If you’ve had challenges finding the commissioning resources you need to complete capital projects, it’s going to get even more challenging in the future. There are two compounding factors that are evolving by the day, making the commissioning people you’re looking for even harder to find.

First, there is an unprecedented volume of work on projects. Our global society is undergoing significant change, with a shift in how we power the infrastructure we depend on. Capital projects play a significant role in making this transition:

• Electrification of our power sources
• Decarbonization of fossil fuel energy
• EV battery production with mining and chemical manufacturing facilities to support this new supply chain
• Hydrogen production as clean energy
• Lots of climate change initiatives for a sustainable future
• And many more

Project resources are currently hard to find, especially for specialized skillsets like commissioning.

And second, our wise commissioning experts are retiring at a higher rate. Many of these experts enjoy working into their seventies (because they love commissioning!), but they will retire at some point. And when they do, they take all their expertise with them.

Projects are often not super process-driven, so when our commissioning experts leave projects, their tacit knowledge of the commissioning process they’ve been using to guide the team, leaves the industry as well.

Project teams without a plan to get the people, processes, and tools they need for commissioning, will get to the end of projects without being able to finish them.

The situation is going to get worse before it gets better. And project teams that are not taking proactive action will be even more constrained in the future.

How are you planning to address this labour shortage – to get the commissioning skillsets you need on projects? Everyone is faced with this same challenge ahead of us, even if you’ve got great resources now, commissioning expertise in the industry appears to be diminishing, and if we let this happen, we may never be able to build these skillsets back up to the level that the industry requires.

I see a lot of project teams posting positions for commissioning. But from my experience, the response to these job postings has not been great, with mostly people looking for help with visa immigration paperwork. It’s difficult to find commissioning people, because the good guys are already busy on projects, and they’re not responding to job postings, because the good guys at the end of projects always get scooped up to work on another project. So posting positions looking for commissioning experience (with fingers crossed) seems more like wishful thinking, and not a viable strategy to get the resources you need.

We need a new way to get the people, processes, and tools required for commissioning, if we are to tackle this huge volume of work ahead of us.

We need a new way to generate a strong pipeline of people that can complete commissioning of capital projects. If we don’t find a solution to this, we’ll have trillions of dollars in capital project expenses, only partially working, with minimal progress to meet our global objectives as a society.

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. ICxA is the governing body that defines what commissioning leadership looks like — and why it matters long before the commissioning team arrives on 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. For those ready to formalise their commissioning expertise, ICxA’s Commissioning Leadership credential (CxL) is the professional benchmark.

Commissioning is a complex puzzle to solve, and there are a lot of pieces of the puzzle. Miss any piece, and commissioning can be a nightmare at the end of projects.

But where do you get started?

Whether you’re new to commissioning, or a seasoned professional – wherever you’re at on your commissioning journey – we have a resource that meets you where you’re at.

If you just need the basics…

If you need to understand the stages of commissioning and what takes place during each stage…

If you’re searching for the best software to use…

If you need advanced contracting strategies…

Or if you need systems & processes to standardize commissioning…

We’ve got a FREE! resource to help you along your commissioning journey, so you can complete commissioning as efficiently as possible, and save time and money completing capital projects during commissioning.

Get started with our FREE! resources: Get Started with Commissioning

Get the fundamentals of commissioning – in less than 20 minutes – in this short introduction to commissioning to answer the who, what, when, where, and why of commissioning – without the technical jargon. Get the info you need about commissioning, so you can make informed decisions on projects, and ensure they’re completed as efficiently as possible.

Get access here: Introduction to Commissioning – In Less Than 20 minutes

Commissioning is a critical aspect of capital projects, but it’s also a complex topic. If you want to meet your cost and schedule objectives on projects, then you need a robust plan to complete commissioning.

But for people that only want or need to understand the fundamentals – who, what, when, where, and why of commissioning, how do they cut through all the technical jargon to get what they need, so they can make informed decisions on projects?

• WHAT is commissioning really all about
• WHY is commissioning required on capital projects
• WHEN is commissioning required
• WHERE does commissioning take place
• WHO is responsible for commissioning

The bottom line is – you need capital projects to be successfully completed on-time and on-budget, so you can meet your corporate objectives. But you don’t have time for all the technical mumbo-jumbo – you just need the fundamentals so you can make informed decisions and get your new assets in-service as efficiently as possible.

