Managing capital projects is complex – there are many aspects to consider. At the highest level, there are 3 phases of projects to manage:

• Projects need to be designed during FEED processes, to produce the engineering design packages of what needs to be purchased and installed
• The equipment needs to be purchased and installed during construction processes
• And all parts of the project need to be integrated and tested during commissioning processes

Arguably, the most complex phase of projects is integrating all items and making them work together as one plant process during commissioning.

There is of course a lot of work during design and construction phases, and these phases are where the bulk of the money is spent on capital projects, due to procurement of equipment and large labour forces to complete the work. These two phases are preparatory phases to get ready to complete the project during commissioning. However, these two phases are often the main focus of project teams, and commissioning gets overlooked, since it is perceived to take place later in the project.

However, this is actually not true – in order to be successful at the end of capital projects, the commissioning phase spans the entire duration of the project. Project teams often overlook commissioning, because they are busy addressing the inevitable issues encountered during design and construction.

This isn’t anyone’s fault. When there is an infinite list of tasks to complete each day on projects, it’s natural to focus on the urgent items of the day, and commissioning tasks gets deferred to later, until they become higher priority. But this approach doesn’t set commissioning up for success.

You wouldn’t start planning the destination of your family road an hour before arriving – of course not. You would have a pretty good idea of where you’re going to go – and what you’re going to do when you get there – before even getting into your SUV with your family to start the trip.

It’s exactly the same approach for commissioning. Often project managers believe that commissioning is not their responsibility – that this is a testing activity to be done by the commissioning team at the end of projects. But the project management of commissioning is absolutely the responsibility of project managers. Project managers are the ones held accountable for the project cost and schedule outcome – and all phases of projects – design, construction and commissioning – must be successful to achieve cost and schedule objectives.

Project managers – unfortunately – are not taught how to manage commissioning. If you look at the information available from the Project Management Institute, it teaches how to start a project, and briefly covers quality management, but there is nothing on the project management processes required for construction completions and commissioning. PMI is addressing the broad spectrum of project management, and can’t possibly address the completion of all types of projects. But because of this, project managers are not equipped with the tools to finish capital projects. And they realize this too late, only after projects run into trouble at the end during commissioning. It’s a painful and expensive way to learn this lesson.

There is a gap in the industry, and a disconnect between project managers and commissioning. The only way to bridge this gap is to help project managers understand this complex phase of projects, and their responsibility to manage commissioning starting right at the beginning of projects, much earlier than the commissioning experts arrive at site.

Project managers are responsible for starting projects, they are responsible for managing projects and responsible for completing projects. How well project managers do in their role to manage projects is determined by their ability to manage the project team to achieve the cost and schedule objectives. And the only way to meet project objectives is for all 3 phases of projects to be successful.

So don’t overlook commissioning of capital projects. It is a complex phase that project managers are responsible for managing, and requiring upfront effort during early phases of projects, in order to achieve cost and schedule objectives of projects. If you’re new to commissioning, check out the free resources on our site to help you prepare for this complex phase of capital projects.