To continue the car and computer analogy, all of the component suppliers have QC programs for their pieces of the end product, but the assembling manufacturer must add the QC of the final product, and he includes this important component in the cost of the product.

A building owner’s final product is assembled on his site, but it starts on the drawing boards, or computer screens, of the Architect and Engineers. When they complete the Drawings and Specifications, the General Contractor hires dozens of subcontractors, who hire more sub-subcontractors, who hire dozens of manufacturing representatives. All of these players then order hundreds of products that must meet the Specifications and be delivered to the site. There are no robots on a construction site (yet!), so hundreds of people must assemble these components by following literally thousands of installation instructions issued by the manufacturers of these many components. Does it sound like there is a potential for errors to occur here? If you did the math on a statistical analysis of the chances for problems to develop in this process the results would startle you!

The traditional design and construction project without Commissioning is producing far too many buildings that are not performing like the Owners hoped they would. The fees charged by the Architects and Engineers in their Basic Services contracts allow for enough review to ensure that the best products are being installed, but not nearly enough time for the hands-on inspections that are needed to ensure that the full requirements of the Drawings and Specifications are being met. The Contractors do their best to try to meet the design intent, but to properly integrate these many components into functioning systems requires a skill set that most contractors cannot afford in a competitive marketplace. As a result, incomplete or faulty installations occur and after-the-fact troubleshooting becomes the norm. In fact, most contractors have come to expect that there will be system start-up problems and callbacks, and include money in their bids to cover these costs.

The Building Commissioner is the Quality Control Department that has been missing from the building process. Installation flaws are detected early and quickly brought to the installer’s attention so start-ups can go more smoothly. Also, any design flaws detected can be addressed quickly to avoid change orders and their costly delays to tight project schedules.

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