12.1 Project Acceptance Criteria, Data Traceability, and Certified Reports

Project Acceptance Criteria, Data Traceability, and Certified Reports

Acceptance criteria are project-specific

NEBB's current public guidance asks whether balancing everything to ±10% automatically meets NEBB requirements and answers by pointing to the project specification. Project scope is guided by project specifications, and TAB procedures and data acquisition follow the applicable NEBB Procedural Standard. A more stringent project requirement takes precedence. NEBB also explains that a project may explicitly allow a different range or limited scope, which must be reflected in the report summary.

Therefore, do not memorize one range for every fan, terminal, pump, and coil. For each result, identify:

1. The design quantity and its approved source.
2. The applicable project criterion and operating mode.
3. The approved measurement method.
4. The final measured value and percent of design.
5. Any limitation, exception, or unresolved deficiency.

If a diffuser design is 400 CFM and final flow is 380 CFM, percent of design is 95%. Whether that passes depends on the project's applicable criterion. It passes a ±10% criterion but only just meets a −5% lower limit; the arithmetic alone cannot supply the contract requirement.

What the report must communicate

NEBB's published report-compliance guidance for the 2019 Ninth Edition describes core elements:

The report is a record of measured conditions and final adjustments, not a guarantee that every system reached design flow. Variances and limitations remain visible.

Field data chain

Maintain a defensible chain from source to report:

• Approved schedule establishes design value.
• Device tag and location establish identity.
• Instrument and calibration record establish the measurement tool.
• Operating mode and setup establish test conditions.
• Initial readings establish the starting point.
• Authorized adjustments explain what changed.
• Final readings and percent of design establish the result.
• Deficiency references explain unresolved conditions.
• Technician and date establish attribution.

Avoid transcribing only the final number. An unexplained 100% value cannot be audited. Raw and final information should be retained according to firm procedure and report requirements.

Instrument calibration record

The current 2026 NEBB TAB Required Instrumentation list gives a 12-month calibration requirement for listed air-pressure, air-velocity, direct-reading hood, temperature, humidity, electrical, rotational, and hydronic pressure functions and calls for a three-point calibration traceable to NIST or a National Metrology Institute unless otherwise noted. Confirm the instrument's function, range, accuracy, resolution, and calibration status before use.

A report instrument schedule records calibration date; the firm's calibration program determines whether the instrument remains current for the test date. A removable hood meter may be calibrated separately where NEBB's published guidance permits, but every function used must be covered.

Deficiencies and unavailable data

A deficiency entry should name the system/device, observed fact, effect on TAB, date, status, and report reference. Distinguish:

• Installation condition: missing damper, crushed duct, closed isolation valve.
• Control condition: actuator not responding, unstable loop, wrong scaling.
• Performance condition: fan cannot reach design within authorized limits.
• Access or safety limitation: no safe access, energized-work restriction.
• Measurement limitation: flow below instrument range, unusable traverse plane.

Do not erase a limitation after another part of the system passes. The CP determines which items are noteworthy and how they appear in the certified report.

Internal consistency review

Before the report reaches the CP, reconcile related totals and labels. Confirm that equipment and terminal identifiers agree with drawings, the sum of reported terminal values is reasonably compatible with independently measured mains, and every deficiency reference points to the correct page or device. Check that units, signs, design values, dates, and instrument serial numbers are consistent. A mismatch is investigated and explained; it is not silently forced to agree. Corrections preserve the original audit trail under the Certified Firm's quality procedure. This review catches transposed digits, copied design values, omitted devices, stale calibration entries, and test conditions that changed between sweeps.

Authentication

Only a NEBB TAB Certified Firm issues a NEBB Certified TAB Report, and the NEBB Certified Professional reviews, signs, and stamps it. The CT provides accurate attributable field work; the CT does not sign or stamp the certified report in place of the CP.

The report-quality exam habit is simple: every number needs an identity, source, condition, method, instrument, person, date, and interpretation against the correct project criterion.