September 29, 2009

Mechanical contracting

Progress being made on national building commissioning standard

PATRICIA WILLIAMS

staff writer

Development of a long-awaited national standard on building commissioning is on track, with publication scheduled for next fall.

The document is being developed under the authority of the Canadian Standards Association by a technical committee that has representation from more than a dozen public and private sector organizations, including the Mechanical Contractors Association of Canada (MCAC).

A draft of the standard is to be circulated for review in January, with formal approval scheduled for next May and a final edit in June. The standard is to be published next September.

That will be followed by an electronic version and then a comprehensive educational/certification program.

“Progress is on target,” MCAC chairman Bob Hoare says in a report presented to the association’s annual general meeting. His organization spearheaded the campaign to raise funds for the initial stage, the standard development component.

The intent is to provide “a comprehensive, integrated, consistent and managed process or framework for achieving, validating and documenting that the performance of a completed building and its major systems meet the design intent and operational requirements of the owner.”

Major building systems include heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC), plumbing, electrical, gas, boiler and pressure vessels, elevators and fire safety.

Currently, commissioning is carried out through a variety of processes.

Work on the standard began in June, 2008. The second phase will involve development of the electronic version of the document.

Finalizing the standard’s development has been identified as a priority for the coming year by the Ottawa-based association which represents about 1,000 companies across the country.

Hoare’s report was presented during the association’s 68th national conference in San Francisco.

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