By George E. Martin, The NEBB Professional – Q2 2024 Edition
“It’s ready”
The commissioning of this project began in an odd way. I received a call from the soon-to-be tenant of the site saying that the landlord had reported that construction of the space had been substantially completed and that they could begin to occupy the space. More interestingly still, the landlord would begin charging rent in two weeks per the agreement. I was told “They say ‘It’s ready’, but we’re not so sure. We were hoping you could come by and verify things for us.” Having been in the TAB industry, my first question was whether they had a balancing report. The response? “We don’t have a copy of the balancing report, but they tell us our floors have been balanced and the landlord is the one who will be receiving the report. They keep telling us ‘It’s ready.’” Having heard that phrase many times before, and not knowing what kind of situation I would be walking into, I scheduled a date for the site visit and mentally prepared for a new adventure.
The First Site Visit
On arrival, my team and I immediately realized the reason for the future tenant’s concern. There was no way this space was ready to be occupied. Exposed wiring was hanging down in multiple places from the openings left behind by missing ceiling tiles. The space was still littered with construction debris. There were even missing doors to some of the closets! In short, the space was visibly still in the thick of its construction phase.
Still, I am a TAB guy, so the focus of my attention turned farther upward – to the ductwork. According to our client, the space had been balanced and the landlord was expecting a TAB report within a few days. So I go to the nearest thermostat to see if I could lower the set points and hear an increase in airflow.
I walk to the nearest wall and confirm what you likely already suspect – the thermostats had no power. Got it. Maybe the TAB contractor had connected directly to the VAV boxes to calibrate them. I find a nearby ladder and start poking my head above the ceiling to see what I can find. Now, of course the VAVs had covers on them, and so-called T’s were installed on the pressure lines so it was completely possible that the VAVs had been calibrated by pressure drop and the outlets had been balanced downstream, but given everything else I had seen onsite, I felt compelled to make sure. I tugged a bit on the lines and heard a rattling sound come from inside the box. Uh-oh. I pulled out my screwdriver and removed the panel.
The VAV I was checking had no “guts”, no internal controls. After tugging on the hoses a bit more, they pulled clear out of the box, not being connected to anything. At that point, I knew we could not assume anything had been done. After checking multiple VAV boxes, I verified that all the boxes on the floor were in the same condition. There was no way this space had even started to get balanced. The tenant’s concerns were more than justified.
As my team and I progressed through the remaining 5 floors in the contract space, we noticed many more issues. Exhaust fans were sitting on the ceiling grid, lights were hung so low from the ceilings that they would be hit by nearby doors being opened, and flexible duct connections to the ceiling diffusers were angled and bent in such a way that would inhibit almost any airflow from
We noticed a number of additional issues and presented all of these in a comprehensive report to the client. I am grateful for having had two teammates with me on this project and for their contributions on that report. We were able to show the client that the site was most certainly not ready to be occupied and that they had good reasons to wait before moving into the space. The legal issues that ensued, however, did not fall under the purview of my team, or any Commissioning service provider.
The Second Site Visit
A few short months later, the same client called again. This time, the landlord was insisting the site was ready to be occupied and demanded that the client move in within the coming weeks. They were looking for help again.
I will not be as detailed in my discussion of what I found on this site visit. In short, the thermostats were powered now and the VAVs all had controllers installed. There were still openings at the seams in the ductwork that would definitely not pass a medium pressure leakage test, but everything had been cleaned and made to look presentable. Was the system balanced, though?
Again, according to the landlord, every system had been balanced and the balancing report was in the landlord’s hand. Was this the case? My scope did not include any TAB verification, but I had good reason to doubt that this was the case. Not only was the landlord’s reputation suspect, but all the dampers were set to the fully open position. There did not appear to have been any adjustments made to the systems. Now, it’s possible that every kink in the flexible duct just so happened to provide exactly the amount of resistance needed to supply each diffuser with precisely the amount of airflow required on the contract drawings – but I (most assuredly along with you) seriously doubted that. There were a few other issues noted and detailed in my next report to the client based on this visit’s findings, but I had no way of knowing how this story would play out. As it turns out, I would never really find out either.
You Need Commissioning
The client had not anticipated a need for Commissioning. They had been told that Commissioning was not needed since everything would be done as outlined in the contract documents anyways. Why pay someone to verify that things had been done right, if everything would be done right regardless, right?
Now, I understand that this is a uniquely nightmarish scenario but, if this could happen in New York City – a city notorious for having litigious occupants – I guarantee you it could happen wherever you are located.
This story highlights why professionals are needed to review newly constructed or renovated spaces and ensure that the end-users are receiving the products they paid for. In this instance, since Commissioning was not budgeted as part of the contract from the beginning, the tenant could not afford to continue bringing my team and I to the site to perform all the other needed aspects of the Commissioning process. They would inevitably be forced to accept the product that their soon-to-be landlord would give them and they would likely end up in some drawn-out legal battle in search of compensation for the issues my team and I had presented in our reports. Would their systems ever be balanced? If so, could the balancing report they might someday get their hands on be reliable? Would their occupants receive sufficient fresh air, an especially important concern in a post-COVID world?
Truly, I do not know. My intention in sharing this story is to highlight the need for Commissioning to be planned for from the beginning of a construction project. Additionally, many of the HVAC issues identified by my team on this project would certainly have been noted on a balancing report issued from a certified firm. Commissioning agents and TAB contractors work shoulder-to-shoulder in ensuring that design requirements are met and that the end-user inhabits a safe and functional space. If you or someone you know is planning a construction project, please do not let that project look anything like the one I have shared here.
Having a commissioning agent from the start of the project is absolutely worth the cost. Yes, you need commissioning!