ASHRAE Journal - August 2013 - 32

technical feature

Technical vs. Process Commissioning

Owner’s Project
Requirements
By Dave McFarlane, MeMBer aSHrae

The old Chinese proverb says, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a
single step.” Like a road trip, a construction project is a journey of many steps.
And as with any journey, it matters where you start. So if your project “destination” is a properly commissioned building that results in a satisfied owner,
you need to start your project with a detailed and complete owner’s project
requirements (OPR) document.
The previous article in this series in the June 2013 issue
made a case for adopting the technical commissioning
process, in which the building commissioning authority
(CxA) is not merely an observer or overseer, but an active
coordinator of and participant in all building inspections and
functional tests.
However, to know what must be inspected and tested
to ensure owner satisfaction, the CxA must have a clear
understanding of the owner’s definition of a successful building: everything from space use and occupant security
to resource consumption and regulatory compliance.
Without a document that serves as a clear statement of
owner expectations, architects and engineers are left to
satisfy their own agendas—which may or may not line up
with the owner’s agenda.
In Guideline 0-2005, ASHRAE defines the OPR document
as “a written document that details the functional requirements of a project and the expectations of how it will be
used and operated.” But I believe the ultimate objective of a
building project is a satisfied owner, so my take on OPR is a
bit different. My operating definition of the OPR document
this is the second article in the “technical commissioning: the commissioning Process that Works” series.
Some content is based on aSHrae Guideline 0-2005, The Commissioning Process, and the national environmental Balancing Bureau (neBB) “Whole Building Systems technical commissioning Procedural Standards
Manual” (revised 2013). In addition, some information has been taken from an unpublished neBB standard,
NEBB Standard Owner’s Project Requirements (OPR) Guideline (June 20, 2011) and a “sample” oPr created
by neBB for the fictional “aBc Headquarters office Building” (Jan. 2, 2011).
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Au g ust 2013

is: “A document that fully describes the requirements the
owner considers important—and which must be included
in the project for it to be successful.”
Ultimately, the OPR document is of vital importance,
because it not only functions as the foundation of the basis
of design (BOD) document—it also serves as the “scorecard” that is used at the project’s conclusion to determine
whether or not the project is a success.

Owner Involvement Essential
A fundamental aspect of the OPR document is that the
owner needs to be intimately involved in preparing it. But many
owners lack a technical background, so they delegate the
creation of the OPR document to the design team. They
ask, “Why do I have to get involved in preparing this document? Shouldn’t this work be done by the architects and
engineers I’ve hired?”
It’s a fair question, but one that misses the point of the
exercise. After all, the goal is to create an owner’s requirements document—so out of necessity, the OPR document
must clearly reflect the priorities and objectives of the
building owner. That’s why a successful project team must
include a skilled CxA who can work closely with the owner
to help capture the details of the owner’s requirements.
aBout tHe autHor Dave McFarlane is a principal project director at Atkins in Fort
Myers, Fla.

ASHRAE Journal - August 2013

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of ASHRAE Journal - August 2013