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Total Building Commissioning

Written and maintained by SynC.

Rev4
IssuedOct 19, 2026
LicenseCC BY 4.0
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1 Scope

NOTE This standard governs the commissioning process: the party that runs it, the documents it is judged against, the plan that organizes it, the reviews, checklists, and tests that make up its verification, the log that tracks what the verification finds, the training and the systems manual that hand the building to its operators, the reports that record all of it, and the activities that continue through the first year of occupancy. (1.1)
NOTE Every system on a project is started by its installer and tested under its own standard, and each of those tests proves one system in isolation on the day it is run. Commissioning is the process that proves the building as a whole does what the Owner asked for: that the sequences the design team wrote are the sequences the controls execute, that the interlocks between systems act when they are called on, that the building performs in the season it was not finished in, and that the people who will run it have been taught how. It is a process that runs from the first statement of the Owner's requirements to the end of the first year of operation, not a test event at the end of construction. (1.2)
NOTE The equipment standards and this standard divide the work in one way throughout the corpus. The equipment standard for a boiler, a rooftop unit, a transfer switch, or a water heater states the startup and the field tests its equipment receives and the performance it demonstrates under them. This standard governs the process around those tests: the party that plans and witnesses them, the checklists that precede them, the functional performance test of the integrated operation that follows them, the log that records their deficiencies, and the report that compiles them. A test an equipment standard requires is performed under that standard and received here as an input; the functional performance test of the system's operation against its sequence of operation is performed under this standard. (1.3)
NOTE The following are governed elsewhere and are outside this standard: (1.4)
  • the startup, the field tests, and the performance each system demonstrates under them, under its equipment standard, including the commissioning activities each equipment standard names as the subject of this standard
  • testing, adjusting, and balancing, under Testing Adjusting And BalancingTesting, Adjusting, and Balancing for HVACResolves to the current adopted revision.sync/testing-adjusting-and-balancing; the balancing report is received here as an input
  • the field acceptance tests of electrical distribution equipment, the criteria they are judged against, and the release of each item for energization, under Electrical Acceptance TestingElectrical Acceptance TestingResolves to the current adopted revision.sync/electrical-acceptance-testing
  • the certification testing of the structured cabling plant, under Structured CablingStructured Cabling SystemsResolves to the current adopted revision.sync/structured-cabling; the certification reports are received here as inputs
  • the programming of the building automation system, its point-to-point verification, its trend configuration, and the sequences of operation it executes, under Building Automation SystemBuilding Automation SystemResolves to the current adopted revision.sync/building-automation-system
  • the control narratives, the loop checks, and the factory and site acceptance tests of a plant control system, under Control Systems IntegrationControl Systems Integration and TestingResolves to the current adopted revision.sync/control-systems-integration
  • the functional testing of the lighting control system, which the adopted energy code assigns to a party and which Lighting ControlsLighting ControlsResolves to the current adopted revision.sync/lighting-controls carries
  • the NFPA 92 acceptance test of a smoke control system, under Smoke Control SystemsSmoke Control SystemsResolves to the current adopted revision.sync/smoke-control-systems, and the NFPA 110 integrated acceptance test of the emergency and standby power system, under Emergency And Standby PowerEmergency and Standby Power SystemsResolves to the current adopted revision.sync/emergency-and-standby-power
  • the cleaning, flushing, and passivation of hydronic systems, under Hydronic Cleaning And FlushingHydronic System Cleaning and FlushingResolves to the current adopted revision.sync/hydronic-cleaning-and-flushing, and the ongoing water treatment program, under HVAC Water TreatmentHVAC Water TreatmentResolves to the current adopted revision.sync/hvac-water-treatment
  • the whole-building air leakage test, its method, its target, and the agency that performs it, under Air BarriersAir BarriersResolves to the current adopted revision.sync/air-barriers
  • the preparation, organization, and delivery of the operation and maintenance manuals, under Operation And Maintenance DataOperation and Maintenance DataResolves to the current adopted revision.sync/operation-and-maintenance-data
  • the delivery, duration, notice, and recording of operator training, under Closeout ProceduresCloseout ProceduresResolves to the current adopted revision.sync/closeout-procedures
  • the substantial completion inspection, the punch list, the certificate of occupancy, and final payment, under Closeout ProceduresCloseout ProceduresResolves to the current adopted revision.sync/closeout-procedures
  • the Contractor's quality control program and the independent testing and inspection agency, under Quality RequirementsQuality RequirementsResolves to the current adopted revision.sync/quality-requirements
  • the submittal register and the review workflow, under Submittal And Quality ProceduresSubmittal and Quality ProceduresResolves to the current adopted revision.sync/submittal-and-quality-procedures
  • the form, execution, and claim procedure of warranties, under Warranties And BondsWarranties and BondsResolves to the current adopted revision.sync/warranties-and-bonds
  • the commissioning of an existing building and its systems under ASHRAE Guideline 0.2, which no SynC standard owns
1.5 The commissioning process under this standard shall apply to every system within a system family selected in the datasheet, on new construction and on the systems a renovation installs, replaces, or extends.
NOTE The terms commissioning agent, commissioning provider, and commissioning authority name the same party in the referenced standards and in the contract documents of different Owners. This standard uses commissioning authority, abbreviated CxA, throughout, and any of the other terms appearing in the contract documents names the CxA defined here. (1.6)

2 Referenced Standards

2.1 The commissioning process shall comply with the latest adopted edition of each of the following unless a specific edition is cited.
2.2 Where the contract documents, Adopted Energy CodeAdopted Energy CodeParameterEach project supplies its own value.adopted-energy-code, a certification program the Owner has elected, or two referenced standards impose conflicting requirements on the commissioning process, the more stringent requirement shall govern unless the Engineer of Record directs otherwise in writing.
NOTE ASHRAE Guideline 0 and ASHRAE Guideline 1.1 are guidelines, and ANSI/ASHRAE/IES 202 is the standard that states the same process in enforceable terms. Where this standard cites a guideline, it does so for the procedure and the document formats the guideline describes; the requirements a project is held to are those of ANSI/ASHRAE/IES 202 and of this standard. (2.3)
Standard Title
ANSI/ASHRAE/IES 202 Commissioning Process for Buildings and Systems
ASHRAE Guideline 0 The Commissioning Process
ASHRAE Guideline 1.1 HVAC&R Technical Requirements for the Commissioning Process
ASHRAE Guideline 1.3 Building Operations and Maintenance Training for the HVAC&R Commissioning Process
ASHRAE Guideline 1.4 Procedures for Preparing Facility Systems Manuals
ASHRAE Guideline 1.5 The Commissioning Process for Smoke Control Systems
ANSI/ASHRAE/IES 90.1 Energy Standard for Sites and Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings (Section 4.2.5)
IECC International Energy Conservation Code, Commercial Provisions (Section C408)
ASTM E2813 Standard Practice for Building Enclosure Commissioning
ASTM E2947 Standard Guide for Building Enclosure Commissioning
NFPA 3 Standard for Commissioning of Fire Protection and Life Safety Systems
NFPA 4 Standard for Integrated Fire Protection and Life Safety System Testing
NFPA 70 National Electrical Code
NFPA 72 National Fire Alarm and Signaling Code
NFPA 110 Standard for Emergency and Standby Power Systems
ANSI/ASHRAE 135 BACnet, A Data Communication Protocol for Building Automation and Control Networks

