2.4 Construction Documents

Construction documentation consists of the building plans and specifications for construction of the building or installation of the system and includes the energy calculations and the energy compliance (certificate[s] of compliance) documents necessary to demonstrate that the building complies with the Energy Standards. The plans and specifications, referred to as the construction documents, define the scope of work to be performed by the general contractor and the subcontractors.

2.4.1          Signing Responsibilities

The certificate(s) of compliance must be signed by the documentation author and the person responsible for preparing the building plans and specifications. The principal designer is also responsible for the energy compliance documentation, even if the actual work of filling out the documents for the energy compliance documentation is delegated to someone else (the documentation author). See Section 2.5 for more details regarding the roles and responsibilities of the designers and documentation author.

The certificate(s) of compliance is used by the building permit applicant, the enforcement agency plans examiner, and the field inspector. This way, the permit application can call the plans examiner’s attention to the relevant drawing sheets and other information, and the plans examiner can call the field inspector’s attention to items that may require special attention in the field. The compliance documents and worksheets encourage communication and coordination within each discipline. The certificate(s) of compliance documentation approved by the enforcement agency is required to be consistent with the building plans and specifications approved by the enforcement agency.

The Business and Professions Code specifies the requirements for professional responsibility for design and construction of buildings. Energy code compliance documentation certification requires that a person who signs a compliance document shall be a licensed professional who is eligible under Division 3 of the Business and Professions Code to accept responsibility for the applicable design or construction information contained on the submitted compliance document. The certificate(s) of compliance must be signed by an individual eligible to accept responsibility for the design. Certificate(s) of installation and certificate(s) of acceptance (envelope) must be signed by the individual eligible to take responsibility for construction, or their authorized representative. Indoor lighting, outdoor lighting, and mechanical certificate(s) of acceptance must be signed by a certified technician. (See Chapter 13.)