What is Building Enclosure Commissioning (BECx)?

Summary: Building Enclosure Commissioning (BECx) is a quality-based process for confirming that a building enclosure meets the documented objectives, standards, and requirements of the Owner.

In short, is the architect designing, and the Contractor constructing the building enclosure that the Owner told them they wanted and paid for?

Introduction

Imagine the unlikely scenario where a building owner is not satisfied with a new building they recently had constructed. 

I addition to some unfortunate window leaks, the Owner thinks that the Architect did not follow the brief. “What is this?!”

The Architect maintains that they provided what the Owner asked for but agrees that leaks are a problem. A problem the Owner should ask the Contractor to explain. “We drew an airtight building that didn’t leak!”

The Contractor argues (imagine that) they followed the Architect’s Contract Documents and that the leak is likely a design flaw. “You drew it, You approved it, We only built it!”

Instead of discussing how to resolve this mess, wouldn’t you instead try and avoid this altogether?

One way to do this is Building Commissioning (BCx), and more specifically, Building Enclosure Commissioning (BECx).

What brought us to this point

Consider the situation above. Let us assume there are no innocent parties in this situation, as is usually the case:

The Owner honestly didn’t know what they wanted. They were, therefore, unable to communicate their goals and wishes to the Architect. The Owner did not provide the Owner’s Project Requirements (OPR).

The Architect did their best with limited information. Given the tight schedule and limited budget, they made decisions they believed the Owner agreed to in earlier design discussions. Nobody documented the changes properly.

The Architect included their standard design details in the construction drawings. They also had a few unusual project-specific modifications with input from product manufacturers, salespeople, and a healthy dose of online searching and such—no peer review of details.

The Contractor hit the ground digging, and construction was well underway before the completion of coordination meetings, let alone meetings with all the subcontractors. No time to talk it through.

Subcontractors were disciplined enough not to question work performed ‘by others’ and had the fantastic ability to install and cover critical details on the days the Architect wasn’t on site. I don’t get paid to ask.

The Architect noted the progress in their field reports. Still, the contract only allowed fees for a periodic (bi-weekly) field visit. Ensuring the smoke detectors align with the lights took most of the time, especially since the engineers didn’t model their beams and duct the right size. Field coordination at its best.

During Value Engineering (VE), the Owner, Architect, and Contractor ‘agreed’ that Mockups and performance testing is relatively expensive and probably overkill for this project. Instead, they decided on a visual mockup with some limited in-place testing. “These are all pretty standard details,” they said. Time is money.

The rest is history.

Building Enclosure Commissioning (BECx) as part of the Building Commissioning (BCx) Process

The Building Enclosure Commissioning (BECx) process is a quality-based process that can be applied to address the shortcoming described above.

The Enclosure Commissioning (BECx) Process is ideally performed as part of a more extensive Building Commissioning Process (BCx). 

The Building Commissioning Process (BCx) includes other building systems such as the mechanical systems where the Building Enclosure Commissioning (BECx) Process only addresses the building enclosure.

The Commissioning Process is managed and performed by a Commissioning Agent (known formerly as the Commissioning Authority) appointed by the Owner.

The Commissioning Agent helps the Owner document their project requirements on a document known as the Owner’s Project Requirements (OPR). 

The content of the OPR depends on the project and the Owner, but more detailed OPR documents better inform the subsequent design and construction stages.

The OPR serves as the standard for all subsequent design and construction decisions and sets the Basis of Design (BOD).

The Architect references the OPR during all phases of design since it sets the BOD. After each design phase, the Architect’s Drawings and Specifications are reviewed and compared to the OPR for compliance. 

Where needed, the OPR is revised accordingly with the Owner’s written permission.

The Commissioning Agent may also review details from a performance standpoint or to assist with identifying areas of concern for the Architect’s attention.

The Commissioning Agent, with other project team members, defines the mockup and testing requirements for the project and confirms that the Contractor includes these in the bid.

During construction, the Commissioning Agent may work with the project team to review Submittals, Shop Drawings, and Requests for Information (RFI) using the OPR and BOD as standards.

The Commissioning Agent also attends meetings scheduled by the Contractor. These include meeting with the project team and sub-contractors for pre-installation meetings before work commences.

Addressing coordination or installation concerns is a priority at these meetings.

The Commissioning Agent also oversees testing as specified and reports the results to the Owner. 

The Commissioning Agent further performs regular field visits to observe ongoing work for compliance with the OPR.

Depending on the project and the OPR, the Commissioning Agent services may extend beyond the end of construction to assist with training, documentation, and maintenance efforts listed in the OPR.

It is essential to remember that the Commissioning Agent is appointed by the Owner to represent the Owner’s interests. 

However, the Commissioning Agent does not relieve either the Architect or the Contractor of their responsibilities to the Owner.

The BECx Agent is part of the team, in addition to traditional design and construction professionals, not instead of.

Summary

This post provided a general overview of Building Enclosure Commissioning (BECx). Should you be interested in more articles on the topic, please comment below. 

The Enclosure Commissioning field is rapidly evolving, with multiple parties trying to stake their claim in this growing and lucrative industry.

Below are helpful references should you want to learn more.

References and Resources for Further Reading:

Whole Building Design Guide – Building Commissioning Article https://www.wbdg.org/building-commissioning

The excellent University of Wisconsin-Madison Building Enclosure Commissioning Certificates program of which the author is a graduate. https://epd.wisc.edu/certificates/building-enclosure-commissioning-certificate/

The National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS) Guideline 3-2012 Building Enclosure Commissioning Process BECx Document. (Free). A must-read if you are interested in Enclosure Commissioning. https://www.wbdg.org/FFC/NIBS/nibs_gl3.pdf

ASHRAE Guideline 0-2019 (Paid) https://www.techstreet.com/ashrae/standards/guideline-0-2019-the-commissioning-process?product_id=2076120

The BECx Collaborative http://www.becx-c.com/

Books to consider

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