The NEBB Professional 2025 - Quarter 3

What Every Design Professional Needs to Know Certified vs. Non-Certified Reports:

By George E. Martin, PE

A somewhat uncomfortable truth about being a design professional is that you are responsible for reviewing and approving reports provided by other contractors while not necessarily being an expert in the services those contractors provide. That being said, a good ar chitect or engineer will have a general knowledge of each of these disciplines and be able to identify what makes sense or whether something looks out of place. There are nuances, however, to some of these disci plines that your average design professional might not be aware of. These details make a difference in wheth er the report being reviewed is actually providing what the design professional is responsible for delivering to their client. A certified report includes certain ben efits and assures the end user that the work provid ed by that particular service provider was performed professionally and correctly. It also includes a form of insurance to the end user in the event the work was incorrectly performed, providing a means of corrective action so they receive the system or facility they paid for, functioning as it should.

What exactly certifies a report? What should design professionals lookout for to ensure that the specified quality, performance, and warranty are provided to their client? But first and foremost, why exactly should you want a certified report? Why does NEBB certification on a report bring more value? Why You Want a NEBB Certified Report NEBB certification is more than just a pretty stamp on a cover page. There are strict requirements that must be adhered to in order for a report to qualify as certi fied–and liability on the part of the service provider is involved! To begin, a NEBB Certified Report indicates that the work performed complies with the NEBB Procedural Standards under which that work is classified. For example, a NEBB Certified Testing, Adjusting, and Balancing (TAB) Report is an indication that the Certified TAB Firm balanced the systems shown in

The NEBB Professional | Quarter 3 | 2025

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