Best Practices for New Project Commissioning

Planning or implementing new projects is quite a complex task. If the commissioning process has been planned poorly or executed in a substandard fashion, it may make the project more complex and even result in unanticipated disruptions.

On the contrary, a thoughtfully planned, rigorously executed and completely engaged commissioning process can remarkably streamline many of the most crucial and sophisticated systems and activities. Moreover, there will be substantial advantages the building owner can enjoy during the early life of the building.

Here are some best practices for new project commissioning as a foundation to develop a comprehensive commissioning program:

1.      Create an A-Team: The size as well as specialisation of the commissioning team differs from project to project. However, general knowledge of engineering systems and processes, hands-on experience and understanding of the construction phase are salient features that are expected to possess by majority of the team members.

2.      Define the Budget, Scope and Schedule of Commissioning: Start the commissioning phase prior to the formal beginning of any of the design phases. Consider commissioning as a formal component of the project and start assessing project schedules, delivery plan and commissioning budget. Before any actual work starts, prepare and finalise heavily detailed plans. The scope of the commissioning process helps figure out all the systems to be commissioned as well as the extent of commissioning, delegate responsibilities and roles across the design and construction teams, and stay within the commissioning budget. When you take this step early on in the project, the commissioning plan – including the responsibilities and roles of contractors – can be included in construction-specific documents and contractual agreement, which helps ensure that everyone involved in the project stays committed to the plan.

3.      Finalise and Execute Project Plans: For smaller construction projects, this may be as simple as creating spreadsheets and sharing them with the project team through emails. However, for larger projects today, some advanced type of cloud-based commissioning management systems software is utilised by project teams. This helps offer every team member access to information in real-time while improving efficiency with better quality control and higher degree of collaboration between members of the project team.

4.      Hold the Design Phase Initial Meeting: The design phase initial meeting helps align the initial understanding of the requirements of building design with the commissioning plan. The number as well as frequency of reviewing design document varies on the basis of the complexity and size of the project – but there should be minimum one initial review to discuss the whole project at length. Responses from the commissioning team for every design review should be included in the design documents, and this entire process can be used as a phase-gate prior to the beginning of subsequent design phases.

5.      Conduct the Construction Phase Initial Meeting: While all the activities focused towards construction are important, having buy-in as well as an in-depth understanding of the commissioning phase from all the contractors involved is perhaps the most crucial one. This is not the ideal time to issue instructions, but it’s the time to facilitate collaboration and nurture mutual respect among different members of the teams involved – all working towards the prime goal of achieving the best results possible for the building owner. It’s also the time when all the parties involved should be well aware of (and trained if required) the best commissioning software and process that will be utilised to communicate and resolve issues. Top-quality and efficient collaboration is critical to the success of the commissioning process. Share elaborate commissioning documents with the construction team. This information should ideally encompass functional testing procedures and scripts and lists of systems, along with any important checklists or tasks as well as access to the commissioning management systems software being utilised.

6.      Have Periodic Commissioning Check-Ins: Given the complexity and high level of details involved to start up and commission a new building, process is of the essence. The project team (and other stakeholders involved, if any) will require having continuous access to the current information. It is true that too many meetings result in wastage and inefficiency when it is about construction projects, but for the commissioning process, a dedicated meeting is a must. Have commissioning check-ins with key stakeholders and contractors to see if the necessary communication is occurring, and problems are being managed and resolved instantly and regularly.

7.      Visit the Work Site Frequently: Regular visits to the site should be a scheduled and recurring element of your commissioning plan. Assess and get involved in important activities as they occur along the way. Simultaneously, review functional test reports, start-up reports, and test and balance reports, along with any other crucial documents. Communicate with contractors about the issues that they would have faced during high-impact activities. A constructive and open dialogue should be maintained with project contractors and stakeholders while engaging them as team builders. This will allow for greater insights into the processes they are involved in and may also offer several opportunities for design- or system-specific improvements that usually go unnoticed.

8.      Conduct Functional Testing: Conduct functional testing as per repeatable, recorded test procedures, developed during the initial phases. Prepare detailed documentation of it too. Also, record any information available about system maintenance, performance and features that may prove beneficial to building operators in future.  

Conclusion

The benefits of commissioning are many. Remember that the effectiveness of the commissioning process depends on the experience and expertise of the commissioning management company, and how well the process is implemented.