3 Submittals

3.1 Action Submittals

3.1.1 The CxA shall submit the following for review and return before the commissioning activity each one governs begins:
  • the commissioning plan, at each issue the datasheet under Commissioning Plan requires
  • the Owner's Project Requirements, where the CxA prepares it, or the CxA's review comments on the Owner's Project Requirements where the Owner or the design team prepares it
  • the review comments on the Basis of Design at each design milestone the review is performed
  • the design review comments at each milestone the datasheet under Design-Phase Reviews requires, where enhanced commissioning is selected
  • a construction checklist template for each type of equipment and each system within the commissioning scope
  • a functional performance test procedure for each system within the commissioning scope, in the format this standard requires
  • the integrated systems test procedure, naming each scenario, the systems that take part, and the party that initiates each event
  • the seasonal and deferred test list, naming each test, the condition it waits for, and the window in which it is performed
  • the training verification plan, stating which sessions the CxA attends and which records it reviews
Action Submittalscheckbox
☑ Commissioning plan at each required issue
☑ Owner's Project Requirements or review comments on it
☑ Basis of Design review comments
☐ Design review comments at each required milestone
☑ Construction checklist templates
☑ Functional performance test procedures
☑ Integrated systems test procedure
☑ Seasonal and deferred test list
☑ Training verification plan
3.1.2 No functional performance test shall be performed before the procedure covering it has been reviewed and returned.
3.1.3 The Contractor shall submit the following in support of the commissioning process before functional performance testing of the system each one concerns begins:
  • the completed and signed construction checklist for each item of equipment and each system
  • the manufacturer's or installer's startup report for each item of equipment, as its equipment standard requires
  • the test reports each system's own standard requires, including the balancing report under Testing Adjusting And BalancingTesting, Adjusting, and Balancing for HVACResolves to the current adopted revision.sync/testing-adjusting-and-balancing, the electrical acceptance test report and the energization release under Electrical Acceptance TestingElectrical Acceptance TestingResolves to the current adopted revision.sync/electrical-acceptance-testing, the cabling certification reports under Structured CablingStructured Cabling SystemsResolves to the current adopted revision.sync/structured-cabling, and the cleaning, flushing, and passivation report under Hydronic Cleaning And FlushingHydronic System Cleaning and FlushingResolves to the current adopted revision.sync/hydronic-cleaning-and-flushing
  • the point-to-point verification record and the trend configuration of the building automation system under Building Automation SystemBuilding Automation SystemResolves to the current adopted revision.sync/building-automation-system
  • the reviewed sequences of operation and the controls operation and maintenance data the functional performance test depends on, approved under Operation And Maintenance DataOperation and Maintenance DataResolves to the current adopted revision.sync/operation-and-maintenance-data
  • the training plan and schedule for each commissioned system, prepared under Closeout ProceduresCloseout ProceduresResolves to the current adopted revision.sync/closeout-procedures
Contractor Submittals Supporting Commissioningcheckbox
☑ Completed and signed construction checklists
☑ Equipment startup reports
☑ Test reports required under each system's own standard
☑ Building automation point-to-point record and trend configuration
☑ Approved sequences of operation and controls O&M data
☑ Training plan and schedule for each commissioned system

3.2 Informational Submittals

3.2.1 The CxA shall submit the following as the process proceeds:
  • the CxA's qualification statement, giving the credential of the commissioning lead, the firm's commissioning experience on systems of each family within the scope, and its relationship to the Owner, the design team, and the Contractor
  • the qualification statement of the building enclosure commissioning provider, where the building enclosure is within the scope
  • the commissioning progress report at the interval the commissioning plan states
  • the issues log, current at each progress report and at each commissioning meeting
  • the agenda and the minutes of each commissioning meeting
Informational Submittalscheckbox
☑ CxA qualification statement
☐ Building enclosure commissioning provider qualification statement
☑ Commissioning progress reports
☑ Current issues log
☑ Commissioning meeting agendas and minutes

3.3 Closeout Submittals

3.3.1 The CxA shall submit the following before the commissioning process is accepted, and the Contractor shall include them in the closeout package assembled under Closeout ProceduresCloseout ProceduresResolves to the current adopted revision.sync/closeout-procedures:
  • the final commissioning report described under Commissioning Reports
  • the completed functional performance test records and integrated systems test records, signed and dated
  • the issues log in its final state, with every item closed or carried with a responsible party and a date
  • the seasonal and deferred test list in its final state, with the window and the responsible party for each open test
  • the systems manual described under Systems Manual
  • the training verification record
  • the preliminary commissioning report where the adopted energy code or the Authority Having Jurisdiction requires one before the certificate of occupancy
Closeout Submittalscheckbox
☑ Final commissioning report
☑ Functional performance and integrated systems test records
☑ Final issues log
☑ Final seasonal and deferred test list
☑ Systems manual
☑ Training verification record
☐ Preliminary commissioning report for the certificate of occupancy
NOTE The commissioning records are the closeout deliverables most often lost between the CxA and the Owner's bound package, because each party assumes the other holds them. Naming them here as closeout submittals, and requiring the Contractor to carry them into the package under Closeout ProceduresCloseout ProceduresResolves to the current adopted revision.sync/closeout-procedures, is what puts them where the Owner's operators look for them. (3.3.2)

4 Quality Assurance

4.1 Commissioning Authority Engagement

4.1.1 The CxA shall be engaged by the party indicated in the datasheet.
Commissioning Authority Engagementradio
○ Engaged directly by the Owner, independent of the design team and the Contractor
○ Member of the design team or its subconsultant
○ Engaged by the Contractor
NOTE A CxA engaged directly by the Owner answers to the party whose requirements the process verifies, has no stake in whether the design or the installation passes, and is the arrangement the energy codes and the certification programs require above their size thresholds; a CxA on the design team already holds the Basis of Design and the sequences, costs the Owner one fewer contract, and is accepted by the energy codes and the certification programs for buildings below their thresholds, on the condition that the individual did not design the systems being commissioned; a CxA engaged by the Contractor is paid by the party whose work it verifies, is the arrangement of a design-build or a construction-manager-at-risk delivery where the Owner holds one contract, and is accepted by the energy codes where the code states no independence requirement and by the certification programs where the Owner documents the independence of the individual. The energy codes and the certification programs set their thresholds in building floor area and in HVAC system capacity, and the threshold that applies follows from the project. (4.1.2)
4.1.3 Where Adopted Energy CodeAdopted Energy CodeParameterEach project supplies its own value.adopted-energy-code or a certification program the Owner has elected requires the CxA to be independent of the design team or of the Contractor for the project's size, the CxA shall be independent of that party whatever engagement the datasheet selects.
4.1.4 An independent CxA shall be one that is not the Contractor, not a subcontractor or supplier on the project, not the designer of record of any commissioned system, and not an affiliate or subsidiary of any of them, and whose compensation does not depend on the outcome of any test.
4.1.5 Where the CxA is a member of the design team, the individual who leads the commissioning shall not have designed any system within the commissioning scope, and the firm shall name that individual in the qualification statement.
4.1.6 Where the CxA is engaged by the Contractor, the CxA shall report each issue and each test result to the Owner directly and at the same time as to the Contractor, and the Contractor shall not edit, withhold, or delay any commissioning document before it reaches the Owner.
4.1.7 The CxA shall be engaged before the design milestone indicated in the datasheet.
Commissioning Authority Engagement Milestoneradio
○ Before schematic design
○ Before design development
○ Before construction documents
○ Before construction begins
NOTE A CxA engaged before schematic design writes or reviews the Owner's Project Requirements while they still shape the design, and that is the engagement the full process assumes; one engaged before design development reviews the Basis of Design against requirements written without it; one engaged before construction documents reviews drawings whose systems are already selected; one engaged before construction begins receives the design as a finished fact, cannot perform the design-phase reviews, and runs the construction-phase and occupancy-phase process alone. Enhanced commissioning and the certification programs that define it require the design-phase activities, and the engagement milestone follows from whether those activities are within the scope. (4.1.8)

