Investigating the building commissioning practices in Turkey

Abstract

Advances in technology give rise to buildings with complicated systems and components. Many building systems fail to perform as intended owing to lack of a systematic approach adopted during construction. Commissioning is known to enhance the building's operational efficiency through bringing a holistic perspective to design, construction, and operation. This study aims to investigate the building commissioning practices in Turkey with the intention of promoting energy efficient building communities in developing countries. Within this context, a questionnaire survey was designed and administered to the commissioning practitioners to explore their perceptions and experiences regarding a number of critical commissioning issues. The findings reveal that (i) most frequently encountered challenges are non-technical rather than technical; (ii) benefits realized in the post-occupancy period overweigh the pre-occupancy benefits; and (iii) experiential features of the commissioning agents are more important for the commissioning agent selection process than the technical and managerial features. The study contributes to the body of knowledge by presenting the main observations on building commissioning practices in a developing country and providing recommendations to enhance the commissioning performance. It is expected to provide a better understanding of the critical issues in building commissioning process and promote its implementation in developing countries.