Building commissioning, the process by which a new or renovated building is turned over to an owner to be run by operations and maintenance personnel, has been greatly overlooked as a vital step in the building design and construction process. This paper analyzes the nature of building commissioning and the necessity of thorough documentation of this process in order to achieve optimum building systems performance. Further, this article offers examples of methods of documentation that have proved effective as educational tools and record-keeping devices.