Once on-site commissioning is complete, there are several activities that remain to finish the project and handover the new facilities to the owner.

I have been on projects where this has gone well, and there is a gradual handover to the operations team. I’ve also been on projects where the project team just drops their tools and runs from site, leaving the operations team wondering what to do with the new equipment.  This is not a good situation and does not set the operations team up for the best chance of success for ongoing operation and maintenance of the new facilities.

Some of the last commissioning activities to take place are performance verification and the trial period.

Performance Verification

During performance verification, all contractual requirements of the technical specifications are verified to ensure the systems meet all design requirements and is operating as originally intended. Any fine-tuning takes place to ensure the systems are functioning at optimal performance.

Trial Period

Once the system is operating as intended. A trial period is often included in the contract where the systems have to operate uninterrupted for a period of time. The trial period can be any duration such as three days or a month. The contract defines what constitutes a restart of the trial period. If an interruption occurs the root cause of the upset is addressed, and the trial period restarted. Only once the trial period is complete is the system ready for the next steps.

Deficiency Closeout

Any remaining deficiencies are closed out following the trial period. Deficiencies typically aren’t addressed during the trial period due to the risk of interrupting the system’s operation from final testing. There may be a few new deficiencies identified as well, there may be outstanding Type B deficiencies to be addressed. These deficiencies are addressed prior to handover to the owner.

Substantial Completion

Once the trial period is complete and deficiencies have been addressed, the systems can be placed into commercial service. The contract may define this as substantial completion where the systems are being used for their intended purpose for the first time. Substantial completion is also the point in time where the systems are handed over to the owner for continued operation and maintenance of the new facilities. Learn more about Mechanical Completion, Substantial Completion, Final Completion

Handover to the Owner

Completion of the Provisional Acceptance Certificate or PAC is the formal handover from the contractor to the owner. The owner’s operators become responsible for the ongoing operation and maintenance of the facilities, and the warranty period begins.

Warranty

The contract will define the terms of the warranty including the duration. The warranty period could be one year or three years depending on the contract terms. During the warranty period, the contractor is responsible to fix any contract non-compliances that arise including equipment failure or problems with the operation of the equipment. The contractor also addresses any remaining Type C deficiencies during the warranty period.

Performance Guarantees

The performance guarantee period also begins once the Provisional Acceptance Certificate is defined. The length of the performance guarantee period can be the same duration as the warranty period but not necessarily. During the performance guarantee period, specific technical parameters of the system are monitored. The contract will define the values of these technical parameters that must be met during this period. This is to monitor how well the system performs over a period of time.

For example, guaranteed availability or guaranteed minimum losses may be requirements for the system to meet. Guaranteed availability may require that the system is available for 99.99 of the time. Any forced outages during the performance guarantee period will impact this value if parameters are achieved.

At the end of the performance guarantee period, there may be a final payment to the contractor. If values are not achieved, the contract will define how this is dealt with. If the performance guarantee period is extended once issues are addressed, or if there is a financial impact due to underperformance. Once the warranty period and performance guarantee period are complete, the Final Acceptance Certificate or FAC can be signed indicating that the contractor has met all their contractual responsibilities and the contract can be closed.

Operational Readiness

Another important process to take place in parallel with commissioning and project closeout is operational readiness. This is to prepare the owner’s operators to be ready for ongoing operation and maintenance of the new facilities at the in-service date. Operational readiness includes setting up the required asset management systems, ensuring all documentation is updated and available, ensuring operators are trained to operate the new systems and several more activities. Please see some of my other videos for more details on how the commissioning team contributes to the Operational Readiness process.

The last part of the project is very fast-paced as final commissioning is completed and systems are placed into service the commissioning team needs to be prepared in advance so that this part of the project goes smoothly.

To learn more about commissioning, please join my free 3-Day Mini-Course on Commissioning and Startup. The course is free and flexible to take any time and gives a great introduction to the commissioning process.

You can also see a video explanation as well.  Be sure to check out our YouTube channel for more helpful videos on Commissioning and Startup.