4.2 Commissioning Authority Qualifications

4.2.1 The individual who leads the commissioning shall hold a current credential from the list indicated in the datasheet.
Acceptable Commissioning Lead Credentialscheckbox
Any of:
☑ ASHRAE Building Commissioning Professional (BCxP)
☑ AABC Commissioning Group Certified Commissioning Authority (CxA)
☑ Building Commissioning Association Certified Commissioning Professional (CCP)
☑ NEBB Building Systems Commissioning certified professional
☑ Association of Energy Engineers Certified Building Commissioning Professional (CBCP)
☑ Licensed professional engineer with documented commissioning experience
NOTE The credentials differ in the body that issues them and in whether the holder's firm is also audited: the ASHRAE, Building Commissioning Association, and Association of Energy Engineers credentials certify the individual on examination and documented experience; the AABC Commissioning Group and NEBB credentials certify the individual and accredit the firm, with an audit of its procedures and its instruments; a licensed professional engineer with documented commissioning experience carries no commissioning-specific credential and is accepted on the experience the qualification statement describes. Listing several keeps the field open to more than one firm; narrowing the list to one body narrows the firms that can respond. (4.2.2)
4.2.3 The CxA shall have led the commissioning of systems of each family within the commissioning scope on not fewer than three completed projects, and shall name them in the qualification statement with the size of each and the Owner's contact.
4.2.4 Where the building enclosure is within the commissioning scope, the building enclosure commissioning shall be led by an individual holding a building enclosure commissioning credential or a licensed professional engineer or registered architect with documented building enclosure commissioning experience, who is named in the qualification statement and who is either on the CxA's staff or engaged by the CxA as a subconsultant.
NOTE Enclosure commissioning is a separate discipline from systems commissioning, and a firm qualified for one is not by that fact qualified for the other. The gap is found when an air barrier transition is reviewed by someone who has never seen one fail, which is why the enclosure lead is named and qualified separately. (4.2.5)
4.2.6 Every individual who witnesses a functional performance test on behalf of the CxA shall work under the direction of the commissioning lead and shall be named in the commissioning plan with the systems each is assigned to.

4.3 Commissioning Team and Meetings

4.3.1 The commissioning team shall comprise the Owner's representative, the Owner's operating staff, the CxA, the Engineer of Record, the Contractor, and the subcontractor and the controls contractor for each system within the commissioning scope, and the commissioning plan shall name the individual representing each.
4.3.2 The CxA shall conduct a commissioning kickoff meeting before the construction of the first commissioned system begins, and shall present the commissioning plan, the checklist and test procedure formats, the issues log, and the schedule of commissioning activities at it.
4.3.3 The CxA shall conduct commissioning meetings at the interval the commissioning plan states, not less often than once each month while any commissioned system is under construction, startup, or test, and the issues log shall be a standing agenda item at every meeting.
4.3.4 The Contractor shall give the CxA not less than ten working days' written notice of each functional performance test and each integrated systems test, and shall confirm two working days before the test that the prerequisites under Prerequisites to Functional Performance Testing are met.
4.3.5 The Contractor shall furnish the CxA access to every commissioned system, the operation of the system by the installing trade and the controls contractor during every test, temporary instruments and load where the test procedure calls for them, and the removal and reinstatement of covers and access panels, at no cost to the CxA or the Owner.
NOTE A test the Contractor calls the CxA to witness on a system that is not ready costs a mobilization and a day of the test window, and the cost falls to whoever did not check. The notice and the two-day confirmation put that check on the Contractor, who is the party that knows whether the system is ready. (4.3.6)

5 Commissioning Scope

5.1 Commissioning Scope Level

5.1.1 The commissioning scope level shall be as indicated in the datasheet.
Commissioning Scope Levelradio
● Fundamental, the process the energy code requires
○ Enhanced, the full ANSI/ASHRAE/IES 202 process
NOTE Fundamental commissioning is the process Adopted Energy CodeAdopted Energy CodeParameterEach project supplies its own value.adopted-energy-code requires: the commissioning plan, the construction checklists, the functional performance tests, the preliminary and final reports, the systems manual, and the training, run on the mechanical, service water heating, lighting control, and renewable energy systems the code names. Enhanced commissioning adds the design-phase activities (the review of the Owner's Project Requirements and the Basis of Design, the design reviews, and the review of submittals for commissioned systems), the seasonal tests, the warranty-period review, and the ongoing commissioning plan, and it is the scope the certification programs reward and the scope a complex or a critical building is commissioned under. The fundamental process costs less and ends at the final report; the enhanced process finds the design error before it is built and the seasonal failure before the warranty ends, at the cost of a CxA engaged from the start of design and through the first year of occupancy. Most buildings are commissioned to the scope the energy code requires and no more. (5.1.2)
5.1.3 Where enhanced commissioning is selected, the design-phase reviews, the submittal reviews, the seasonal tests, the warranty-period review, and the ongoing commissioning plan under this standard shall be performed in addition to every activity the fundamental scope includes.
5.1.4 Where fundamental commissioning is selected and Adopted Energy CodeAdopted Energy CodeParameterEach project supplies its own value.adopted-energy-code requires an activity this standard assigns to the enhanced scope, that activity shall be performed.

5.2 Commissioned System Families

5.2.1 The system families within the commissioning scope shall be as indicated in the datasheet, and every system of a selected family on the project shall be commissioned.
Commissioned System Familiescheckbox
☑ Heating, ventilating, air-conditioning, and refrigeration systems
☑ Building automation system
☑ Service water heating and domestic water systems
☑ Lighting control system
☐ Electrical distribution system
☐ Emergency and standby power system
☐ Fire alarm and smoke control systems
☐ Fire suppression systems
☐ Renewable energy and energy storage systems
☐ Building enclosure
☐ Vertical transportation
☐ Process and plant control systems
☐ Communications and security systems
NOTE The families are selected here so that the CxA can price and plan the whole process from one document, and so that a family left out is left out on purpose. The energy codes name the mechanical, service water heating, lighting control, and renewable energy systems, and those are the families nearly every program includes; the electrical distribution, emergency power, fire alarm, and fire suppression families bring the life-safety interlocks into the integrated systems test and are added where the building has an emergency power system or a smoke control system; the enclosure is added where the Owner wants the air barrier and the fenestration verified by a process rather than by the installer; vertical transportation, process control, and communications and security are added on the buildings whose function depends on them, and each brings its own installer's tests into the process as inputs. (5.2.2)
5.2.3 The items of equipment within each selected family shall be those shown on the mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and fire protection equipment schedules.
5.2.4 Where an equipment standard names its equipment as commissioned under this standard, that equipment shall be within the commissioning scope whether or not its family is selected in the datasheet.
5.2.5 The commissioning plan shall list every system of a family not selected, and shall record it as outside the commissioning scope.

6 Owner's Project Requirements and Basis of Design

6.1 Owner's Project Requirements

NOTE The Owner's Project Requirements are the document every later commissioning activity is judged against. They state, in terms that can be measured, what the Owner needs the building to do: the environmental conditions in each type of space, the hours and the manner of occupancy, the energy and water performance, the reliability and the redundancy of each system, the indoor environmental quality, the sustainability goals, the operating staff's capabilities, and the training and the documentation the Owner expects to receive. A functional performance test whose acceptance criterion cannot be traced to this document has no objective basis. (6.1.1)
6.1.2 The Owner's Project Requirements shall be prepared by the party indicated in the datasheet.
Owner's Project Requirements Prepared Byradio
● Commissioning authority, through Owner workshops
○ Owner
○ Design team
NOTE A CxA that prepares the document through workshops with the Owner's stakeholders writes requirements in the measurable form the tests need and is the arrangement ANSI/ASHRAE/IES 202 describes; an Owner that prepares its own document has usually built before and holds a standard that its facilities staff maintain, which the CxA then reviews; a design team that prepares it writes requirements that match the design it intends to produce, which is the arrangement where the CxA is engaged after design begins and the document is reconstructed from the program and the Basis of Design. (6.1.3)
6.1.4 Where the Owner or the design team prepares the Owner's Project Requirements, the CxA shall review the document and shall submit comments identifying each requirement that is not measurable, each system within the commissioning scope for which no requirement is stated, and each requirement that conflicts with another.
6.1.5 The Owner's Project Requirements shall be issued before the Basis of Design is prepared, and shall be reissued at each design milestone at which the Owner approves a change that alters a stated requirement.
6.1.6 The Owner's Project Requirements shall be updated through construction to record each approved change that alters a requirement, so that the acceptance criteria of the functional performance tests match the building being built.

