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Sonia Surlej, RA, NCARB, recently received her certification for Building Enclosure Commissioning Process Provider (BECxP) and an Accredited Commissioning Authority + Building Enclosure (CxA+BE) from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. This certification furthers Sonia’s expertise to provide a structured quality process that can be used to verify that a building (for new construction or retrofit) meets the Owner’s Project Requirements. This method detects and corrects problems before they become costly or safety issues early in the design process to provide the Owner the most cost benefit.

What is Building Enclosure Commissioning?

Commissioning is a process beginning in pre-design through initial occupancy to verify the quality of design and construction, for the owner’s interest. The commissioning process verifies that the desired building enclosure quality is achieved, providing a high level of confidence that project goals are reached. Building Enclosure Commissioning (BECx) is focused on the long-term life of the structure.

What does it entail?

A professional is involved at each phase of the project to review and observe that each phase succeeds in meeting project goals. Our duty when providing Building Enclosure Commissioning services is to alleviate challenges in each phase and between project transitions to remove negative impacts to the building’s overall quality.

What can Walker do for you with this service?

In this service, Walker acts as a lead of the quality assurance process for the owner’s interest to prevent and eliminate problems inexpensively. Through each project phase, we review and confirm that the project goals are being met to result in value for the life of the structure. This process yields quality buildings that meet/exceed the owner’s expectation which ultimately saves on the overall cost for the owner (project cost, structure life cycle, fewer change orders). Additionally, this process includes training and creating a manual for the care of the building exterior to provide guidelines for the building maintenance and operations staff.

This service is especially useful for projects with low tolerance for leaks, condensation, and mold as well as buildings implementing new concepts and technologies such as green/sustainable, high-efficiency, renewable energy, and maintainability. For existing buildings this service can verify adaptations including a change in use, energy efficiency, and indoor environmental quality.