Certified Air Balancing Services In Southern california
What does it mean to be certified?
For a company to provide ” certified” TAB (testing, adjusting, and balancing) services, they first and foremost, must be personally certified through one of the four TAB organizations (NCI, TABB, NEBB, or AABC) and maintain these certifications by attending classes and testing to re-certify annually. The annual testing is to keep all TAB companies polished and up-to-date with all TAB testing practices, requirements, and much more.
Another large factor that allows a TAB contractor to offer certified air balancing, is the annual calibration of each and every owned testing instrument. Annual calibration is required to maintain the highest accuracy possible. Preforming TAB on a project with an instrument that has not been calibrated within the past 12 month period can void an entire TAB report.
Vortex Air Balance is a fully certified air balance company trained and approved though NCI (the National Comfort Institute). As mentioned, NCI is one of only four allowed TAB certification organizations in the U.S.
Certified HVAC Testing & Balancing
Vortex Air Balance provides certified testing and balancing for commercial air handler systems, RTU systems, economizers, and much more. If it blows air, our technicians can test it. At Vortex, we strive to be the “ambulance” of the TAB industry by offering the fastest turn-around-time from the initial phone call to a certified report in-hand. We are proud to have an an average turn-around-time of 1-3 days. Call us today to for your test and balance. (Common questions: What do I need to have ready for my HVAC test and balance? Can I create my own air balance report? )
Certified Kitchen Hood Testing & Certifications
At times, the health department may require certified kitchen hood testing to be performed for a restaurant. This unique test may be required for various of reasons, such as large kitchen remodels, new hood installations, new restaurant builds, name changes, or even a transfer of ownership. Whatever the reason may be, we offer same or next-day testing with reports issued on-site. The expected turn-around-time from calling us to a report in hand is around 1-3 days. (Common questions: What do I need to have ready for my kitchen testing? Can I create my own air balance report? )
Certified Medical Facility Testing and Balancing
Annual to multi-annual certified medical facility testing and balancing for all medical facility types. Vortex Air Balance delivers testing needs ranging from clean rooms, surgery procedure rooms, to patient care rooms. For cleanroom suit and sterilized testing instruments, please request this and we will be more than happy satisfy this request at no additional cost. Call Vortex for your certified medical facility testing and balancing today. (Common Questions: What do I need have ready for my test and balance? )
Certified Air Balance Reports
After the completion of all testing and balancing projects, we compile a certified air balance report that can be used for all city inspection purposes. These reports are requested for a multitude of inspection types and are the results of a completed test and balance procedure. A report cannot be purchased without a full test and balance. Please note, a certified air balance report is always provided unless requested otherwise. If for any reason you do not need a report please let us know when discussing your air balance and we will accommodate this request.
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Common Questions:
To prepare for your air balancing, please confirm the following:
- Confirm the exhaust hood and MAU are 100% installed and running.
- Have mechanical plans on-site (or a digital copy)
- Make sure all the grease hood filters are installed
- Confirm there is roof access
- Have the hood, grease duct, and baffle filters professionally cleaned if excessively dirty.
Doing your best to make sure each item on this list is verified will help the air balance process go smoothly an benefit both parities involved. Help us help you.
If any commissioning or servicing is needed prior to testing, request this additional service when discussing your air balance!
The very short answer is… no.
Only a licensed and certified TAB contractor can write an air balance report for inspection purposes.
A restaurant with equal building pressures is the foundation of a healthy operating kitchen, if unbalanced however, it can create a spiral of unwanted problems.
For example, a kitchen that is unbalanced can cause:
- Hard-to-open exterior doors
- Premature equipment failure.
- Sewage smells during cooking hours
- Dirt, dust, and grime build-up
- Smoke not being exhausted properly
- Overly hot kitchen and dining areas
- Wasted air conditioning usage
- High electricity consumption
- Unhappy customer eating experiences
The air balance process verifies equipment is operating correctly, running efficiently, and is installed to code. An air balance also confirms that the pressures, relative to the outside, are equal within the building, this guarantees an overall healthy restaurant.
To prepare for your HVAC test and balance, please ensure the followings:
- All systems needing to be testing turn on correctly.
- Economizers function correctly and are commissioned.
- There is roof access.
- There are sets of plans on-site or a digital version accessible.
- All airflow dampers are tagged or easily identifiable.
- There is nothing underneath any diffusers/registers that may impede the testing process.
- There are airflow dampers installed at each drop.
If any commissioning services are need, please request this additional service when discussing your air balance.