By: Erik S. Emblem, Administrator of TABB

Erik S. Emblem

Recently, FMI Research Corporation completed a market research survey on the whole building commissioning market. FMI defined the market as "a systematic process of ensuring that the performance of the facility and its systems meet the specified design intent and operational needs."

In other words, an inspection of all building systems that determines whether they are working according to their design and interacting correctly with each other - a broad responsibility to say the least!

The entire process is in its development stages and is not yet a widespread practice. In fact, only 5 percent of building owners surveyed had their building commissioned, but encouragingly 80-90% said they would do it again. More encouraging, the top two preferred providers of this service, according to the survey, are equipment vendors and TAB Contractors (in that order).

In a perfect construction utopia, a building would be certified each step of the way. This would minimize maintenance costs, increase safety, and assure system reliability once the building is complete. However, while minimizing future costs, "whole building commissioning" adds to the initial building cost, a major deterrent for building manufacturers according to the survey - not surprising.

So what does this mean to the testing, adjusting and balancing industry?

FMI, through existing facts and logical assumptions, determined that of the $249 billion of new construction estimated to have taken place in 2001, $87 billion was "commissionable." Only $1 billion of that amount was actually commissioned.

Clearly, a market exists and even more interesting is the scope of the opportunity - $86 billion!

Given today's economy, although construction has not slowed to the point of panic, we must create our own business. Whole building commissioning is an important step in the building process and, like the TAB industry, its popularity will continue to grow.

Positioning ourselves to handle this demand, and to aggressively seek the work, will mean more business for contractors and more jobs for technicians. Referring back to the survey, FMI estimates that 839,000 hours of labor were needed to supply the demand for building commissioning in 2001.

Further attention will be given to this issue. In the spring of 2003, NEMI is planning to host a seminar that will focus on how contractors can gain access into this market. In the meantime, to view this survey in its entirety visit www.tabbcertified.org!