Certification award beforem Grand opening??

No, the credit requires that the plan be complete, and recently we have been asked to provide contracts for completion of the plan, but not the actual data. The owner will be reporting the global use data per the MPRs, but the actual M&V data and report would not be submitted. However, the data certainly sets them up to pursue EBOM in the future.

No, you do not need to wait a year to submit related to EAc5, the M&V credit.

We are rarely the LEED Administrator, so I hope someone would chime in on more of your questions, but as related to MEP aspects, the majority of the engineering credits are done with the design submittal. One more to consider is the commissioning, EAp1 and EAc3 if you are pursuing Enhanced. We try very hard to make sure we are not the last ones ready for the construction submittal, and normally we are not. Many of the MR credits involve a ton of paperwork and analysis, and again I am not an expert on that aspect, so we are normally done with the majority of the commissioning work and have resolved most of the action items within a few weeks of occupancy.

I have been involved in many LEED projects now, and none have been able to get the certification complete “on a schedule” so to speak, as you are trying to do.

Sorry I cannot help you more, and hopefully someone with broader experience will answer the rest of your questions.

You will need to complete and submit all of the documentation typically at least 3 months ahead of the grand opening date. As Scott indicates the hold up is often related to the construction credits assigned to the contractor but in my experience commissioning activities can also drag on after occupancy. So you would need to make sure that your documentation is excellent and that all of the documentation tasks are completed on time. You could reduce the 3 months by responding very quickly to any preliminary review comments and there is the option of paying extra for an expedited review. Best case scenario is still probably 1 to 2 months to complete the process.

Your welcome. As you can see we live for thumbs up!