6.2 Basis of Design

6.2.1 The Engineer of Record shall prepare the Basis of Design, describing for each system within the commissioning scope the system selected, the design assumptions, the codes and standards applied, the design conditions, the sequences of operation in narrative form, and the way each system satisfies the Owner's Project Requirements that apply to it.
6.2.2 The CxA shall review the Basis of Design against the Owner's Project Requirements at each design milestone at which it is issued, and shall submit comments identifying each requirement the design does not address and each design decision that conflicts with a requirement.
6.2.3 The Engineer of Record shall respond in writing to each comment on the Basis of Design before the next design milestone, stating whether the design was changed, the requirement was changed, or the comment was not accepted and why.
6.2.4 The Basis of Design shall be updated at each design milestone and at the completion of construction documents, and the final Basis of Design shall be delivered to the CxA for the systems manual.
NOTE The Basis of Design is where the design team records why each system is what it is. Without it, the CxA reviewing a sequence of operation cannot tell a deliberate decision from an oversight, and the operator inheriting the building ten years later cannot tell which setpoints are load-bearing. (6.2.5)

7 Commissioning Plan

NOTE The commissioning plan is the document that organizes the process: it names the team, lists the systems, assigns each activity to a party, sets the schedule, and fixes the formats every checklist, test, and report will use. It is revised as the project develops, because the system list, the schedule, and the responsibilities all sharpen between the first issue and the first test. (7.1)
7.2 The CxA shall prepare and maintain the commissioning plan, and the plan shall include the commissioning scope level and the system families selected, the list of every system within the scope, the commissioning team with the individual representing each party, the responsibility of each party for each commissioning activity, the schedule of commissioning activities relative to the construction schedule, the formats of the construction checklists, the functional performance test procedures, the issues log, and the reports, the sampling basis for identical equipment, the seasonal and deferred test list, the integrated systems test scenarios, and the training verification plan.
7.3 The commissioning plan shall be issued at the milestones indicated in the datasheet, and each issue shall record the changes from the previous one.
Commissioning Plan Issue Milestonescheckbox
☐ Design development
☑ Construction documents
☑ Before the commissioning kickoff meeting
☑ Before the first functional performance test
☑ With the final commissioning report
NOTE A plan issued with the construction documents is bid with them, so that the Contractor prices the checklists, the test support, and the meetings it will be held to; the issue before the kickoff meeting adds the names and the construction schedule; the issue before the first test adds the final procedures and the sampling basis; the issue with the final report records what was done. A design development issue is added under enhanced commissioning, where the plan also organizes the design-phase reviews. (7.4)
7.5 The commissioning plan shall name the party that coordinates the integrated systems test, and where a smoke control system or an emergency power system is within the commissioning scope and no party is named, the CxA shall coordinate it.
7.6 Where the Contractor's construction schedule and the commissioning plan disagree on the sequence or the duration of a commissioning activity, the Contractor shall revise the construction schedule to carry the commissioning activities, with their prerequisites and their durations, as scheduled activities.
NOTE A commissioning activity that is not on the construction schedule has no float and no predecessor, and it is performed in whatever time is left between mechanical completion and occupancy. Carrying each activity on the schedule with its prerequisite is what makes a late balancing report visible as a late functional test. (7.7)

8 Design-Phase Reviews

8.1 Design Reviews

8.1.1 Requirements in this article apply where enhanced commissioning is selected under Commissioning Scope Level, and where Adopted Energy CodeAdopted Energy CodeParameterEach project supplies its own value.adopted-energy-code requires a design review of a commissioned system under the fundamental scope.
8.1.2 The CxA shall review the design documents for each system within the commissioning scope at the milestones indicated in the datasheet, and shall submit comments identifying each departure from the Owner's Project Requirements and the Basis of Design, each sequence of operation that cannot be tested as written, each item of equipment without the access, the instrumentation, or the isolation the functional performance test requires, and each coordination gap between systems that take part in the integrated systems test.
Design Review Milestonescheckbox
☐ Schematic design
☑ Design development
☑ Construction documents at mid-point
☐ Construction documents at completion
NOTE A design development review catches a system selection that cannot meet a requirement while the selection is still open; a mid-point construction documents review catches the sequence of operation that was never written and the test port that was never drawn while the drawings can still change; a review at the completion of construction documents confirms the earlier comments were carried and is the last review before bid; a schematic design review is added where the Owner's Project Requirements were written late and the review is what reconciles them with the design. (8.1.3)
8.1.4 The Engineer of Record shall respond in writing to each design review comment before the next milestone, and the CxA shall record each comment and its response in the issues log.
NOTE The design review is a check of the design against the Owner's requirements and of its testability, not a second design. The CxA states what does not meet a requirement or cannot be tested; the Engineer of Record decides what to change. (8.1.5)

8.2 Submittal Reviews for Commissioned Systems

8.2.1 The submittal reviews in this article apply where enhanced commissioning is selected under Commissioning Scope Level.
8.2.2 The CxA shall review the product data, the shop drawings, the sequences of operation, the control drawings, and the startup and test plans submitted for each system within the commissioning scope, concurrently with the Engineer of Record's review under Submittal And Quality ProceduresSubmittal and Quality ProceduresResolves to the current adopted revision.sync/submittal-and-quality-procedures, and shall submit comments to the Engineer of Record identifying each departure from the Owner's Project Requirements and each item the functional performance test procedure depends on that the submittal does not state.
8.2.3 The CxA's review shall not replace or delay the Engineer of Record's review, and the Engineer of Record's action on a submittal shall govern.
8.2.4 The CxA shall review the operation and maintenance data for the building automation system and for each commissioned system under Operation And Maintenance DataOperation and Maintenance DataResolves to the current adopted revision.sync/operation-and-maintenance-data before the functional performance test of that system is scheduled, and shall identify each sequence of operation, setpoint, and alarm limit the test depends on that the data does not state.

