To help ensure a smooth build programme, the NHBC Foundation has published new guidance to help site managers oversee the many commissioning activities that take place on a busy site.
As properties evolve it is likely that site managers will see an ever-expanding family of services, from solar-technologies to whole-house ventilation systems, coming to sites. The new guide ‘At your services – What to expect during commissioning’, produced in collaboration with BSRIA, has been launched to help site managers to engage more closely with the commissioning process.
While the commissioning activities – often of a highly technical nature – must be carried out by specialists and competent installers, this new guide has been designed to help site managers ask the right questions at the right time.
In a foreword to the new guide Neil Jefferson, NHBC’s Chief Operating Officer, says: “The reality is that many site managers today feel distant from the commissioning checks and balances that are so crucial.”
He adds: “Commissioning in general has become much more technical and exacting, with processes and language which are not easy for non-specialists to understand. This is not good for the success of commissioning which ultimately depends on good understanding between the site manager and commissioning experts involved.”
The NHBC Foundation guide covers the following types of services:
– Water and drainage
– Gas connection and distribution
– Electrical installations
– Boiler – gas supply and correct operation
– Underfloor heating pipe loops and manifolds
– Unvented, indirect hot water cylinders
– Ventilation systems
– Air source (air to water) heat pumps
– Solar hot water systems
– Grid-connected photovoltaic (PV) systems
The guide gives special attention to explaining the reasons for the various activities and how they contribute to long-term trouble-free operation of services within new homes.
