Commissioning of the building
The complexity of buildings has increased rapidly since the 1950s, for the following reasons in particular:
a) Demand for greater comfort and indoor air quality;
b) The need for a safe working environment;
c) Higher energy efficiency requirements;
d) New building materials and technologies:
e) Technological advances in office and biomedical equipment;
f) Advanced security and telecommunications technologies;
g) New occupant needs, new working methods.
This increased complexity demands a high level of expertise in the design, construction and operation of buildings. Over time, the practices of professionals and contractors have evolved, but the fact remains that it is difficult to ensure faultless operation of all systems from the moment the building is occupied.
The time, effort and cost involved in identifying and resolving problems early in the occupancy period can be considerable. The negative impact on occupants and operations and maintenance (O&M) staff is also an incentive to improve the traditional method of starting up and accepting installations, and to reduce the time taken to run them in. It was in response to this reality that the concept of building commissioning was born and has been developing since the 1980s, in the United States among other countries.
The concept of commissioning has been borrowed from the maritime and industrial fields. For a long time now, ships have been put to the test under controlled conditions, both alongside and at sea, in order to discover faults before they occur in less favourable or even fatal circumstances. The same exercise is also carried out on industrial installations, where malfunctions can be very costly.
The commissioning of buildings has become better known in recent years, and the construction industry is gradually embracing it. It is seen by some as an imperative for hospitals, as well as for research and high-tech laboratories.
The Canadian Standards Association (CSA) has published a standard to this effect, CSA Z318.0-05 Commissioning of Health Care Facilities. Commissioning is now also applied to office buildings and schools: [Association of Higher Education Facilities Officers APPA is actively promoting it in the United States.
Definition
The concept of building commissioning is well defined in the literature, notably by the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Airconditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), the Building Commissioning Association (BCA) and the Canadian Standards Association (CSA).
Commissioning is a structured quality assurance process that is applied throughout the project and is designed to ensure that the building’s systems and assemblies perform according to the designer’s intentions and the Owner’s requirements as soon as the building is
the building is opened.
Commissioning also lays the foundations for ensuring this performance throughout the building’s useful life.
To achieve this, the commissioning process has three components:
Checks and tests to determine whether the systems, as designed and built, are capable of meeting the Owner’s performance requirements;
Training of technical staff to ensure that they can operate and maintain the building in the best possible way;
Drawing up the documentation required to operate the building properly and facilitate any adaptations to the systems.
This definition of building commissioning corresponds to the English term building commissioning.
Benefits
The main benefit of commissioning is that it constitutes the project’s quality assurance program for the functional and technical aspects. It gives the project manager the means to control the achievement of expected performance from the beginning to the end of the project, from the functional and technical program (FTP) to the end of the legal guarantee year, including design, construction, systems start-up, performance verification, staff training, and systems documentation.
More specifically, commissioning can bring the following benefits to the Owner, professionals, and contractors:
Benefits to the Owner
- Increased likelihood of early identification of deficiencies, before construction, system start-up, building occupancy, and warranty year expiration, thereby placing the Owner in a stronger position vis-à-vis responsible stakeholders;
- Reduced change orders;
- Performance of facilities in line with project requirements;
- Improved technical documentation of the building;
- Increased competence of technical staff responsible for operating and maintaining the building;
- Reduced downtime and inconvenience associated with deficiency corrections during occupancy;
- Reduced operating and maintenance costs;
- Better use of energy and reduced related costs;
- Extended useful life, resulting from a well-documented and planned maintenance program;
- Improved indoor environmental quality (air, thermal environment, lighting, etc.).
Reduction of user complaints, absenteeism and nosocomial infections, promoting a productivity improvement.
Benefits for professionals
Synergy with professionals from other disciplines as well as the person responsible for the operation and maintenance of the facilities, which contributes to a refinement of technical solutions:
- Synergy with the contractor and subcontractors.
- Better coordination of plans and specifications and reduced risk of errors due to the document review process;
- Performance of the facilities following the project requirements;
- Better profitability given the reduction of the effort for problem solving during and after construction;
- Positive effect on expertise and reputation.
Finally, this sheet is essential to the maintenance department in order to know the technical specifications of the equipment but especially to be able to access them quickly.
Once the list of critical parts has been completed, there is only one step to take to document the preventive maintenance sheets (which include these same parts anyway) and test them.
This is the stage where people often get discouraged given the workload required to develop this technical catalog. The help of interns, learning in the field, would be a perfect resource for the company while helping to bring technical schools closer to companies (adapting training to the practice and needs of companies).
This technical sheet could very well be designed with a very simple database (Access or File-Maker Pro® software).
The photos could be pasted in afterward or digitized directly. For the diagram, an extract of the plan from a drawing software (e.g.: Autocad®) could be imported.
The advantages include, among others, easy modifications on the files, searches on any information field, automatic data compilations and reference to other files such as manufacturers, suppliers, etc. You can also choose different presentation modes depending on the users (selection of certain fields according to needs).
Internships and subsidies
Several trade schools, technical colleges and universities offer, within their training program, a work-study program. Internships lasting four or eight months are paid and are often eligible for subsidies.
Subsidy possibilities:
- NRC PARI program (up to 75% of salary)
- MICST PSES program (strategic employment support program)
- and others.
This step is essential for the company and very rewarding regardless of whether or not a preventive maintenance program is implemented. It is easy to sell to business leaders because it meets several needs.
