5.3.2: OTA hours are the first-priority method and apply only where the lease or agreement (or House Rules it expressly incorporates) states hours applicable to the rating period. Step 1: where the wording clearly means hours the space is comfortable for office work (for example hours of occupation or comfort conditions, or a defined temperature range during building hours) those hours are used, and the lease clauses are recorded; wording such as air-conditioning hours, access or business hours, or restricted access hours is not enough alone. Step 2: ambiguous wording may be confirmed by BMS evidence that plant starts early enough to reach comfort by the OTA start, in the evidence priority of start times for each primary air handling system on one day in each of the four seasons, start times at the site visit with written confirmation, or a contractor's signed statement; a short lead such as 30 minutes needs the contractor statement or four-season temperature data. Step 3: otherwise the input form deducts 2 hours a day. The form also deducts 5 hours a week from OTA hours for all ratings. Where the owner turns plant off early because tenants leave, Core Hours remain the OTA hours.
The graph holds this control, the 0 it maps to, and the evidence behind each claim, over MCP and REST.