Overview
The need arose to replace the aging Hagerstown Police Barracks with a modern facility, so the Maryland Department of General Services constructed a new state-of-the-art two-story, 24,000 square foot Barracks Building to serve its immediate requirements. The new facility is able to meet the needs of the modern police Barracks activities with support booking and evidence processing. The building includes public areas, police dispatch, in-processing and support services that are located on the 1st floor. The 2nd floor includes a modern forensics laboratory for evidence analysis and collection.
The Department of General Services determined that commissioning of the building systems was essential to ensure that all systems were complete and functioning properly prior to substantial completion, and that facility staff have adequate system documentation and training.
RMF Engineering, as the independent commissioning agent, provided the following levels of testing for this project:
- Design Review – verify the functional aspects of all systems in-conjunction with the A/E design process
- Installation – verify the equipment and components are installed properly
- Operational – verify equipment and systems have been started properly, set-up properly, and are all operating in accordance with the design documents, design intent, and Owner’s needs.
- Functional – verify the equipment and systems are functioning properly in accordance with the design documents, the design intent, and the Owner’s needs. Functional testing includes both normal and abnormal operating parameters.
Formal commissioning performed by RMF included the following systems and equipment:
- Chilled and heating water systems
- Energy recovery systems
- Chemical fume hoods and testing labs
- Air handling systems
- Automatic temperature controls
- Plumbing and fire protection systems
