Commissioning Basics for Rehab Renovations

You can finish a rehab renovation on time, hit your punch list, get a nice photo for the portfolio, and still end up living in call-backs for months. Not because the work was sloppy, but because the building does not behave. One wing runs hot, another feels damp, the exhaust smells drift, thermostats fight each other, access control glitches, and staff start doing workarounds that create new problems.

That is the gap commissioning is supposed to close.

In occupied rehab and behavioral health facilities, commissioning is not a fancy add-on. It is the part that proves the renovated space can run day after day without constant babysitting.

What commissioning looks like in a renovation (it is not the same as new construction)

Renovations are messy. You tie into old equipment that has a history. Controls were tuned by whoever last touched them. Drawings do not match the ceiling. And phasing forces “temporary mode” operations that become semi-permanent if nobody corrals them.

So the goal is simple: reliable operations. Comfort stability, predictable airflow, alarms that mean something, and systems the facility team can actually manage.

If you wait until the end, you are basically asking the building to tell you what is wrong after the owner moves back in. That is how chaos happens.

Start before drywall: get a one-page OPR and stop guessing

You do not need a 40-page commissioning binder to get the basics right. You need clarity early.

A one-page Owner’s Project Requirements (OPR) should answer practical questions like:

What are the real operating hours, including quiet hours?
Which spaces are the most sensitive (sleeping rooms, detox, med areas, counseling)?
What is the acceptable comfort range and humidity tolerance?
What are the security expectations and how will doors be used?
How strong is the maintenance bench (one person, a small team, outsourced)?

If those answers are fuzzy, design and construction teams make assumptions. Then commissioning turns into negotiation at the end, which is the worst time to negotiate.

Right after that, write a short Basis of Design (BOD) that explains how you intend to meet the OPR. HVAC zoning approach, filtration intent, controls strategy, and any acoustics or odor-control considerations that matter operationally. Keep it readable. If the owner cannot understand it, the building will not be operated correctly later.

Verify existing conditions like you are trying to win an argument

Most “post-reno surprises” were visible early, if someone looked hard enough.

Before you lock scope, document what is actually there:

Equipment age and condition, not just “existing RTU.”
Controls points and sensors that exist in the field, not in the spec.
Duct constraints and access limitations.
Electrical capacity and available panel space.
Exhaust paths and what they truly serve.

The fastest way to stop fantasy design is to open ceilings in a few representative zones early. Not everywhere, just enough to confirm whether you are dealing with clean tie-ins or a maze. In rehab facilities, a bad assumption about airflow or exhaust can become a daily complaint factory.

Controls are the usual culprit, so make sequences testable and maintainable

When owners say “the HVAC is weird,” it is often the controls logic, not the equipment.

Three habits keep you out of trouble:

Write sequences so they can be tested. “Maintain comfort” is not testable. Define setpoints, deadbands, reset strategies, and failure behavior in plain terms.

Avoid custom logic unless it solves a real problem. Renovations already inherit oddities. You do not want to add another layer of cleverness that only one programmer understands.

Define failure modes. What happens if a sensor fails, a damper sticks, a VFD trips, or the BAS drops offline? Rehab facilities are not forgiving environments for unpredictable behavior, especially overnight.

Also, watch sensor placement. It sounds basic, but a thermostat placed in the wrong airflow or near a heat source will ruin comfort stability and trigger a cycle of “adjustments” that never ends.

Pre-functional checklists prevent the most embarrassing testing failures

Functional testing goes off the rails when teams try to test systems that are not ready. That wastes time and makes everyone hate commissioning.

A simple pre-functional pass should confirm basics before testing:

Equipment is installed, labeled, powered, and accessible.
Filters are installed correctly.
Dampers and valves actually move.
Condensate drains are trapped and draining properly.
Access panels exist where maintenance will need them.
Sensors are installed in the intended locations.

This is not glamorous work, but it eliminates the classic scenario where the controls contractor blames the TAB contractor, who blames the electrician, who blames the designer.

TAB is not a checkbox in rehab projects, it is a comfort and odor-control strategy

Testing, Adjusting, and Balancing (TAB) is where rehab facilities either become stable or stay twitchy.

In occupied treatment environments, TAB should be tied to real use cases, not just numbers:

Sleeping wings should not be chained to high-activity spaces.
Return and exhaust should support odor control and pressure intent.
Critical spaces need predictable airflow, not “close enough.”
Trend logs matter. Spot readings can look fine while the building swings all day.

If you only balance to a spreadsheet, you can still deliver a building that staff complains about every shift.

Indoor air quality: keep it practical, but do it

Renovations stir up dust, adhesives, paint, flooring off-gassing, and sometimes surprises in old ductwork. You do not need to turn this into a lab project, but you do need to treat IAQ like a real deliverable.

A solid approach usually includes:

Flush-out by zone when possible (or phased flush-out if the building stays occupied).
Verification that ventilation is actually happening under the programmed sequences.
Humidity control check, especially in warm climates where condensation risks show up fast.
Confirmation that exhaust systems are pulling from the right places.

In residential-style treatment settings, air and smell complaints do not stay “facilities issues.” They become program issues.

Train the people who will run it, not the people who attended the closeout meeting

Closeout binders do not keep a building stable. People do.

Training should be short, hands-on, and focused on what staff will actually touch:

How to change schedules and setpoints safely.
What alarms mean and what the first response should be.
Filter access locations and replacement intervals.
Where shutoffs are for water, gas, and electrical.
Warranty boundaries and who to call for what.

If you can, record sessions and leave behind a simple “top tasks” sheet. The goal is to reduce panic adjustments. Most comfort problems get worse because someone starts chasing symptoms with random changes.

Seasonal testing: either do it, or agree on a plan to do it later

One of the most common renovation failures is finishing during mild weather and declaring victory. Then summer hits, humidity rises, and the building exposes every weak point in zoning and controls.

If you cannot do seasonal testing before turnover, put a deferred plan in writing. Agree on a return visit during peak cooling or heating season, allocate time for adjustments, and review trend logs before you show up so you are not guessing.

Programs that run year-round and cannot tolerate comfort instability tend to insist on this kind of follow-up, including facilities like River House Wellness, because it is cheaper than living with constant operational disruption.

A field-friendly commissioning checklist (the version that gets used)

If you want something your superintendent and subs will actually follow, keep it lean:

Before finishes: confirm existing conditions in sample zones and lock the controls points list.
Before ceilings close: verify access, sensor placement, dampers, valves, condensate, labeling.
Before functional testing: complete pre-functional checklists and resolve obvious misses.
During functional testing: test sequences with pass/fail criteria, capture trend logs, not just spot checks.
Before handoff: complete training, deliver readable O and M info, and schedule any deferred seasonal testing.

The takeaway

In rehab renovations, the pain usually shows up after the ribbon-cutting. Commissioning is how you prevent that. Start early, verify the existing building, keep controls testable, treat TAB and IAQ as operational necessities, and train the people who will live with the systems.

Do that, and you do not just finish a project. You deliver a facility that runs smoothly, quietly, and predictably, which is the real definition of success in occupied behavioral health construction.