Operational assurance– because the building does not work by itself

The building does not work on its own. No matter how careful the design is and the construction is of high quality, the actual functionality of the technical systems is only measured over the years of use. Functional assurance is the process of ensuring that a building functions as intended – not only at the time of handover, but throughout its life cycle. Still, it is unfortunately often operational assurance that receives less attention in construction projects.

Why is operational assurance important?

The service life of technical systems in buildings is typically 15–20 years or more. Throughout this time, the systems should be able to provide a good indoor climate in the building in an energy-efficient manner. In practice, however, we often come across buildings whose systems do not work as they should or whose usability and traceability are poor.

This leads to a familiar chain: users are dissatisfied, energy efficiency suffers and resources are wasted when property maintenance has to constantly make repairs and adjustments to the systems. In addition, systems that run outside the optimal operating range can break down long before they should.

If the systems are not managed as a whole, the consequences can be seen for the property owner in the form of unhappy tenants, high maintenance costs and increasing energy bills.

Operational assurance begins already in the planning phase

In the best case, operational assurance starts well before the actual implementation planning phase. Clear instructions and requirements should be drawn up for designers on what kind of systems should be designed for the building so that they can be used to ensure the functioning of the building in all situations throughout its life cycle. In more challenging projects, it is also worth taking advantage of the review of third-party plans.

During construction, it is important to ensure that the contractor’s or equipment supplier’s proposals do not deviate from the planned systems, and that the designed systems meet current energy efficiency requirements and are equipped with monitoring tools that allow for continuous performance analysis. If you start to partially optimize the purchase costs of individual components, the final bill can be surprisingly high.

It is therefore important that the objectives of the project and how they have been taken into account in the plans are also reviewed with the contractor. Experience shows that things often go wrong when all parties are not clearly aware of the main objectives of the project. Good communication and interaction play a key role in this.

Deployment phase – the point where too many corrections are made

In the final phase of the project, the pace will increase in order to stay on schedule. In this case, there may be a temptation to take shortcuts: the contractor wants to manage the schedule without repercussions, and they do not want to cause any harm to the client due to the delay. However, during the commissioning phase, straightening is something that always comes up – either for the contractor during the warranty period or for the property owner after it.

Expert supervision ensures that functional tests are carried out carefully and that the building is ready for its intended use. If corrected at this stage, the building may remain inadequate for a long time, and it may be difficult to fix the problems later.

Maintenance period – continuous verification of functionality

Maintenance period – continuous verification of functionality

Even if the planning, construction and commissioning have gone well in terms of operational assurance, the work does not end there. A building is rarely in a static state: users change, the way it is used changes, and equipment and systems are renewed. Therefore, it is important to ensure that the building is functioning properly at all times.

The monitoring of energy consumption is significantly facilitated if the target energy consumption has been calculated for the building and even its different parts and a metering system has been implemented that can be used to compare the actual with the planned. This allows energy alarms to be created to help detect deviations as soon as they occur, rather than when paying bills.

The realisation of the conditions is also supported by sufficient sensors, and it is important that the data is recorded in the history monitoring of the building automation. Without data, analysing the causes of problems is often laborious, sometimes almost impossible.

The aim is not to increase the number of meters and sensors headlessly, but to stop and think: what data is needed to reliably monitor the operation of a building?

A separate top-level view is also a functional solution, which includes clear indicators describing the building’s operations. This way, you don’t have to be a professional in building automation systems to see if the building is working properly. If all the indicators are green, good. If not, you should get an expert to find out what is going on. Sufficiently comprehensive data and a targeted expert visit can often go a long way.

Operational assurance is not a single measure, but a process that runs through the entire life cycle of a building. It starts with planning, continues through construction and commissioning, and extends all the way to the maintenance period. Every step is important – and every bend you cut can be costly in one way or another.

Well-executed operational assurance is not an additional cost. It is perhaps the simplest way to ensure that a building does what it is supposed to do – now and in years to come.

Jesse Kantola, Team Manager, Energy Solutions and Property Management, jesse.kantola@sweco.fi

Jesse has diverse expertise in the energy efficiency, technical systems and life cycle thinking of properties, as well as a lot of expertise in HVAC solutions, energy projects, condition assessments and technical due diligence studies. He has worked with a variety of properties from residential buildings to logistics and ice rink sites, and has held several positions of responsibility from project management to design management. Her core competencies include perceiving the big picture and developing an energy-efficient, functional indoor environment.