Commissioning & Post-Occupancy Evaluation
Sense · the feedback.
We help buildings operate the way they were designed to — by testing what the systems actually do at handover, and by measuring what occupants actually experience once the building is in use.
The gap between designed and delivered performance is rarely one large failure. It is a damper that was never stroked, a reset schedule that was overridden in week two, and a comfort complaint that got solved by disabling a control loop. None of this appears in a commissioning certificate.
Commissioning closes the loop between the design intent and the operating building. Post-occupancy evaluation closes the loop between the operating building and the people in it — which is the only measure of comfort that ultimately counts.
What we do
Commissioning management
Planning and witnessing functional tests against the written sequences of operation, not against a checklist of energised equipment.
Performance monitoring
Trend logging and metering set up so that the building tells you when it drifts, rather than waiting for a complaint.
Indoor environmental quality assessment
Thermal comfort, air quality, lighting and acoustics measured together, because occupants experience them together.
Post-occupancy evaluation
Structured occupant surveys combined with measured data, so subjective and objective evidence can be read against each other.
Seasonal commissioning and fine-tuning
Returning in the opposite season, when the systems that were never exercised at handover finally run.
Handover and O&M review
Making sure the operating team is left with documentation they can actually use.
How we work
- 01
Intent and criteria
Restating the design intent as measurable acceptance criteria — the thing most projects never wrote down.
- 02
Test planning
Function-by-function test scripts covering normal operation, part load, mode changes and failure.
- 03
Witness and defect
On-site functional testing, with a tracked defect list that has to close.
- 04
Monitor in use
Trend and meter data reviewed over the first operating months, with drift flagged early.
- 05
Evaluate and feed back
Occupant survey plus measured IEQ, reported as actions rather than as a document.
- Acceptance criteria derived from design intent
- Functional test scripts and witness records
- Tracked defect and resolution list
- Monitoring and trend-logging specification
- IEQ measurement report
- Post-occupancy evaluation with prioritised actions
When should commissioning be brought in?
At design stage, not at handover. The single highest-value contribution is turning design intent into measurable acceptance criteria before anything is procured. Commissioning that starts on site can only test what was built.
What is post-occupancy evaluation actually for?
To find out whether the building works for the people in it, and to feed that back into how it is operated. It combines occupant survey data with measured indoor environmental quality, so a complaint can be traced to a system rather than dismissed as preference.
Can you evaluate a building we did not design?
Yes, and that is the majority of this work. Independence is an advantage here — we have no design decision to defend.
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Tell us about the building and the systems involved. We reply to every serious enquiry.