The new tests are significant and wide sweeping across the standard,” he said. “The new tests cover new functionality that has been added to the BACnet standard over the past six to 10 years. We are continuing to work on advancing the test standard to ensure it continues to have coverage as the BACnet standard is extended/maintained.”

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