NOTE Commissioning is a quality-focused process, not a single test event. It begins in pre-design with the Owner's Project Requirements and continues through design review, installation verification, functional performance testing, and post-occupancy operation. The commissioning authority is an advocate for the Owner's interests across all four phases, independent of the parties whose work is being verified. (1.1.1)

NOTE The terms "commissioning authority," "commissioning agent," and "commissioning provider" are used interchangeably across the referenced standards. This Standard uses "commissioning authority (CxA)" exclusively; any of these terms appearing in other Contract Documents shall be read to mean the CxA as defined here. (1.1.4)

NOTE The commissioning scope tier establishes which systems are commissioned and to what depth. Fundamental commissioning is the energy-code minimum; LEED Enhanced and Total Building extend the scope to additional systems and add design-phase and post-occupancy obligations. Select the tier that satisfies the applicable code and certification requirements; when in doubt, the more comprehensive tier governs. (1.2.1)

NOTE Fundamental commissioning covers only the systems mandated by the energy code: mechanical HVAC&R systems above the code thresholds and the lighting controls that serve them. It does not include the building enclosure, normal-power electrical distribution, or specialty systems. (1.2.2)

NOTE LEED Enhanced commissioning extends Fundamental scope to the building enclosure, interior and exterior lighting and lighting controls, domestic hot water, and renewable energy systems, and adds CxA review of design documents, Contractor submittals, and operation and maintenance manuals, plus a post-occupancy review. (1.2.3)

NOTE Total Building commissioning includes all mechanical, electrical, plumbing, enclosure, fire and life-safety, information technology, audiovisual, and vertical-transportation systems, and is typical for healthcare, laboratory, data-center, and federal projects. (1.2.4)

NOTE Testing, adjusting, and balancing field measurement is performed under Testing Adjusting And Balancing; the commissioning authority receives the TAB report as a verified input to functional performance testing but does not perform balancing. (1.4.1)

NOTE Building automation sequence-of-operations programming and point-to-point checkout are performed under Building Automation System and Control Systems Integration; the CxA verifies that sequences are implemented correctly but does not write them. (1.4.2)

NOTE Variable-frequency-drive parameter configuration and drive-level startup are performed under Hvac Variable Frequency Drives; the CxA tests VFDs only as components within integrated system functional testing. (1.4.3)

NOTE Electrical acceptance testing - relay coordination, breaker trip-curve verification, and switchgear hi-pot - is performed under Electrical Acceptance Testing; structured cabling certification is performed under Structured Cabling. The CxA receives these reports as inputs but does not perform the tests. (1.4.4)

NOTE Where a referenced document is an ASHRAE Guideline (advisory) rather than a Standard, the corresponding enforceable acceptance criteria derive from the cited ANSI/ASHRAE/IES Standard listed in the table below. (2.2.1)

NOTE The CxA's independence and credentials are the foundation of a credible commissioning process. An agent who reports to the party whose work is being verified cannot be a neutral advocate for the Owner. The required independence level scales with project size and certification scope. (4.1.1)

NOTE The CxA shall hold a current commissioning credential from a recognized certifying body. The specification shall list acceptable credentials rather than naming a single body, to preserve competitive bidding. (4.1.2)

NOTE For LEED Enhanced commissioning, and for projects with new HVAC systems in buildings exceeding 50,000 ft², the CxA shall be independent of the design and construction teams in accordance with ASHRAE 90.1 Section 8.7. (4.1.4)

NOTE The CxA shall have demonstrated experience commissioning systems of the type and complexity included in this project's scope. (4.1.5)

NOTE Where building enclosure commissioning is included, the CxA shall demonstrate enclosure commissioning experience or engage a qualified BECx subconsultant. Not all commissioning firms have enclosure capability; this is a common scope gap. (4.1.6)

NOTE Engaging the CxA after schematic design is the most damaging schedule error in commissioning. If the CxA arrives during construction, the OPR is missing or incomplete, the BOD was never reviewed against it, and the design-phase value of commissioning is lost permanently. (4.2.2)

NOTE The OPR and BOD are the reference documents against which every later commissioning activity is judged. The OPR states what the Owner needs in measurable terms; the BOD states how the design team intends to meet it. If acceptance criteria are not traceable to these documents, functional testing has no objective basis. (5.1)

NOTE The OPR is a living document; an OPR written in pre-design and never updated produces acceptance criteria that no longer match the building. (5.2.3)

NOTE The commissioning plan is the operating manual for the process: who does what, on which systems, in what sequence, and to what acceptance criteria. It is revised as the project develops because the system list, schedule, and responsibilities all sharpen between design and construction. (6.1)

NOTE Consistent documentation format determines whether the commissioning record is usable after turnover. A scattered set of spreadsheets and paper forms produces a final report that cannot be audited; a structured platform keeps the issues log, checklists, and test records linked. (7.1)

NOTE All commissioning documentation shall be delivered to the Owner in an editable, non-proprietary format in addition to any platform-native format, so that the record remains accessible after the platform subscription ends. (7.3)