Get the fundamentals of commissioning – in less than 20 minutes – in this short introduction to commissioning to answer the who, what, when, where, and why of commissioning – without the technical jargon. Get the info you need about commissioning, so you can make informed decisions on projects, and ensure they’re completed as efficiently as possible.

Get access here: Introduction to Commissioning – In Less Than 20 minutes

Imagine if you had a system that could show you:

• The status of construction – I mean like everything – if every nut and bolt is installed – if every torque value is correct – if every glanded cable is terminated correctly – if every megger value is within tolerance – if every pipe has been flushed and meets pressure/leak requirements
• The status of checklists – which ones are complete – which ones are remaining – who has checklists that are over-due – which checklists have issues, what are the issues, who needs to address the issues, and when does the issue need to be dealt with
• The status of each subsystem – is it complete construction – is it ready for pre-commissioning – are all subsystem checks complete and the subsystem is ready for integration with others?
• The bottlenecks in your gated commissioning process – what is waiting for signoff – what is the reason signoff is delayed – is scaffolding missing that’s preventing someone from completing checks – whom do you need to talk to (like an actual name) to see how to help them complete their delayed tasks

What if you had a system that could tell you all this? Do you think this information would be helpful to you on projects?

Would completing commissioning be much easier? Would you be able to make better decisions on projects?

Would completing capital projects be much easier, if you had a system to complete commissioning? Would you be more likely to meet cost and schedule objectives, if you had access to this type of information?

Are you skeptical that this is possible?

Want to see how to do this?

Join our next live webinar and I’ll show you how this works. You can get the Zoom link here.

I saw an interesting quote the other day:

• Process and outcome are intimately related. You get both, or you get neither.

The quote I saw wasn’t in the context of commissioning, but it absolutely applies.

The outcome you achieve at the end of your project commissioning is intimately related to how well your commissioning process is defined. The problem is, most projects are not super process-driven. Project teams may generally have an idea about the sequence of commissioning:

• Mechanical Completion, Pre-Commissioning, Commissioning, Startup, Performance Verification, Trial Operation, Handover

But there is a bit more to it than this.

When you have no process, then you won’t get the outcome you would like for commissioning, which means you won’t get the outcome you would like for your project.

If all you have for a framework for commissioning is the above sequence, with tracking in spreadsheets, then you don’t really have a process. Besides, you’re missing all the steps in the process that precede MC.

Without a process, you can be certain you won’t get the outcome you desire on your project (just like the quote says), which is why 9 out of 10 projects are late and over-budget. This is exactly the gap ICxA was created to address — governing the conditions that define commissioning success before the outcome is lost.

Join our next live webinar to see what a fully-developed commissioning process looks like to achieve the project outcome you would like. You can get the Zoom link here.

Commissioning professionals who want a credential to match that process rigour should explore ICxA’s Commissioning Leadership credential (CxL).

Here are the top 10 challenges associated with configuring commissioning software for capital projects:

Complexity of Project Requirements: Capital projects often involve numerous stakeholders, complex workflows, and diverse requirements. Configuring commissioning software to accommodate these varied requirements while ensuring consistency and accuracy can be challenging. Software will not define your workflows in the way you do your work – only you as the system expert can define how you want to systematize your project and the workflows you want to follow. Capital projects are complex, and commissioning software is a tool to assist you do your job. You need to know how to select the right tool and know how to use it. You certainly wouldn’t select a sledgehammerfrom to frame a house – you need the right tool for the job.

Integration with Existing Systems and Processes: This is actually over-rated. While it sounds nice to have a tool that connects to everything and does everything for you, it’s actually not needed. The skillsets for construction are entirely different from the skillsets for commissioning. The two phases of projects are managing completely different functions. In the same manner, you need separate and specific software to manage the very specific challenges of each of these phases. You also don’t need all 30,000 activities from Primavera loaded into your commissioning software – there are only a handful of critical milestone dates to synchronize, which does not require some elaborate integrated process to maintain. When commissioning software is set up with exactly what you need to finish projects, and not bogged down with a bunch of other integrated items that have nothing to do with completions or commissioning, you’ll have a much better success rate completing your projects.