9 Construction Checklists

NOTE The construction checklist records that each item of equipment is delivered, installed, connected, and started as its standard requires, before any functional test is attempted on it. A functional test on a system with a sensor unconnected or a shipping stop still in a spring hanger wastes the witnessed test on a failure the checklist would have found at the cost of a walk-through. (9.1)
9.2 The CxA shall prepare a construction checklist for each type of equipment and each system within the commissioning scope, covering delivery and storage, installation, the electrical and control connections, the removal of shipping braces, temporary restraints, and spring hanger stops, the identification, the access and the clearances, the startup, and the prerequisite tests the equipment standard requires.
9.3 The Contractor shall complete, sign, and date the construction checklist for each item of equipment and each system as the work is performed, with the installing trade, the controls contractor, and the electrical trade each completing and signing the part of the checklist that covers its work.
9.4 Every item of equipment within the commissioning scope shall have a completed and signed construction checklist before functional performance testing of the system it serves begins, and the checklist stage shall not be sampled.
9.5 The CxA shall review every completed construction checklist and shall verify in the field the share of the checklist items indicated in the datasheet, selected by the CxA across every type of equipment and every trade.
Construction Checklist Items Field-Verified by the CxArange
Not less than
%
510202550100
NOTE The field verification is a check on the checklist, not a second checklist. A sample across every trade and every type of equipment finds the trade whose checklists are signed without being performed, and a sample that finds one is expanded under the next clause; a larger share costs the CxA's time on items the Contractor has already signed for, and is specified where the Owner has reason to doubt the checklists or where the systems are critical. (9.6)
9.7 Where the CxA's field verification finds a checklist item signed as complete that is not, the CxA shall verify every item on that checklist and shall double the share verified on the other checklists of the same trade, and the cost of the expanded verification shall be borne by the Contractor.
9.8 Startup of each item of equipment shall be performed by the party its equipment standard names, and the startup report shall be delivered to the CxA before the functional performance test of that equipment is scheduled.

10 Prerequisites to Functional Performance Testing

NOTE The functional performance test proves the operation of a system that is complete, clean, balanced, and under control. Each of those conditions is proved under another standard, and the test under this standard begins when their reports are in hand. Running the test before them produces a result that the balancing or the controls checkout then changes, and the test is run twice. (10.1)
10.2 Functional performance testing of a system shall begin only after the following have been delivered to the CxA for that system, and the CxA shall record the date each was received:
  • the completed and signed construction checklist and the startup report for each item of equipment the system comprises
  • the cleaning, flushing, and passivation report under Hydronic Cleaning And FlushingHydronic System Cleaning and FlushingResolves to the current adopted revision.sync/hydronic-cleaning-and-flushing, where the system is a hydronic system
  • the balancing report under Testing Adjusting And BalancingTesting, Adjusting, and Balancing for HVACResolves to the current adopted revision.sync/testing-adjusting-and-balancing, where the system is an air or a hydronic distribution system
  • the acceptance test report and the written energization release under Electrical Acceptance TestingElectrical Acceptance TestingResolves to the current adopted revision.sync/electrical-acceptance-testing, for each item of electrical distribution equipment the system depends on
  • the field performance test record under Common Work Results ProcessCommon Work Results for Process EquipmentResolves to the current adopted revision.sync/common-work-results-process, where the system is process equipment
  • the certification test reports under Structured CablingStructured Cabling SystemsResolves to the current adopted revision.sync/structured-cabling, where the system depends on the structured cabling plant
  • the point-to-point verification record and the trend configuration under Building Automation SystemBuilding Automation SystemResolves to the current adopted revision.sync/building-automation-system, where the system is controlled by the building automation system
  • the sequences of operation and the controls operation and maintenance data, approved under Operation And Maintenance DataOperation and Maintenance DataResolves to the current adopted revision.sync/operation-and-maintenance-data
  • the system's own acceptance test under its equipment standard, where that standard requires one before commissioning
10.3 The reports received under this article are inputs to the functional performance test, and the CxA shall not repeat the tests they record, shall not withhold the acceptance of the work they record on the basis of the commissioning review, and shall report a discrepancy between a received report and an observed condition in the issues log to the party that issued the report.
10.4 Where the datasheet of Electrical Acceptance TestingElectrical Acceptance TestingResolves to the current adopted revision.sync/electrical-acceptance-testing names the CxA as the energization release authority, the CxA shall issue the release for each item of equipment under that standard's conditions before functional performance testing of any system that item supplies.
10.5 Where a prerequisite report has not been delivered and the Owner directs that testing proceed, the CxA shall record the direction, shall mark each affected test as provisional, and shall repeat the affected tests after the report is delivered at the cost of the party whose report was late.

11 Functional Performance Testing

11.1 Test Procedures

NOTE The functional performance test proves that each system performs across its range of operation as the sequences of operation and the Owner's Project Requirements require: in normal operation, at part load, through each operating mode and schedule, in response to each setpoint and reset, through each safety, alarm, and failure, and through the recovery from each. It is the activity the whole process exists to perform, and it is the basis on which the Owner accepts the operation of each system. (11.1.1)
11.1.2 The CxA shall prepare a written functional performance test procedure for each system within the commissioning scope, and each procedure shall state the system and the equipment tested, the Owner's Project Requirements and the sequences of operation the test verifies, the prerequisites and the instruments, the party that performs each step and the party that witnesses it, each step with the action taken, the expected response, and the acceptance criterion, the data recorded at each step, and the space for the result, the signature, and the date of each step.
11.1.3 Each procedure shall exercise every mode of operation the sequence of operation states, every setpoint and reset the sequence states, the response to the loss and the restoration of each utility and each communication path the system depends on, every safety and every alarm, and the manual overrides and the return from them.
11.1.4 Where a function cannot be exercised by operating the system in the condition that exists on the day of the test, the procedure shall state the method by which the function is simulated, the sensor or the signal overridden to simulate it, and the restoration of that override at the end of the step, and every override shall be recorded and cleared before the test is signed.
NOTE A simulated condition tests the logic and not the physics. An override that commands the outside air temperature to 95 °F proves the economizer locks out on the command; it does not prove the economizer dampers close or that the mixed air reaches the setpoint. The procedure states which it is proving, and the seasonal test under this standard is where the physics is proved. (11.1.5)
11.1.6 The procedure for a system controlled by the building automation system shall verify each sequence as the controls contractor programmed it under Building Automation SystemBuilding Automation SystemResolves to the current adopted revision.sync/building-automation-system, and shall record each setpoint, time delay, and limit at its as-left value.
11.1.7 The procedure for a system whose equipment standard states a test it receives under this standard shall carry that test as a step, with the equipment standard's acceptance criterion.

11.2 Conduct and Witnessing

11.2.1 The Contractor's installing trade and the controls contractor shall operate each system through its procedure, and the CxA shall direct the test, witness each step, verify each response, and record each result on the procedure.
11.2.2 The CxA shall witness every step of the functional performance test of every system and every item of equipment that is not one of a group of identical units, and shall witness the sampled share of identical units under Sampling of Identical Equipment.
11.2.3 Where the Contractor's test technician records a result the CxA did not witness, the result shall be marked as unwitnessed on the procedure and shall not count toward the acceptance of the system.
11.2.4 Every instrument the CxA uses to produce a recorded value shall be calibrated within the twelve months before the test, and the instrument and its calibration date shall be recorded on the procedure.
11.2.5 Where the CxA and the Contractor disagree whether a response meets its acceptance criterion, the Engineer of Record shall make the initial determination, and the step shall be recorded as open until the determination is made.
11.2.6 The CxA shall sign each completed procedure, and the Contractor's representative shall countersign it, and a procedure with any step open shall be signed as incomplete with each open step listed in the issues log.

11.3 Sampling of Identical Equipment

11.3.1 Where a system comprises identical units of terminal equipment, including air terminal units, fan-coil units, unit heaters, heat pumps, exhaust fans, lighting control zones, and other equipment the commissioning plan identifies as identical, the first unit of each type shall be tested in full, and the share of the remaining units indicated in the datasheet, selected by the CxA, shall be tested.
Share of Identical Units Functionally Testedrange
Not less than
%
1020253350100
NOTE Testing every one of several hundred identical terminal units costs a test season and finds the same faults the sample finds; a sample tests the installation and the programming the units share and relies on the next clause to expand where the sample finds a fault. A smaller share is specified where the units are simple and the count is large; every unit is specified where the units serve critical spaces, where the certification program the Owner has elected requires it, or where the count is small enough that the sample saves nothing. ASHRAE Guideline 1.1 describes the sampling and the expansion this article follows. (11.3.2)
11.3.3 Where a sampled unit fails its test, the CxA shall test a second sample of the same size from the same type, and where any unit of the second sample fails, every remaining unit of that type shall be tested, with the cost of the expanded testing borne by the Contractor.
11.3.4 Equipment that is not identical, equipment that serves a critical function the Owner's Project Requirements identify, and each central plant and air handling system shall be tested in full and shall not be sampled.

