Is there not a standard to TAB reports?

[jaymechee]

I'm trying to get my company to start a TAB team and am just doing some prelim research on it so I can then pitch it. to my understanding, according to IMC 403.3.1.5 it states that ventilation systems must be balanced by an "approved method" this leads me to looking into TAB certified agencies like NEBB TABB and AABC. From my research it seems like there's not really a standard to a lot of these things. I hope someone can help me with my questions.
are there no state-by-state requirements?
Who is determining what is required on a TAB report, ive seen some reports with motor voltage readings and some without. Ive seen some reports that only take data from one diffuser along the line instead of all of them. Some TAB reports ive seen go into depth on readings and look greta- others seem to be just a joke that was thrown together just to get the building turned over.
Are contractors the one that request a TAB report or is the building owner that wants it as proof? Is there any agency checking up on buikldings to make sure it is balanced

I know this is alot. Its a bit out of my expertise but I'm very curious about this part of the industry.

 

[klarenbeek]

The word "approved" is defined in chapter 2 as "acceptable to the code official" so it may and probably will be vastly different from one jurisdiction to the next.

Our jurisdiction doesn't require balance reports submitted to us to be TAB certified and typically only require balance reports on certain occupancies that require elevated ventilation or higher exhaust rates such as restaurants or salons unless something looks out of whack to the inspector. On smaller projects the contractor often does the balancing themselves, knowing that what they submitted is on permanent record. The certified balancers we deal with are typically NEBB certified, and we will usually ask them for a summarized report on projects we require a balance report so the for things like restaurants have net total airflows all on one or two pages so we're not sorting through 40 pages of info, most of which as an inspector I don't need. Our inspectors are specialized by trade and have field experience in the trade they inspect, no combo inspectors, so all the mechanical inspectors know the industry well.

Outside our city limits and a couple other communities, there is basically zero mechanical code enforcement in the rest of the state so its strictly up to the project designer or owner if they want a certified TAB report. In my experience on most engineered jobs the mechanical engineer requires a certified TAB report.

 

[Paul Sweet]

TAB reports I saw for state buildings in Virginia had the airflow for every grille, register, & diffuser before and after balancing. Fresh air and exhaust were the items of most interest to the state building official.

 

[Sifu]

In one AHJ I worked we required and I reviewed TAB reports for every commercial project (I let the small ones go without based on some sage advice from this very forum years ago). I saw several versions, but as long as they had the correct data AND matched the mechanical plans I didn't worry too much about them. I probably only saw on or two in the years I was there that were not certified members of NEBB or AABC. ASHRAE has standard 111 that provides the practices for how to do it....if you are really, really motivated. BTW, a significant percentage did NOT match the plans, which was the most common problem. That usually prompted a mechanical revision right when the project was trying to close out. PITA!