Data Management and Organization: Managing project data, including specifications, drawings, inspection reports, and compliance documents, is crucial for successful commissioning. Configuring software to effectively organize, track, and manage project data can be challenging, particularly in projects with large volumes of information. Other document management systems organize documents by name. This isn’t much help when you don’t know the document’s name or number. A better way to organize information for commissioning is by equipment tag number. When you can enter an equipment tag ID and get every drawing, RFI, NCR, and change notice that was ever issued on the project specific to each piece of gear, this is a much more helpful way to see information when you’re dealing with equipment, subsystems, and systems for commissioning.

Standardization and Compliance: Ensuring compliance with industry standards, regulations, and project specifications is essential for successful commissioning. Wouldn’t it be nice if there was a standard that governed how commissioning information is to be managed and presented to operating groups at the end of projects? To have consistency across projects and industries?  Too bad it doesn’t exist. So you’re going to need to make sure your commissioning software uses a robust method to consolidate information in a hierarchical manner to present operating teams with the information they need for on-going operation and maintenance of the new facilities.

Collaboration and Communication: Facilitating collaboration and communication among project stakeholders, including owners, contractors, engineers, and inspectors, is critical for efficient commissioning. Most software platforms do a good job of this.

Workflow Management: Configuring commissioning software to automate and streamline project workflows, including task assignments, approvals, and progress tracking, can improve efficiency and reduce delays. While most software platforms do a decent job of tracking your commissioning, not all software does a good job of managing workflows.  Some are too restrictive, forcing you into workflows that do not align with how you do your work. Others are missing this critical function, and do not manage workflows very well.  Designing and implementing effective workflow management in your software requires careful planning and consideration of project-specific requirements and constraints, so that software actually makes your job easier, and does not constrain how you complete projects.

Risk Management: Identifying, assessing, and mitigating project risks is essential for successful commissioning, particularly in projects with complex risk profiles or regulatory requirements. These software capabilities are only going to continue to increase. With all the recent discussions of the AI tools that are available, the data generated by projects is a perfect use-case for AI to analyze. As the software tools continue to grow in capability, I can envision powerful AI systems that can analyze project data and identify risks, in a way that can’t possibly be done reviewing spreadsheets.

Quality Assurance and Testing: Ensuring the quality and integrity of project deliverables, including equipment installations, system configurations, and documentation, is crucial for successful commissioning. Configuring software to support quality assurance processes, including inspections, and testing, is critical to ensure that nothing gets missed. All the big details and all the small details really matter during commissioning. Miss one small VFD setting and the system won’t work. Software allows tracking of everything, to reduce the number of snags during commissioning.

Training and Onboarding: Providing training and support for project team members and stakeholders to effectively use commissioning software is essential for maximizing its benefits. Configuring software to provide user-friendly interfaces, comprehensive training materials, and ongoing support can be challenging, particularly in projects with diverse skill levels and technical backgrounds. You want software that helps your team get the job done, not makes their job more difficult. Effective on-boarding is essential to show your team the value the software provides and how it makes their job easier.

Adaptability and Scalability: Configuring commissioning software to accommodate changes in project scope, requirements, and stakeholders’ needs over time is essential for long-term success. Ensuring the flexibility and scalability of software solutions to evolve with changing project dynamics can be challenging, particularly in projects with long durations or evolving requirements.

There are quite a few considerations when configuring your commissioning software. Most systems are a blank sheet, and quite flexible to meet your project specific needs. Which means you need to spend some time configuring your software with your project specific needs and workflows. Remember the saying – garbage-in, garbage-out. Configuring your commissioning software is a critical activity done by someone that truly understands commissioning, so you can get the most value from your commissioning software, and so that you can complete commissioning as efficiently as possible.

To get you started, download the complete commissioning software list of the 25+ software platforms that are available. You can download the list here.

There are several things to consider when selecting commissioning software. You want to make sure you select the best option for your projects, so you can get the best value and complete commissioning as efficiently as possible.  But select the wrong one, and you could be starting the review process all over in a year from now, once you realize the software you selected can’t actually meet your needs.

These are the things to consider when selecting commissioning software:

Finding the Right Solution: Identifying commissioning software that aligns with your specific project needs and industry requirements can be challenging due to the multitude of options available. There are software systems tailored to each industry, in the terminology used and the workflows provided, so make sure you pick the right one.