11.4 Retesting

11.4.1 Where a system fails a step of its procedure because of a deficiency in the installation, the programming, or the balancing, the Contractor shall correct the deficiency, and the CxA shall repeat the failed steps and every step whose result the correction could change.
11.4.2 The CxA shall witness the first retest of each failed test at no additional cost to the Owner, and the cost of the CxA's time for each further retest of the same test, and of each mobilization for a retest the system is found not ready for, shall be borne by the Contractor.
11.4.3 Where a system fails a step because of a design deficiency, the Engineer of Record shall direct the correction, and the cost of the retest shall be borne as the contract documents direct for a design change.
11.4.4 Where the CxA, the Contractor, and the Engineer of Record disagree whether a deficiency arose from the installation, the programming, the balancing, or the design, the Engineer of Record shall make the initial determination.
NOTE The unassigned cost in a commissioning program is the retest. A test fails, the Contractor fixes the fault, and the CxA comes back; the second visit is in no one's price unless the standard says whose it is. One retest in the CxA's fee and every further one on the Contractor is the division most Owners' contracts settle on, and naming it here is what keeps it from being argued at the third visit. (11.4.5)

12 Integrated Systems Testing

12.1 Integrated Test Scenarios

NOTE Integrated systems testing verifies the behavior no single system exhibits alone: the smoke control response to a fire alarm, the transfer of the building to emergency power and back, the shutdown of air handling on a duct smoke detector, the recall of elevators, the release of door hardware, and the demand response of the building automation system. These tests fail more often for organizational reasons than technical ones, because each contractor assumes another party is running the scenario. (12.1.1)
12.1.2 The CxA shall coordinate and direct the integrated systems test of the scenarios indicated in the datasheet, with the installing trade of every system that takes part present and operating its system.
Integrated Systems Test Scenarioscheckbox
☐ Fire alarm initiation through the smoke control sequence
☐ Fire alarm initiation through air handling shutdown and damper closure
☐ Fire alarm initiation through elevator recall and door hardware release
☐ Loss of normal power through emergency power transfer and retransfer
☐ Loss of normal power through the restart of mechanical systems
☐ Loss of the building automation network and recovery
☐ Loss of chilled water or heating water and recovery
☐ Demand response and load shed through the building automation system
☐ Stairwell pressurization with doors opened and closed
☐ Refrigerant leak detection through ventilation and equipment shutdown
NOTE The scenarios are selected from the interlocks the building has. A building with a smoke control system, an emergency generator, and elevators has the first four scenarios whether or not they are selected, because the codes require those tests before occupancy; the network loss, utility loss, and demand response scenarios are commissioning tests, selected where the Owner wants the building's recovery from a failure proved rather than assumed; the refrigerant scenario applies where a machinery room has leak detection. Each scenario is written as a procedure under Test Procedures, with the event that initiates it, the response each system makes, and the order the responses occur in. (12.1.3)
12.1.4 Each integrated systems test shall begin only after the functional performance test of every system that takes part in it has been completed and signed.
12.1.5 Where an equipment standard requires that the CxA witness an integrated test of its equipment, including the integrated test under Battery Energy Storage SystemsBattery Energy Storage SystemsResolves to the current adopted revision.sync/battery-energy-storage-systems, the CxA shall witness it and shall record it as a step of the integrated systems test.
12.1.6 The NFPA 92 acceptance test of the smoke control system under Smoke Control SystemsSmoke Control SystemsResolves to the current adopted revision.sync/smoke-control-systems, the NFPA 110 integrated acceptance test of the emergency power system under Emergency And Standby PowerEmergency and Standby Power SystemsResolves to the current adopted revision.sync/emergency-and-standby-power, and the emergency lighting transfer test under Emergency And Egress LightingEmergency and Egress LightingResolves to the current adopted revision.sync/emergency-and-egress-lighting shall be scheduled so that they are performed as steps of the integrated systems test, witnessed by the CxA, and recorded once.
NOTE Each of the life-safety systems carries its own acceptance test under its own standard, and each of those tests exercises the same interlocks the integrated systems test exercises. Running them as steps of one test, with every trade present, performs each test once instead of three times and proves the chain from the initiating event to the last response as one system. (12.1.7)

12.2 Integrated Testing Under NFPA 4

12.2.1 Where Adopted Building CodeAdopted Building CodeParameterEach project supplies its own value.adopted-building-code requires integrated testing of fire protection and life safety systems in accordance with NFPA 4, the integrated testing agent shall be the party indicated in the datasheet.
NFPA 4 Integrated Testing Agentradio
○ Commissioning authority
○ Fire protection engineer engaged by the Owner
○ Agent engaged by the Contractor
NOTE NFPA 4 requires an integrated testing agent with the qualifications it states, and the standard does not decide who that is. A CxA that serves as the agent runs the life-safety scenarios as part of the integrated systems test it already directs, with one plan, one log, and one report, on the condition that the CxA's staff hold the fire protection qualifications NFPA 4 requires; a fire protection engineer engaged by the Owner brings those qualifications where the CxA's staff do not hold them, and is the arrangement of a high-rise or an assembly building whose fire protection systems are complex; an agent engaged by the Contractor is accepted where the adopted code and the Authority Having Jurisdiction accept it, and is the arrangement where the fire alarm contractor's engineer has performed the role on the Owner's other buildings. (12.2.2)
12.2.3 The integrated test plan NFPA 4 requires shall be a part of the commissioning plan, and the integrated systems test scenarios that exercise fire protection and life safety systems shall be performed under that plan whatever party serves as the integrated testing agent.
12.2.4 Where the integrated testing agent is not the CxA, the CxA shall witness the integrated test, shall receive the integrated test report as an input, and shall carry each deficiency the test finds in the issues log.
12.2.5 The integrated testing agent shall deliver the integrated test report NFPA 4 requires to the Authority Having Jurisdiction and to the CxA before the certificate of occupancy is requested, and the Contractor shall include it in the closeout package under Closeout ProceduresCloseout ProceduresResolves to the current adopted revision.sync/closeout-procedures.

