www.epa.gov/iaq/moisture
control. If a commissioning agent is involved in the
design and construction of a building, many of the
quality assurance procedures related to moisture
control and associated measures could easily fall
within the agent's scope. A general process for
building commissioning is presented in ASHRAE
Guideline 0-2005: The Commissioning Process—
the industry-accepted commissioning guideline.
The National Institute of Building Science (NIBS)
published Guideline 3-2006: Exterior Enclosure
Technical Requirements for the Commissioning
Process, which presents a process for building
enclosure commissioning and contains many annexes
to illustrate the steps in the process. In 2012,
ASTM published E2813-12 Standard Practice for
Building Enclosure Commissioning. This standard
practice follows Guideline 3 procedures and includes
functional testing required for fundamental and
enhanced enclosure commissioning.
cooperation with the owner, contractor and third
parties:
• Documents overall moisture control goals.
• Plans water controls and water event responses to
be implemented during construction.
• Identifies inspection, testing, commissioning and
quality-assurance activities to ensure the intended
moisture-control measures are implemented as
designed.
• Establishes requirements of and responsibility for
providing, reviewing and accepting submittals, shop
drawings, proposed substitutions and scheduled
inspections.
• Documents the O&M procedures required to keep
the intended moisture control measures working
throughout the building's life.
This chapter has six subsections:
1. Site Drainage.
Who Should Read this Chapter
2. Foundations.
This chapter is for the design team members who
produce the design, bid and construction documents.
It includes a list of design elements that will
protect a building from moisture-related problems.
The design team must understand the problems
that water causes in buildings and the dynamics
of moisture sources, moisture migration and
moisture control. This knowledge must be reflected
in the design documents, building drawings and
specifications.
3. Walls.
4. Roof and Ceiling Assemblies
5. Plumbing Systems.
6. HVAC Systems.
Each subsection discusses techniques to provide
protection from moisture problems and specifies:
• The issue that is being addressed.
• The moisture-control goals for the issue.
Good design is a prerequisite for a building
that resists moisture problems; however, good
design alone is not enough. The design must be
implemented correctly during construction and
maintained during the building's operation by the
owner or manager. To that end, the design team in
• Guidance on implementing techniques to achieve
each moisture-control goal.
• Ways to verify that the moisture-control techniques
have been included in the building design and have
been properly installed or constructed.
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