Man 04 - Commissioning and handover - BREEAM Knowledge Base

Commissioning – Monitor and specialist commissioning manager - KBCN00051

The commissioning monitor is typically a project team member who will monitor the systems commissioning and testing programme for the building. The individual may combine that role with that of the specialist commissioning manager to deal with complex systems if they have the necessary knowledge. However, if the building has several specialist systems it is unlikely that the same person would be able to carry out all of the commissioning and more than one specialist would most likely be required.

Commissioning – Role of Specialist commissioning manager - KBCN0604

The specialist commissioning manager for a complex system must be a specialist contractor and not a general sub-contractor. They must be on hand to independently verify the work carried out by whoever installs the system. In principle, it is possible for the specialist commissioning manager to be from the same organisation as the main contractor provided any conflicts of interest have been declared and records show how they have been managed to provide confidence that commissioning will be carried out appropriately. The separate roles of the main contractor and specialist commissioning manager are so that the installation and commissioning are carried out independently by different parties.

Independent Air Tightness Testing Scheme (IATS) - KBCN1076

Professionals with membership to the Independent Air Tightness Testing Scheme (IATS) attained at organisational level maintaining UKAS (United Kingdom Accreditation Service) accreditation (as air tightness testing laboratories to ISO 17025) can be considered a Suitably Qualified Professional for airtightness testing.

Soft Landings Framework - KBCN1263

Embedding the principles of the Soft Landings Framework within a project can be used to demonstrate compliance with various aspects of the BREEAM criteria, particularly the Management issues.

Testing and inspecting building fabric – Untreated spaces - KBCN0972

Untreated spaces, which are not subject to compliance with statutory energy performance regulations, can be excluded from the scope of the 'Testing and inspecting building fabric/thermographic survey/air pressure testing' criteria.

Testing and inspecting the building fabric credit - KBCN0649

The requirements for this credit are to ensure continuity of insulation, avoidance of thermal bridging and air leakage paths. How this is achieved is up to the judgement of the suitably qualified professional. The criteria are intended to afford the design team the opportunity to demonstrate that the above are met by whatever means are appropriate, which will generally be air-tightness testing and a thermographic survey. Should the suitably qualified professional advise alternative means, the assessor must be satisfied and be able to demonstrate that all the above requirements have been met. BREEAM seeks to be outcome-driven and does not, therefore, prescribe the specific testing methods to achieve the criteria in this Issue.

Testing and inspecting the building fabric – Shell Only - KBCN0573

For Shell Only assessments with spaces which are intended to be treated post-assessment, imposing the requirement for a thermographic survey on a future user is not acceptable, as it may be difficult and unreasonable to expect them to remediate any defects revealed by the survey. Therefore the credit is still applicable even if building services have not yet been fitted. While we appreciate that it may be more challenging to achieve this credit for a shell only assessment compared to shell and core and fully fitted buildings, please note that the credits within the Management category do have a higher weighting for shell only assessments and there are also fewer credits applicable. Therefore each credit in the management category is worth more, as a percentage of the final score, than they are for shell and core / fully fitted buildings. This, therefore, helps to justify any potential additional burden felt by shell only assessments for this credit.

Thermographic survey – Seasonal constraints - KBCN00031

Where seasonal constraints prevent the thermographic survey from being completed prior to certification at the post construction stage, the requirements can be satisfied with:

Evidence that a Suitably Qualified Professional (SQP) has been contractually appointed
Written confirmation by the SQP that the seasonal constraints prevent the survey at an appropriate time before certification
The survey is scheduled to take place at the earliest opportunity after the handover, and
There is a specific contractual agreement in place to remedy any identified defects before the defects liability period expires.

Thermographic surveys are designed to map the thermal efficiency of buildings and to detect areas where there are breaches in the thermal envelope. Surveys need to be conducted when temperature differences between the external areas of the building and surrounding air can be detected after the envelope is sealed. There may will be instances where the survey cannot be done before certification after the envelope is sealed and as such, the survey would take place after certification.

Thermographic survey and report – UK qualifications - KBCN0322

The UKTA (UK Thermography Association) defines what is currently accepted as a suitable qualification for building thermography in line with ISO 18436-7 (Building or Civil), PCN CM/GEN Appendix B Civil, and ISO 6781-3. As of 6th June 2014, the PCN (Civil) Level 2 and ABBE Level 4 Building Thermographer qualifications are recognised by the UKTA as suitable for BREEAM thermographic surveys. Work is underway to align these requirements with other qualification routes and these will be reviewed by the UKTA on a case-by-case basis. For more information, please contact the UKTA directly (www.ukta.org). It is acceptable for the survey to be undertaken by other appropriately qualified building thermography professionals provided the analysis and report is undertaken or overseen, quality checked and signed by an appropriately qualified professional as defined by the UKTA.

07-Mar-2023 - Updated title to clarify that this KBCN relates to UK qualifications.

Thermographic survey or airtightness testing impractical - KBCN0150

In the case of large and complex buildings, it may be impractical for the thermographic survey and airtightness testing to cover 100% of the building. Where a complete thermographic survey or airtightness testing is deemed impractical by a Suitably Qualified Professional (thermographic survey or airtightness testing), the following guidance applies:

Airtightness testing: Guidance in airtightness standard TSL2 (or relevant local standard) should be followed regarding the extent of the survey and testing. This could include, for example, airports, large hospitals, high-rise buildings.
Thermographic survey: Any building with a floor area less that 2000m² should have a full survey unless it contains a large number of similar rooms, e.g. a health centre or hotel. Any building with a floor area greater that 2000m² may be sampled by taking images of a representative sample of spaces on each floor including spaces with different activities and at different locations on the floor plan. Each elevation and each elevational and roof treatment/type need to be sampled. Sampling should be increased if evidence of poor building fabric thermal performance is identified from sampling.

23/11/2020 amended text to improve clarity: 

In the case of large and complex buildings, it may be impractical for the thermographic survey and airtightness testing to cover 100% of the building. Where a complete thermographic survey is deemed impractical by a Level 2 qualified thermographic surveyor, the guidance in airtightness standard TSL2 (or relevant local standard) should be followed on the extent of the survey and testing. This could include, for example, airports, large hospitals, high-rise buildings.

Thermographic survey – Standards for qualification of personnel - KBCN0689

Assessors can accept reports from thermographers who hold a suitable Infrared Thermographic Testing (TT) qualification under one of the following standards, depending on which one was current at the time of the thermographer's qualification:

ISO 18436-7:2008
ISO 9712:2012
ISO 18436-7:2014
ISO 6781-3:2015

13-Mar-2017 - Compliance note amended to allow the applicability of standards based on the time of the thermographer's qualification, rather than the BREEAM scheme version.
03-Nov-2021 - Above text added to issue 2.0 of the UK RFO 2014 technical manual. The text is still relevant to previous issues of the manual.
07-Mar-2023 - Updated title to clarify that this KBCN relates to standards for the qualification of personnel.

New Construction / UK / 2014 / 01-Management /

Man 04 - Commissioning and handover

Commissioning – Fume cupboards approved standards - KBCN0111