13 Building Enclosure Commissioning

13.1 Requirements in this article apply where the building enclosure is selected as a commissioned system family under Commissioned System Families.
NOTE Building enclosure commissioning verifies that the air barrier is continuous, that the water-resistive barrier and the fenestration keep water out, and that the thermal envelope performs as designed, by a process that runs from the design review through the field tests, rather than by the installer's own inspection alone. ASTM E2813 defines the process at two levels, and this article follows it. (13.2)
13.3 The building enclosure commissioning process shall be performed at the ASTM E2813 level indicated in the datasheet.
Building Enclosure Commissioning Levelradio
○ Fundamental, per ASTM E2813
○ Enhanced, per ASTM E2813
NOTE The fundamental level under ASTM E2813 reviews the enclosure design and the submittals, prepares the enclosure construction checklists, observes the enclosure construction, and witnesses the field tests the enclosure standards require; the enhanced level adds the review of the Owner's Project Requirements for the enclosure, the design reviews at each milestone, the mockup review, the field testing beyond what the enclosure standards require, and the warranty-period review of the enclosure. The fundamental level is the level the certification programs accept for the enclosure; the enhanced level is specified where the enclosure is complex, the climate is severe, or the building's use does not tolerate a leak. (13.4)
13.5 The building enclosure commissioning provider shall review the enclosure design documents and the enclosure submittals at the milestones the Design Reviews article requires, and shall identify each transition between enclosure assemblies for which no detail shows the continuity of the air barrier, the water-resistive barrier, and the thermal insulation.
13.6 The building enclosure commissioning provider shall prepare a construction checklist for each enclosure assembly, shall observe the installation of each assembly at the stage its checklist requires and before it is covered, and shall record each observation in the issues log.
13.7 The building enclosure commissioning provider shall witness the field tests each enclosure standard requires, including the whole-building air leakage test under Air BarriersAir BarriersResolves to the current adopted revision.sync/air-barriers and the field water penetration tests under Glazed Curtain WallsGlazed Curtain WallsResolves to the current adopted revision.sync/glazed-curtain-walls, Aluminum Entrances And StorefrontsAluminum Entrances and StorefrontsResolves to the current adopted revision.sync/aluminum-entrances-and-storefronts, and WindowsWindowsResolves to the current adopted revision.sync/windows, and shall receive each test report as an input.
NOTE The methods, the targets, the testing agencies, and the acceptance of the enclosure field tests are governed by the enclosure standards, and this standard neither restates them nor adds a test to them; the enhanced level under ASTM E2813 adds tests through the enclosure standards' own datasheets. (13.8)
13.9 The building enclosure commissioning provider shall deliver an enclosure commissioning report as a part of the final commissioning report, recording each review, each observation, each test witnessed, and each issue and its resolution.

14 Issues Log

NOTE The issues log is the one record of everything the process found and what became of it. A commissioning report delivered without it is accepted by the Owner and by the Authority Having Jurisdiction, after which the open items are never tracked, and that is the failure this standard exists to prevent. (14.1)
14.2 The CxA shall maintain an issues log from the first design review through the end of the warranty-period review, and shall enter in it every deficiency, every departure from the Owner's Project Requirements, every unresolved review comment, and every open test step the process finds.
14.3 Each entry in the issues log shall record the date found, the system and the equipment, the description of the issue, the document or the test that found it, the party responsible for its resolution, the resolution proposed, the date resolution is due, the resolution made, the date the CxA verified the resolution, and the status.
14.4 The party responsible for an issue shall respond in writing within ten working days of the entry, stating the resolution proposed and the date it will be complete, unless the commissioning plan states a different period.
14.5 The CxA shall verify the resolution of each issue before closing it, by retest where the issue was found by a test and by observation where it was found by review or by inspection, and no issue shall be closed on the responsible party's statement alone.
14.6 Where the responsible party disputes an issue, the Engineer of Record shall make the initial determination, and the issue shall remain open until the determination is made.
14.7 The CxA shall issue the current issues log with each progress report, at each commissioning meeting, and with the preliminary and final commissioning reports, and shall deliver the log in an editable format the Owner can continue to maintain after the process ends.
NOTE An issue that is closed on the Contractor's word is an issue that is found again by the operator. Verification by the CxA, by retest where the issue came from a test, is the cost of a log the Owner can rely on. (14.8)

15 Seasonal and Deferred Testing

NOTE Some functions cannot be tested when the building is finished, because the condition they respond to does not exist: the heating sequence of a building completed in summer, the full cooling load of a building completed in winter, the economizer changeover in either, and the response to an occupancy the building does not yet have. These tests are deferred to the condition they need, and they are the obligation most often forgotten in the whole process. (15.1)
15.2 Seasonal testing shall be performed on the basis indicated in the datasheet.
Seasonal Testingradio
○ Not included
○ Deferred tests in the season not available at substantial completion
○ Tests in both the heating and the cooling design seasons
NOTE Deferred testing in the one season not available at completion proves the functions the functional performance test simulated, and is the basis the certification programs and most enhanced commissioning programs follow; testing in both design seasons proves the building at its peak heating and its peak cooling whatever season it was finished in, at the cost of a second mobilization, and is specified where the functional performance test was performed in a mild season or where the Owner's Project Requirements state a performance at the design condition; no seasonal testing leaves the simulated results as the final results, and is the basis of the fundamental scope where the energy code requires none. (15.3)
15.4 Where seasonal testing is included, the CxA shall identify every functional performance test step whose function was simulated rather than exercised, and shall list it on the seasonal and deferred test list with the condition the retest waits for.
15.5 The deferred test of each function shall be performed within the first occurrence of its condition after substantial completion, and in every case within twelve months of substantial completion, with the Contractor's installing trade and the controls contractor present as for the original test.
15.6 The Contractor's obligation to support each deferred test, and to correct each deficiency it finds, shall survive substantial completion and final payment until the test is performed and its issues are closed.
15.7 Where the Authority Having Jurisdiction issues the certificate of occupancy with deferred tests open, the preliminary commissioning report shall list each open test, its condition, its window, and the responsible party, and the final commissioning report shall record each test's result.
15.8 The CxA shall record each deferred test on the same procedure as the original test, marked as the seasonal test, and shall enter each deficiency it finds in the issues log.

16 Training Verification

NOTE The delivery of operator training, its duration, the notice before each session, and its recording are governed by Closeout ProceduresCloseout ProceduresResolves to the current adopted revision.sync/closeout-procedures, and the training agenda and the sign-off sheets are retained in the operation and maintenance package under Operation And Maintenance DataOperation and Maintenance DataResolves to the current adopted revision.sync/operation-and-maintenance-data. This standard governs what is verified: that the training the Owner's Project Requirements call for was planned, delivered, and understood. (16.1)
16.2 Training shall be required for every system within the commissioning scope, delivered under Closeout ProceduresCloseout ProceduresResolves to the current adopted revision.sync/closeout-procedures by the parties that standard names.
16.3 The CxA shall review the training plan for each commissioned system against the Owner's Project Requirements and the systems manual before the first session, and shall identify each system, sequence, and operating mode the plan does not cover.
16.4 The CxA shall verify the delivery of training by the activities indicated in the datasheet, and shall record the verification in the training verification record.
Training Verification Activitiescheckbox
☑ Review of the training plan against the Owner's Project Requirements
☑ Attendance at the sessions the training verification plan names
☑ Review of the attendance records and sign-off sheets
☐ Review of the training recordings
☐ Operator demonstration of each commissioned system after training
16.5 The training verification plan shall name the sessions the CxA attends, and the CxA shall attend the sessions on the building automation system and on each central plant whatever sessions the plan adds.
16.6 Where an operator demonstration is selected, the Owner's operating staff shall operate each commissioned system through its normal startup, its scheduled modes, its manual override, and its alarm response, with the CxA witnessing, and each function the staff cannot perform shall be entered in the issues log for a further session at the Contractor's cost.
NOTE A training session that is delivered is not a training session that taught anyone. Attendance by the CxA, and the demonstration where it is selected, are the only verification that distinguishes the two; the sign-off sheet proves attendance and nothing more. (16.7)

17 Systems Manual

NOTE The systems manual is the one document that tells the operator how the building was meant to work: the requirements it was built to, the design that met them, the sequences and setpoints it was commissioned at, and the tests that proved it. The operation and maintenance manuals tell the operator how to run each product; the systems manual tells the operator how the products were made into a building, and it is the document ASHRAE Guideline 1.4 describes. (17.1)
17.2 The CxA shall compile the systems manual, and it shall include the contents indicated in the datasheet.
Systems Manual Contentscheckbox
☑ Final Owner's Project Requirements
☑ Final Basis of Design
☑ System descriptions and single-line schematics for each commissioned system
☑ Record sequences of operation with as-left setpoints, schedules, and limits
☑ Operating procedures for normal, seasonal, emergency, and manual operation
☑ Reference to the operation and maintenance manuals by system
☑ Final commissioning report
☑ Training materials and the training verification record
☐ Ongoing commissioning plan with the trends and the review interval
17.3 The systems manual shall reference the operation and maintenance manuals delivered under Operation And Maintenance DataOperation and Maintenance DataResolves to the current adopted revision.sync/operation-and-maintenance-data by system and by location in the package, and shall not reproduce them.
17.4 The record sequences of operation in the systems manual shall be the sequences as programmed and as left at the end of functional performance testing, and where the CxA's review finds a difference between the programmed sequence and the sequence in the operation and maintenance data, the CxA shall report the difference to the Engineer of Record and to the Contractor for correction of the data under Operation And Maintenance DataOperation and Maintenance DataResolves to the current adopted revision.sync/operation-and-maintenance-data.
17.5 The Engineer of Record shall furnish the final Basis of Design, and the Contractor shall furnish the record sequences, the as-left setpoints, and the system schematics, to the CxA for the systems manual within thirty days after the last functional performance test.
17.6 The systems manual shall be delivered with the final commissioning report, and where seasonal tests or a warranty-period review are within the scope, it shall be reissued with their results.

