Successful Commissioning Process for a Design-Build Project

One of the most important relationships in the commissioning process is between the commissioning agent, the owner and the engineer of record (EOR). A relationship that requires ongoing coordination with common goals defined at the beginning of the project. But what happens during design-build projects when the relationship between the EOR and contractors may result in different goals and can cause a conflict of interest? As an increasing number of projects move towards a design-build approach, the role of an independent commissioning agent grows to unbiased representative of the owner with the project best interest in mind. For the life of a project the commissioning agent's role can be more difficult and important when a project follows a design-build approach due to many factors including: An ongoing and sometimes unmonitored design process Value engineering with more focus on cost than owner's needs Design documents that match what's been installed instead of the other way around. Due to the nature of this process, the key to a successful commissioning project is early involvement of the commissioning agent during the document development, and clearly outlined commissioning process. The result is a successful project within the boundaries of the basis of design, on schedule and on budget. The intent of this article will be to provide a resource for all commissioning agents participating in a design-build project, and to offer guidelines to effectively navigate from design to construction and through occupancy. This article will compare and contrast the commissioning process under traditional design and design-build. It will provide an outline of means and methods for navigating the commissioning process with a design-build project allowing commissioning to be efficient and effective in meeting project energy goals and schedule.