Comparative review of building commissioning regulation: a quality perspective
File(s)
Author(s)
Lord, S-F
Noye, S
Ure, J
Tennant, M
Fisk, D
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Building regulations are an important policy instrument available to governments wishing to improve building energy
efficiency, which should be a priority to policy-makers wishing to target cost-effective avenues in support of carbonabatement
targets. Meanwhile, building system commissioning has been recognized as a cost-effective measure to cut
energy consumption, but in practice commissioning quality can deliver less-than-satisfactory outcomes. Regulation
needs to better support commissioning outcomes. A five-grade commissioning scale is developed to assess the quality
of commissioning and propose a common language to assist with regulation setting. Using this scale, building
regulation and polices related to new and refurbished building commissioning were analysed in comparative case
studies between jurisdictions England and California. This study finds that Californian regulations mandate a higher
quality of commissioning and regulations that are more enforceable. The crucial elements to support bettercommissioned
buildings were identified as: outputs-focused regulation (not input based); regulation and process
clarity; commissioning agents and building official training; as well as acknowledging the financial burden of
upholding more complex building regulations. For the full benefit of commissioning to be realized, policy and
regulations for existing buildings will be required.
efficiency, which should be a priority to policy-makers wishing to target cost-effective avenues in support of carbonabatement
targets. Meanwhile, building system commissioning has been recognized as a cost-effective measure to cut
energy consumption, but in practice commissioning quality can deliver less-than-satisfactory outcomes. Regulation
needs to better support commissioning outcomes. A five-grade commissioning scale is developed to assess the quality
of commissioning and propose a common language to assist with regulation setting. Using this scale, building
regulation and polices related to new and refurbished building commissioning were analysed in comparative case
studies between jurisdictions England and California. This study finds that Californian regulations mandate a higher
quality of commissioning and regulations that are more enforceable. The crucial elements to support bettercommissioned
buildings were identified as: outputs-focused regulation (not input based); regulation and process
clarity; commissioning agents and building official training; as well as acknowledging the financial burden of
upholding more complex building regulations. For the full benefit of commissioning to be realized, policy and
regulations for existing buildings will be required.
Date Issued
2016-05-20
Date Acceptance
2016-05-20
Citation
Building Research & Information, 2016, 44 (5-6), pp.630-643
ISSN
0961-3218
Publisher
Taylor & Francis
Start Page
630
End Page
643
Journal / Book Title
Building Research & Information
Volume
44
Issue
5-6
Copyright Statement
© 2016 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/
licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/
licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
License URL
Subjects
Building & Construction
1201 Architecture
1202 Building
Publication Status
Published