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The commissioning process for buildings, whether residential, industrial, institutional or commercial, involves the implementation of various pre-defined tasks during the pre-construction and construction stages of new buildings and the retro-fitting of existing buildings and facilities, as examples.
One task, which to our dismay, appears to be missed or neglected on many new projects, is the testing of integrated mechanical and electrical (M & E) systems at the substantial performance stage prior to occupancy of the building, when the M & E systems have been independently commissioned and are providing the design intent.
Systems integration testing involves the process of systematically putting the various M & E systems in various states of operation and observing their actual interaction with each other.
CFMS has now been involved on a number of system integration testing protocols, which require the participation of the design consultants, general contractor, M & E sub-contractors, and system technicians. Tests usually include for the operation of the facility under ‘normal’ and ‘emergency’ power, using dual diesel generators, automatic transfer switches, switchboards, MCCs and panelboards, and their expected performance with integrated systems such as the heating/cooling plants, life-safety systems, emergency lighting, fire alarm and security systems, elevators, and the like.
To this date, these integration tests clearly indicate that different building scenarios can cause integrated systems to perform differently than when tested individually, thus allowing the commissioning team to identify and address malfunctioning equipment and/or systems and correct them accordingly.
CFMS believes in the importance of system integration testing and will continue to educate their Clients in the benefits of adding it to the commissioning process whenever feasible.