18 Commissioning Reports

18.1 Progress Reports

18.1.1 The CxA shall issue a commissioning progress report at the interval the commissioning plan states, not less often than once each month while any commissioned system is under construction, startup, or test, recording the activities performed, the tests completed and their results, the issues opened and closed, the deferred tests, and the activities scheduled for the next period.

18.2 Preliminary and Final Reports

18.2.1 Where Adopted Energy CodeAdopted Energy CodeParameterEach project supplies its own value.adopted-energy-code or the Authority Having Jurisdiction requires a commissioning report before the certificate of occupancy, the CxA shall issue a preliminary commissioning report before the certificate is requested, recording each test completed, each test deferred with its window, and each open issue with its responsible party and its due date.
18.2.2 The CxA shall issue the final commissioning report after the last functional performance test and the last integrated systems test, and the report shall include a summary of the process and its results, the commissioning plan as finally issued, the Owner's Project Requirements and the Basis of Design as finally issued, the completed construction checklists, the completed functional performance and integrated systems test procedures with their results, the issues log with the disposition of every item, the seasonal and deferred test list with the status of every test, the training verification record, the enclosure commissioning report where the enclosure was commissioned, and the recommendations for the operation of each system.
18.2.3 The final commissioning report shall state for each system within the commissioning scope whether it meets the Owner's Project Requirements, and for each system that does not, shall name the requirement, the shortfall, and the open issue that records it.
18.2.4 The final commissioning report shall be delivered within the number of days after the last functional performance test indicated in the datasheet.
Final Report Delivery After the Last Functional Performance Testrange
Not more than
days
1430456090
NOTE A short delivery period gets the report to the Owner while the Contractor is still on site to close the issues it lists, at the cost of a report compiled under pressure; a longer period lets the CxA compile a large program's records and wait for the last retest, and leaves the Owner operating on the progress reports and the issues log for that period. The report is reissued after the seasonal tests and the warranty-period review where those are within the scope, so the first issue need not wait for them. (18.2.5)
18.2.6 Where seasonal testing or a warranty-period review is within the scope, the CxA shall reissue the final commissioning report after the last of them, recording their results and the final state of the issues log.

18.3 Report Formats

18.3.1 Every commissioning document, including the plan, the checklists, the procedures, the issues log, the systems manual, and the reports, shall be delivered in the formats indicated in the datasheet.
Commissioning Deliverable Formatscheckbox
☑ Searchable electronic PDF
☑ Native editable files of the issues log, the checklists, and the procedures
☐ Export from the commissioning management software in an open format
☐ Bound hard copies
18.3.2 Where the CxA manages the process in commissioning management software, every record held in it shall be delivered in a format the Owner can open without a license to that software, so that the record remains accessible after the CxA's subscription ends.
NOTE The commissioning record outlives the firm that produced it and the software it was produced in. A record delivered in a proprietary format is lost the day the subscription ends, and a record delivered as a PDF alone cannot be continued; the editable issues log is the one the Owner's operators keep maintaining. (18.3.3)

19 Warranty-Period Review and Ongoing Commissioning

19.1 Warranty-Period Review

19.1.1 The warranty-period review in this article applies where enhanced commissioning is selected under Commissioning Scope Level.
19.1.2 The CxA shall conduct a warranty-period review of each commissioned system no later than the number of months after substantial completion indicated in the datasheet, and before the end of the correction period under Warranties And BondsWarranties and BondsResolves to the current adopted revision.sync/warranties-and-bonds.
Warranty-Period Review Timing After Substantial Completionrange
Not more than
months
312
Default: 10 months
NOTE The review is held late enough that the building has operated through most of a year and early enough that what it finds is corrected before the correction period ends; ten months is the timing the certification programs require and the one nearly every enhanced program is held to, and an earlier review is held where the correction period is shorter or where the Owner wants the findings before a seasonal test. (19.1.3)
19.1.4 The warranty-period review shall include the review of the trend data the building automation system has recorded over not less than the four weeks before the review, a meeting with the Owner's operating staff on the operation of each commissioned system, a walk-through of each central plant and each mechanical room, and the review of every issue the operating staff have logged since occupancy.
19.1.5 The CxA shall record each deficiency the warranty-period review finds in the issues log, shall deliver the log to the Owner and to the Contractor, and the Contractor shall correct each deficiency that is a defect in its work under the correction period and the warranties administered under Warranties And BondsWarranties and BondsResolves to the current adopted revision.sync/warranties-and-bonds.
19.1.6 The CxA shall deliver a warranty-period review report recording the findings, the issues, and the recommendations for the continued operation of each system, and shall reissue the final commissioning report and the systems manual with it.

19.2 Monitoring-Based Commissioning

19.2.1 Monitoring-based commissioning shall be provided on the basis indicated in the datasheet.
Monitoring-Based Commissioningradio
● Not included
○ Included through the end of the correction period
19.2.3 Where monitoring-based commissioning is included, the systems manual shall include an ongoing commissioning plan stating the points trended, the analyses performed, the review interval, and the party that performs the review after the correction period ends.
NOTE Monitoring-based commissioning finds the fault that develops after the tests, the economizer that drifted, the schedule that was overridden and never restored, and the simultaneous heating and cooling that the functional test never saw, at the cost of the CxA's review time through the first year and the trend capacity the building automation system has to carry. It is included where the Owner has the staff to act on what it finds; where the Owner does not, the ongoing commissioning plan in the systems manual records what to trend for the day it does. (19.2.4)

20 Commissioning Services Warranty

20.1 The CxA shall warrant that each test was performed in accordance with its procedure and this standard, that every recorded value is the value observed, and that the instruments the CxA used were calibrated as this standard requires on the dates recorded.
20.2 Where a test performed under this standard is later shown to have been performed with an uncalibrated instrument, against a criterion other than the one the procedure states, or with an override left in place, the CxA shall repeat the test at no cost to the Owner at the next opportunity the Owner makes available.
20.3 Commissioning shall not extend, reduce, or alter the warranty on any system or item of equipment, and a defect commissioning finds shall be corrected under the installation or equipment warranty that covers it and under the correction period administered under Warranties And BondsWarranties and BondsResolves to the current adopted revision.sync/warranties-and-bonds.
20.4 The Contractor's obligation to support deferred and seasonal tests, to correct the deficiencies they find, and to resolve each issue the issues log assigns to it shall survive substantial completion, final completion, and final payment until each is discharged under this standard.

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"Total Building Commissioning," SynC Standards, revision 4. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Source: https://synergyinconstruction.com/standards/general/commissioning. Reference material only; not professional engineering advice and provided without warranty. Verify against governing codes and have a licensed professional review before use.