Specifying Cx and Cx Roles

September 28, 2020
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Quality, Consequences and the Construction Industrial Complex (part 254).

On the basis that it is difficult for design teams to articulate, differentiate and specify the appropriate commissioning scope of work, this post is dedicated to all building design teams. Assuming your building is mission critical, high performance and expensive, e.g. Data Centre, Hospital, Bio Lab etc. this is what I recommend is specified for building commissioning.

However, residential, hotels and suburban offices are not in this discussion as no one really cares about their performance post occupancy. Residential, hotels and suburban offices are basic “code” buildings.

The Map below details:

1. Commissioning specialisms
2. Relevant commissioning codes to be cited in the specification
3. Relevant commissioning certifications to be cited in the specification

Building Systems Commissioning Map

This Map can be downloaded in PDF at https://bldwhisperer.com/free-downloads/

When specifying building commissioning it is important to be crystal clear on who does what. The table below breaks down the relevant project team member roles assuming commissioning is specified per the map above.

Building Systems Commissioning Roles

This table can be downloaded in PDF at https://bldwhisperer.com/free-downloads/

Explicitly specifying requirements and roles is important because there is a hard reality in building contracting that goes like this:

Should = recommended good practice but not mandatory.
In reality Should = Won’t
Also, in reality May = Never, no way will this be done

Specifications must be precise with zero ambiguity. Do not use the words Should or May. To quote Bradley Cooper’s character in War Dogs, design team, DO YOUR JOB!