Project commissioning is a vital step in project management. It is the only way the entire project team and all stakeholders can be sure that the project conforms to the design document and regulatory requirements.
During commissioning, interoperability issues are addressed, functional testing procedures are carried out and energy usage optimized for efficiency and performance.
A commissioning report must ensure that all project aspects are correctly designed, installed, tested, and maintained.
Their tasks include troubleshooting, monitoring progress, performing tests, conducting audits, assisting in financial improvements, writing reports and being an effective advocate of the project owner throughout the construction phase.
During the project commissioning process, one wrong step can result in client losses, regulatory issues and legal problems.
Why You Need a Project Commissioning Plan from Day One
Construction projects are dynamic, with multiple stakeholders and constantly shifting timelines. To keep everything aligned, it’s essential to establish a well-structured project commissioning plan early in the process.
The most effective approach is to engage the commissioning firm before the design and construction phases begin. Early involvement allows the commissioning engineer to act as a liaison between the design team and contractors, helping to ensure all work aligns with the Owner's Project Requirements (OPR) from the outset.
By integrating project commissioning into the initial planning stages, teams can define a clear commissioning scope, allocate proper resources, and build a qualified commissioning team. This early planning reduces confusion, minimizes rework, and keeps the project on schedule and within budget.
Check out FTQ360's Commissioning Demo:
Laying the Foundation for a Successful Commissioning Plan
During the planning phase, it’s essential for the project team to align on how issues will be documented, shared, and resolved. Standardizing this process—ideally through a cloud-based commissioning management platform—ensures real-time visibility and efficient communication across teams.
A design kick-off meeting should be held early to bring all stakeholders together. This meeting is critical for confirming that everyone understands the design goals and the requirements outlined in the project commissioning plan.
A comprehensive commissioning plan should also include contingency strategies for unexpected disruptions, such as equipment malfunctions or weather-related delays. Planning for the unexpected keeps the project on track when challenges arise.
In addition, teams should prepare detailed project commissioning procedures and checklists well ahead of active commissioning. Early preparation streamlines execution and reinforces accountability throughout the process.
Factory Acceptance Testing: A Critical Step in Project Commissioning
Factory Acceptance Testing (FAT) plays a pivotal role in ensuring equipment performs as intended before it arrives on-site. By validating that pre-functional equipment meets design specifications, FAT helps avoid costly delays and late-stage rework—making it a key element of any successful project commissioning plan.
FAT should be conducted immediately after equipment is procured and repeated as needed during early operation. Neglecting this step often leads to complex, expensive issues down the line. For instance, skipping proper FAT for automation systems—such as verifying PLC logic—can create major setbacks during final commissioning.
For HVAC systems, FAT includes a detailed test and balance procedure to ensure optimal performance under operational conditions.
To mitigate risk, FAT must be embedded into your overall commissioning plan. Taking a proactive, early approach ensures errors are identified and corrected before they can derail your timeline or budget.
Sound Mechanical Completions
Each mechanical completion can seem like a straightforward matter as a subsystem. But, throw in a bunch of systems with milestones and delivery sequences and everything suddenly becomes very complicated.
Missed milestones and complex handovers compromise successful project delivery. You must have sound mechanical completions to streamline the handover process.
Achieve sound mechanical completion by:
- Defining each mechanical completion upfront: Set out the expectations at project commencement and state when mechanical completions are expected to align with other commissioning activities.
- Define boundary conditions: Construction and commissioning activities often overlap to optimize the project schedule. Mechanical completion documents define the areas under testing (and thus under the care, control and custody of the commissioning team) and the areas under construction (under the care, control and custody of the construction team).
Construction Quality
The quality of systems received from the construction team determines commissioning success. The construction team must implement a Quality Management System (QMS).
The QMS defines the construction team's Quality Control (QC) role and the project owner's (or an appointee) Quality Assurance (QA) role. Inspection test plans (ITPs) define the quality control details. The QA ensures that the contractor follows the ITP and QC plan.
Deficient installations that cannot be tested and have to be turned over to the construction team are a sign of a flawed Quality Management System with little or no quality control and assurance.
Also, test procedures developed at the beginning of the project are a sure way to improve construction quality and smoothen the commissioning process.
Pull It All Together with Precise Schedule Management.
The schedule changes continuously and needs to be updated regularly. Schedule management is, therefore, a key ingredient for successful commissioning.
However, to avoid schedule management becoming a task, the schedule should only include block activities representing an outcome.
For example, if you have one week of loop checks to perform on an automated system, represent this as a one-week activity. It’s not critical to include each panel's details being tested, provided all are tested within one week.
Precise schedule management is also vital for mechanical completions. The project team tracks progress and provides the commissioning team with regular feedback on meeting milestones.
Productivity establishes if progress is satisfactory to meet timelines. If it isn't, institute remedial measures or determine the commissioning control sequence's impact.
The project team should never notify of the possibility of a missed critical milestone when it is due or almost due – schedule management allows such an eventuality to be evident well in advance to evaluate options and prepare recovery plans.
A Better Way to Manage the Commissioning Process
Many commissioning engineers get it wrong because they use antiquated methods to manage the commissioning process. Paper and Excel spreadsheets may have been the only options available years ago but are far inferior now. Best practice commissioning dictates the use of commissioning software to manage the entire process.
FTQ360 is a cloud commissioning platform to improve and streamline your commissioning process so that you get it right the first time.
It starts with the end in mind by collecting documents and reports in an organized way throughout the commissioning process so that you are always prepared for a fast and easy closeout. Automatically format and organize all inspections and tests into a turnover package.
With FTQ360, upfront planning of inspections and tests for specific equipment and systems and schedule management are baked right into the process. It also comes with a large library of fully customizable checklist templates to help you save time.
Communicate issues in a managed process from discovery to resolution and tie all tests and inspections to specific equipment tags, sub-systems and the overall system.
Generate easy-to-read inspection reports with proof-positive compliance documentation at the touch of button. See the big picture with dashboards and graphical reports, then focus on the details. View reports online or schedule them to automatically run and email.
FTQ360 is available as a mobile and web application. For more information on how FTQ360 can improve your commissioning process, book a free demo today.
