ASHRAE BCxP study guide
ASHRAE BCxP · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
The Building Commissioning Professional (BCxP) is an ASHRAE certification for practitioners who manage or participate in the commissioning process for buildings and their systems. It is aimed at commissioning providers, commissioning authorities, mechanical and electrical engineers, controls and test-and-balance specialists, facility managers, and owner's representatives who need to demonstrate competence across the full commissioning cycle rather than in a single trade. The ASHRAE BCxP study guide has 5 sections and about 1,409 words.
01Commissioning Process Fundamentals and Project Initiation
The commissioning (Cx) process is a quality-focused, documented method of verifying that building systems perform as the owner intends. Know the standard sequence: initiate the project, define the Owner's Project Requirements (OPR), review the Basis of Design (BOD), incorporate Cx into design and construction documents, conduct construction-phase activities, perform functional performance testing (FPT), complete seasonal testing, deliver training and the systems manual, and issue the final commissioning report.
311 words, about 2 min02Owner's Project Requirements, Basis of Design, and Design Review
The OPR is the owner's written statement of needs, goals, and measurable performance criteria - what the facility must do. The BOD is the design team's response documenting assumptions, codes, calculations, and system selections - how the design meets the OPR.
302 words, about 2 min03Commissioning Specifications, Contractor Procurement, and Submittals
The commissioning specification defines scope, roles, deliverables, and the contractor's Cx responsibilities. It should appear in Division 01 (general requirements) with system-specific details in the technical sections.
261 words, about 1 min04Construction-Phase Commissioning Activities and Functional Performance Testing
Construction-phase Cx includes: Cx kickoff and coordination, review of submittals and O&M data, witnessing and documenting pre-functional checklists (PFCs), developing and executing functional performance tests (FPT), tracking deficiencies, and verifying corrections. Pre-functional checks confirm installation and static conditions before functional testing.
258 words, about 1 min05Seasonal Testing, Training, Training, Systems Manual, and Final Commissioning Report
Some performance can only be verified under specific conditions (heating at design winter, cooling at design summer). Seasonal (deferred) testing is planned when conditions are unavailable during initial FPT.
277 words, about 1 min