NOTE Installation verification - the pre-functional checklist - confirms that equipment is installed, connected, and ready before any functional test is attempted. Skipping it wastes functional-test labor on systems that were never going to pass; an unconnected sensor or a missing belt is found at the checklist stage, not during a witnessed test. (8.1)

NOTE TAB completion is a prerequisite input to HVAC functional testing, not a substitute for it. A specification stating that TAB constitutes commissioning is non-compliant and will fail energy-code review. The certified TAB report shall be received and accepted before HVAC functional testing begins. (8.3.2)

NOTE Building automation point-to-point checkout by the controls contractor is a precondition for functional testing, not the commissioning test itself. The CxA shall verify the controls checkout is complete before functional testing of automated systems begins. (8.3.3)

NOTE Functional performance testing demonstrates that each system performs as intended across its full range of operation, including normal operation, part-load operation, failure and safety modes, and recovery. It is the heart of commissioning and the basis on which systems are accepted. (9.1)

NOTE For LEED Enhanced commissioning, the CxA shall directly witness or direct one hundred percent of functional performance testing. (9.2.4)

NOTE Sampling lets repetitive equipment be tested efficiently without testing every identical unit, while non-repetitive and critical equipment is tested completely. Writing "100% of all equipment" onto a project with hundreds of identical units creates a budget impasse; omitting sampling language entirely leaves the scope undefined. State the rate per equipment category explicitly. (9.3.1)

NOTE Where a sampled unit fails functional testing, the sample shall be expanded for that equipment category. The CxA shall define the expansion in the FPT script - for example, doubling the sample, and testing one hundred percent if the expanded sample also fails. (9.3.3)

NOTE Non-repetitive equipment, equipment serving critical functions, and all equipment under LEED Enhanced commissioning shall be tested at one hundred percent. (9.3.4)

NOTE Where a system fails its first functional test because of a Contractor deficiency, the Contractor shall bear the cost of the CxA's labor to witness the re-test. Failing to assign re-test cost is a common source of dispute; assign it explicitly. (9.4.1)

NOTE Integrated systems testing verifies behavior that no single system exhibits alone - the smoke-control response to a fire alarm, the load transfer from normal to emergency power, the demand-response shed across the building automation system. These tests fail most often not technically but organizationally, because each contractor assumes another party is running the scenario. (9.5.1)

NOTE Some functional tests cannot run at substantial completion because the required ambient condition does not exist - heating-mode testing of a building completed in summer, or full cooling load testing of a building completed in winter. These tests are deferred to the appropriate season, and they are the most commonly forgotten obligation in the entire process. (9.6.1)

NOTE Open deferred test items shall be listed in the final commissioning report with a scheduled completion date and a responsible party, and shall be tracked to closure on a posted deferred-test log. (9.6.4)

NOTE Where the Authority Having Jurisdiction does not require closure before occupancy, the certificate of occupancy may be issued with deferred tests open as a condition of occupancy; the Contractor's obligation to complete them shall survive substantial completion. (9.6.5)

NOTE Building enclosure commissioning (BECx) verifies that the air barrier is continuous, that fenestration resists water infiltration, and that the assembly performs thermally. It is a distinct sub-discipline included with Enhanced and Total Building scope, and it triggers whole-building air-leakage testing under the energy code. (10.1)

NOTE The whole-building air leakage rate shall not exceed 0.40 cfm/ft² at 75 Pa for commercial buildings per the energy code. Healthcare and laboratory projects commonly specify a tighter limit of 0.25 cfm/ft²; the more stringent project-specific target governs where one is set. (10.4.2)

NOTE Commissioning does not end at substantial completion. The occupancy phase confirms that the building actually operates as intended once it is in use, that operators have been trained, and that deferred and seasonal tests are closed. For Enhanced commissioning this phase includes a formal post-occupancy review. (11.1)

NOTE For LEED Enhanced commissioning, the CxA shall conduct a post-occupancy review no later than ten months after substantial completion, review trended operating data, conduct a review meeting with the Owner, and issue a resolution letter documenting outstanding items. (11.3.2)

NOTE Where ongoing commissioning is contracted, the CxA shall establish trends and monitoring points, review the trended data at defined intervals, and report deviations from the Owner's Project Requirements. (11.4.2)

NOTE The final commissioning report is the auditable record of the entire process. A report delivered without an open-items register is accepted by the Owner and the Authority Having Jurisdiction, after which the unresolved items are never tracked - the failure mode this Standard exists to prevent. (12.1)

NOTE The final commissioning report shall be delivered within sixty days of substantial completion unless the commissioning plan establishes a shorter period; thirty days is preferred and ninety days is the outer industry limit. (12.5)

NOTE On renovation of occupied buildings, the commissioning variant is retro-commissioning rather than new-construction commissioning. There is no OPR or BOD to develop; a systems investigation replaces the pre-functional checklists, establishing how the existing systems actually operate before improvements are tested. (13.1)

NOTE On large or multi-phase projects, completed zones are occupied while commissioning of remaining zones continues. The commissioning plan defines the boundary of each phase so that partial occupancy of a finished zone does not depend on testing that is still open elsewhere. (14.1)