Independent document-preparation service. Not affiliated with the Washington State Department of Commerce. We never ask for your Clean Buildings Portal login.
File My Building

How to find and brief a Qualified Energy Manager

For owners whose documents are drafted and who need a QEM to review and sign Form A. Checked 29 Oct 2026.

If nobody on your team qualifies as a QEM (see the rule), you hire one. The good news: with your Energy Management Plan, O&M Program and benchmarking already prepared, you are buying a review and a signature, not a project. Vendors who quote $3,750 to $12,000 are pricing the whole job. Ask for the small one.

Where to look

  1. Commerce's QEM directory. The Smart Buildings Center, which runs Commerce's training, publishes a self-reported list of people who have completed it and are offering services. It is linked from the QEM training page. Filter by your county.
  2. Your own contractors. The HVAC or controls contractor who already services the building often has staff with two years' operations experience; the free course is all they need to qualify, and they already know your equipment.
  3. Commerce's office hours. Fourth Tuesday of the month, 10 to 11am. Ask who in your area is signing Tier 2 filings; staff hear from them constantly.
  4. Local associations. BOMA, your apartment association, the diocese or denominational facilities office, school districts: all have facilities people who have taken the course.

What to ask for

A flat fee for three things: read the drafted documents against Sections 5 and 6 and Annex L; walk the building once (or review photos and records) to confirm the O&M Program is implemented; set the EUI target on Form B and sign Form A from their own portal login. Expect a few hours of their time. Ask what evidence of implementation they want to see so you can have it ready.

The brief to send

Copy, fill in the brackets, and email it to two or three people from the list. The kit includes this as a ready-to-send page.

Subject: Tier 2 review and Form A signature, [building name], [city]

Hello [name],

I own/manage [building name], a [gross floor area] sq ft [use type] at [address], Commerce building ID [number]. It is a Clean Buildings Tier 2 building due 1 July 2027.

Our compliance documents are already prepared: an Energy Management Plan and O&M Program structured on Commerce's templates and WAC 194-50, the completed EMP and O&M Reporting Tools, and twelve months of utility data benchmarked in ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager. Our O&M implementation log runs from [date].

I am looking for a Qualified Energy Manager to (1) review the documents, (2) confirm implementation from a site visit or our records, (3) set the EUI target on Form B, and (4) sign Form A in the Clean Buildings Portal. We would handle the upload and the incentive application ourselves.

Could you quote a flat fee for that scope, say what evidence you would want to see, and give an idea of timing? I can send the drafts for a look before you quote.

Thank you,
[name, role, phone]

What a fair fee looks like

Nobody publishes a QEM-only price, so you are setting the market. A few hours of a building professional's time plus a site visit is the scope. If a quote comes back as a percentage of your incentive or a per-square-foot rate, it is pricing the full service; say so and ask again. Two or three quotes will show you the range quickly.

Before they sign

  • Have the O&M implementation log filled in, with at least the first inspections recorded and evidence attached.
  • Have Portfolio Manager up to date and shared read-only with Commerce.
  • Make sure the QEM has their own Secure Access Washington login; owner, energy manager and QEM each sign from their own account.

Get the kit to have everything above ready to hand over.