Over the past several years, there have been numerous performance problems relating to building mechanical systems. In evaluating the causes for the this poor performance, there seemed to be a lack of commitment, lack of enforcement of specified items, and a lack of understanding of the design intent by the key participants. Communication between the architect, engineer, suppliers, and the contractors is essential. If any one of the participating members does not follow through with his responsibilities, the building's overall performance will suffer.

The intent of this paper is to point out key areas that generally cause poor system performance and to expound on specific areas of ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 111-1988, Practices for Measuring, Testing, Adjusting, and Balancing of Building Heating, Ventilation, Air-Conditioning, and Refrigeration Systems (ASHRAE 1998), and NEBB 1991, Procedural Standards for Testing, Adjusting, Balancing of Environmental Systems (NEBB 1991), thus creating a fluent, positive mechanical design specification that fills these gaps. This paper will also address the basic problems and concerns test and balance contractors face every day and, by emphasizing certain enforceable language in the specification, allow the system to be balanced properly and improve the overall building performance.

Units: Dual