When you are invited to be a member of a sustainable project delivery team, you often don’t know how much time you will spend on the project or how long you will have the opportunity to stay with it. Staffing needs can change, projects can go on hold and designs can take a different direction. It is gratifying when you are able to see a project from concept design to occupancy.
As a project moves from design into construction, the project team changes. All of the hours the design team spent working on solutions, reacting to program changes, choosing equipment and selecting finishes give way to construction crews moving dirt and pouring concrete. The building begins to come out of the ground, and in no time, the structure is weather tight. The face of the construction team evolves into specialty trades as mechanical and electrical systems are installed. As the work proceeds, the building’s interior climate becomes stabilized, and tradesmen start on interior finishes. The design team watches as the drawings become tactile. The owner anticipates moving in and becomes occupied with those activities. The contractor feels the time crunch associated with project completion. The project timeline now puts the reality of completion into sharp focus.
The Last Phase
There is a phrase that I have heard said on almost every project I have worked: “90 percent of the effort goes into the last 10 percent of the project.” No matter how much time a contractor thinks they have in their schedule at the beginning of a project, it disappears in the final months when everyone is scurrying to complete their tasks. One of the tasks that fall to the end is the startup of the building equipment. The HVAC systems, light fixtures, communication systems and life safety equipment must be started before the owner can take occupancy. The equipment and systems startup is a milestone for the project in three distinct ways.
The first component is the contract requirement that all equipment be energized and that work should be done to assure the equipment is operating correctly. The second item is that the startup of equipment can change the ownership of the equipment from contractor to owner. The last element is that it marks the beginning of the warranty that has been purchased for each piece of equipment. The contractor has a strong desire to have an owner accept equipment as soon as a piece of equipment has been energized and can be operated. The equipment acceptance removes the responsibility the contractor has and obligates the owner to take possession of the equipment. However, these activities occur during that portion of the timeline when everyone working on the project is preoccupied with getting the project finished. This quest for project completion can lead to errors in the equipment installation and the proper system programming used to operate the equipment. One way an owner can ensure the proper installation, startup and programming of the equipment is through third-party commissioning.
Third-Party Commissioning
Commissioning of the fundamental building systems is a quality assurance/quality control process that can be employed on any construction process. The commissioning process begins with a commissioning authority (CxA) performing a review of the design documents to see if the design is appropriate for the building’s needs. The CxA will review the contractor’s procurement activities to assure that what has been designed has been purchased and delivered. As the equipment installation proceeds, the CxA will inspect the installation to ensure that the equipment is installed per the manufacturer’s recommendations.
The equipment startup is supervised by the CxA to assure that the installation is complete. There are owners that feel that commissioning of equipment and systems is unnecessary because they have paid a contractor to perform their work in accordance with the contract documents. These owners see no return on an investment of having a third party inspect the work performed under an existing contract. It is true that an owner has paid for a contractor to correctly install the equipment required by the contract. It is unfortunate that there are times that, while not intended, mistakes happen. A commissioning process can go a long way in the prevention of problems once the construction is complete and the owner has moved into the building.
For example, I recently participated in the final systems commissioning for a project that I have been involved with since conceptual design. Prior to the commissioning team’s arrival on-site, the contractor had furnished documentation that the equipment had been installed correctly and was ready for the group to witness its startup and functional testing.
This building has a fairly sophisticated control system that you can monitor the operation of almost every piece of equipment from a central command location. The team started their activities only to find problem after problem. The equipment had been installed correctly, at least in most cases, but none of the equipment was properly communicating. This situation represented a collection of equipment that, while operational, could not function as intended.
One of the biggest issues was the disconnect between specialty contractors working on-site. The mechanical equipment was installed correctly, but when the signal was given to cool a room, the thermostats installed by a different contractor were not programmed to react as intended. The fire alarm had been installed and tested, but the signal to override the mechanical equipment, close air dampers and shut off fan motors was not recognized by the control system.
These failures were not a result of the contractor team failing to do their job. The problems were a result of a large number of people trying to complete their work in a short amount of time, combined with a lack of integration between separate contractors. All of these issues were corrected, and the building is now functioning as it was intended. However, without a third-party commissioner, the problems that were identified in the final stages of commissioning probably would not have been identified until long after the owner had moved into the building and the conditions created during simulation were encountered in real life.
Thomas Taylor, a 30-year veteran of the construction industry and noted expert on sustainability, is the general manager of St. Louis-based Vertegy. His recent book, “Guide to LEED 2009: Estimating and Preconstruction Strategies,” provides step-by-step information about the LEED 2009 for New Construction process. To learn more about Vertegy or Taylor’s new book, visit www.vertegyconsultants.com for more information.