I have a question and a comment. The question first:
Is the cost per square foot fee mentioned in the article for Enhanced Cx intended to represent a cost to do both, or just the added cost to do Enhanced? I am also curious what part of the country this fee is being obtained.
My comment:
Regarding the matrix graphic included in the article, Cx professionals typically do not perform the functional testing, though they may find themselves demonstrating how to do parts of a test to a installing contractor, if it has some particularly difficult requirements. They will typically verify the functional testing, once it has been initially completed by the installing contractors. This verification is usually done by witnessing a repeat of the tests, and in some instances directly participating in measuring the outcomes. The leading members of the committee which wrote ASHRAE Guideline 0-2005, "The Commisioning Process" expected the process be applied in this fashion.
I suppose one could have the CxA perform the functional testing, but there is a significant incentive lost if the installing contractor is not required to complete a successful testing cycle first. The incentive is simply that the installing contractor will want to only do the test once, and not be subjected to repeated callbacks because the installation is not working as the Engineer intended. If a third party is doing all of the testing without the contractor's involvement, there is no financial incentive for the contractor to make certain his installation works as intended. The retainage held on most projects is typically not enough to insure the contractor will return to correct problems. The Cx process applied with the oversight of a qualified commissioning provider limits errors in both design and construction by focusing the entire project team on delivering quality to the owner. That role does not exist in most project teams.
Tristan Roberts
RepresentativeVermont House of Representatives
LEEDuser Expert
11477 thumbs up
July 1, 2010 - 10:49 pm
James, I would think of enhanced Cx as including or subsuming fundamental Cx, so the fee quoted is for enhanced, but understand that it includes the key components of fundamental. The fee was found in a national study—I don't know which regions it covered.Your comment on functional testing is a great one and a fair critique of the language we chose to use. I will modify it to be more nuanced.
James Thornton
Project Manager, Commissioning Groupccrd
29 thumbs up
July 5, 2010 - 6:09 pm
Tristan,
Thank you for your response. I appreciate the clarification.
We usually structure our fee proposals listing the LEED Fundamental Cx Services as a separate set of services from Enhanced Cx so the owner or architect understands he is receiving two distinctly different set of services. Depending upon the nature of the proposal request, we either provide a lump sum for both, or we provide separate pricing. Some owners do not understand the value of Enhanced Cx and just want what satisfies the LEED Cx prerequisite.