Rating System

LEED BD+C: New Construction, LEED BD+C: Core and Shell, LEED BD+C: Schools, LEED ID+C: Commercial Interiors

Rating System Version

v4 - LEED v4, v3 - LEED 2009, v2 - Schools 2007, v2 - LEED 2.2

Inquiry

We seek confirmation that the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) will accept the Jacobs Consultancy, Inc. as an independent, third party Commissioning Authority on projects designed by the Jacobs Engineering Group, Inc. The Jacobs organization encompasses over 57,000 personnel in hundreds of offices around the world providing services of all kinds to thousands of clients. The organization is comprised of over 125 separate companies, collectively called "Jacobs". Among these 125 companies is the Jacobs Engineering Group, Inc. (JEG) which provides a diverse list of design services to clients worldwide, and the Jacobs Consultancy, Inc. (JCI) which offers planning, facilities management, commissioning, and other building and property advisory services to mainly North American clients. JCI and JEG are separate and independent legal entities under the Jacobs umbrella of companies. They operate autonomously. The two companies have separate Boards of Directors and separate federal tax identification numbers. They have no day-to-day or annual contact for any reason. As an example of their dissimilar corporate objectives, JEG is authorized to provide professional architecture and engineering design services in all 50 states; JCI is not authorized to provide professional design services, but is registered to do business in virtually all states, certainly all states in which we intend to provide commissioning services. The two companies do not share any staff. Each company is treated financially as an individual profit center. There are no financial ties, dependence, intradependence or interdependence between JCI and JEG. There are no shared expenses, profit, sales, bonuses, or anything of the like between the two companies. There are no financial, social, personnel, or any other relationships between the two entities in any form whatsoever. Operational management of JCI and JEG are completely separate and autonomous. The convergence of corporate management only occurs at the highest levels of Jacobs as the necessary rollup of responsibility to the President of the corporation. In the corporate hierarchy, this is many levels above the operational management of both JCI and JEG. Accordingly, with regard to the independence tests established in several previous CIR\'s over many years:  Management: The Jacobs Consultancy, Inc. shares no operational management with JEG and the convergence of corporate management only occurs at the highest levels of the Jacobs organization as explained above.  Staff: The Jacobs Consultancy, Inc. shares no staff with JEG. Specifically, there is no overlap of personnel between design and commissioning teams, which have separate reporting structures.  Financials: The Jacobs Consultancy, Inc. shares no financial relationship with JEG. To further secure and establish the independence of the Jacobs Consultancy, Inc. commissioning group on any given project designed by the Jacobs Engineering Group, Inc.: 1. The commissioning contract will always be a direct and separate contract between the Jacobs Consultancy, Inc. and the Owner. 2. The Commissioning Authority will always report directly to the Owner. The Jacobs Consultancy, Inc. will, of course, comply with all LEED Fundamental Commissioning and LEED Enhanced Commissioning requirements on any assignment as the Commissioning Authority for a LEED registered project. Based on these facts, please confirm that the USGBC will consider the Jacobs Consultancy, Inc. as an independent, third party Commissioning Authority on projects designed by the Jacobs Engineering Group, Inc.