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Old 05-04-14, 11:04 AM   #22
jeff5may
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Default Proper installation and commissioning

Now that you have assembled a plan and have the money, it is time to begin the project. If you are having the work done, simply pay the money and watch as your plan is implemented. There may be minor setbacks and decisions to make, but a competent firm or contractor will have considered nearly all of the unknowns during the estimate and padded their budget accordingly. Once the project is completed, operation should be demonstrated as well as any maintenance or upkeep needs of the system. The project will be guaranteed for a certain amount of time, and you may receive free follow-up visits. Enjoy!

For the rest, now is the time to do the work. Depending on skill level, this may be just work, or this may become a nightmare. Having had your plan inspected previously by experienced professionals, most of the traps and guesswork should have been eliminated by now. But every job is different, and details will pop up that were never even considered. For this reason, unless you are yourself an experienced building professional, advice should be sought from previously designated mentors who helped devise the plan.

Just "winging it" on your own has been proven to be deadly in some cases, and costly in most. Unless you have a lifetime to complete the project, or simply enjoy the pain+pleasure of learning a new skill set the hard way, some of the work will have to be contracted out. Skilled tradesmen have a way of making the supposed impossible look easy, and can make otherwise difficult decisions seem trivial. They get paid well to do what they do for a reason.

If you run into an unplanned issue that looks like a trap, it probably is. At least have someone with experience come look at it and offer advice before you destroy something. As stated before, there is a right way to perform any given task. There are many unseen hazards present in building science and the HVAC trade, and professionals know how to identify and prevent unsafe conditions in realizing an end product. Injuries come in many flavors, and avoiding one is priceless. If you do something dumb, you may not be tough enough to survive.

At this point, it becomes vitally important to ensure the work being performed is as planned. If not done correctly, problems will pop up in the future, necessitating rework. If the work does not perform as planned, either the plan must be revised or the quality improved to match the plan. Material and labor cost should take a back seat to completion of the design. A couple extra dollars or hours invested to do the job right is cheap insurance against a poorly performing or failed end product.

When the hard labor and equipment is put in, the system may then be tested and commissioned. Depending on the system, some trials, programming, and training may still be required to ensure the system does what it should, when it should, how it should. Most likely, the completed project will need to be inspected and signed off by at least one licensed inspector.

Last edited by jeff5may; 05-04-14 at 11:18 AM.. Reason: grammar
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