Reviewing building design drawings is an integral part of a Design Phase Commissioning scope and with good reason: with the minute level of detail and the sheer volume of information, there’s a good chance that some piece of equipment is mislabeled, differing systems aren’t coordinated, or that typos are present that may cause confusion at a later point. Having an objective party look through the drawings to make sense of them is a great way to catch errors before they have a chance to cause costly change orders during construction. 

However, errors also occur that aren’t clear to a reviewer – that don’t stick out or cause inconsistencies. These are the errors of missing information. If information is not present, there are no red flags. If the reviewer is not looking for that specific information, the lack goes largely unnoticed. And missing information can lead to RFIs, change orders, and even project delays. 

This is why good checklists are so important. Experience and a wealth of industry standards, guidelines, and best practices have helped us develop design review checklists to remind us to look for key details, equipment sizes, correct accessories, clear sequences, and a host of other key pieces of design information needed for activities down the road. Particularly the bits that would go unnoticed otherwise. 

Don’t underestimate the power of a good checklist and ask your Commissioning Provider to show theirs to you. Remember, if the Commissioning Provider can’t find the information they need, then the construction team and facility operators won’t either. 

Pro Tip: We often combine the Cx design review with our energy modeling tasks. If the information for creating a detailed energy modeling is missing from the design documentation, this is most likely also relevant for the Cx process of that project.