Cost Considerations: Budget constraints may limit access to premium commissioning software solutions, forcing you to consider cheaper alternatives. But don’t get sucked into this trap. The right commissioning software will easily save you time and effort on projects, and should not be viewed as an expense. The right question to ask is how much will software save your projects. Look for software systems that give you the highest ROI, rather than focusing on the cost.

Compatibility and Integration: Ensuring that the chosen software integrates seamlessly with existing systems and workflows can be complex, especially in environments with diverse hardware and software configurations. But don’t get too overwhelmed thinking it would be great to get everything interconnected and integrated. You’re commissioning software doesn’t actually need to have elaborate interfaces – you don’t need all 30,000 activities from Primavera loaded into your commissioning software. With a few critical connections to other systems within your project delivery, your commissioning software will be able to work seamlessly.

Learning Curve: Commissioning software often requires specialized knowledge and training to use effectively, posing a challenge for individuals and teams unfamiliar with the technology or commissioning process. There is quite a lot involved in getting your commissioning software set up correctly in an efficient manner to be helpful on your project – and only you can define this in the way that you do the work –your software provider can’t tell you how you do your specialized workflows.  If you have great processes, you’ll love the software. But if you have bad processes, you’ll hate it. And most projects are not super process-driven.  The training required for the individuals configuring the software is very different from the individuals using the software on a daily basis  You’re going to need a very specific training program for each role-specific task in the software. And you likely don’t want to prepare this on your own as you’re also trying to learn the new systems.

Data Security: Concerns about data privacy and security may arise when using commissioning software, particularly when dealing with sensitive project information and client data. Your IT department probably has unreasonable restrictions, so how do you keep them happy when using a cloud-based system? The best commissioning software systems have industry-leading security at the same level as the tech-giants in Silicon Valley (who have teams of thousands working on the best encryption methods available), this is much better than your corporate security group of 6 can implement. But it’s hard to convince them of that…

Scalability: Commissioning projects vary in size and complexity, making scalability an important consideration when selecting software that can accommodate both small-scale and large-scale projects. Don’t get trapped by software that crumbles when you add too many tagged items to your software. Do you really want to wait 20 seconds for each search to find what you’re looking for? Google can search the world’s information in 0.63 seconds, your commissioning software should be able to do the same for your much smaller dataset.

Technical Support and Maintenance: Access to reliable technical support and ongoing maintenance services is essential to address any issues or updates that may arise during the commissioning process. Do you want software designed by real commissioning people, or do you want software designed by someone overseas who knows nothing about commissioning?

Regulatory Compliance: Adhering to industry regulations and standards is crucial for successful commissioning projects, requiring software solutions that facilitate compliance and documentation. Servers need to be in the right location when it comes to access to information or claims negotiation later in projects.

User Adoption: Encouraging user adoption and ensuring buy-in from stakeholders can be challenging, especially if individuals are resistant to change or unfamiliar with the benefits of commissioning software. What if your team hates the software you choose and insists on going back to paper and spreadsheets? You need to make sure you have a robust roll-out strategy that guarantees your team will love the software and sees the value in using it. You certainly don’t want your software rollout to be another failed process improvement flavour-of-the-month…

Long-term Viability: Assessing the long-term viability and support of commissioning software providers is essential to mitigate the risk of investing in a solution that may become obsolete or unsupported in the future. Select a software system with a strong user-base, indicating the platform is growing and sustainable for the future.

Download the complete 25+ commissioning software list of available platforms and start using these systems on your projects – download the commissioning software list here.

Completing capital project commissioning using paper and spreadsheets no longer works. While this used to work 20 years ago, today’s projects are far too complex to manually manage all the details in spreadsheets.

A lot of project teams still use paper and spreadsheets to manage commissioning, because that’s the way it’s always been done, and it’s not easy to change project delivery processes. It can take time in the corporate world to transition to new ways to work, and companies sometimes need help to make this transition.

But using paper and spreadsheets is an inefficient way to get the job done. Projects move fast, and project teams need access to real-time information to make real-time decisions. It is no longer appropriate to wait for Friday’s spreadsheet update to see the progress details. Besides, there is just too much information and too many details to keep track of manually in spreadsheets – things easily get missed.

Accountants stopped using paper and spreadsheets decades ago– there are just too many details and tax write-offs to work out with a pencil and paper. You certainly don’t want to miss anything that costs you more taxes?!? Software has made filing taxes much easier and more accurate, and the same applies to completing even more complex capital projects as well.

Everyone needs visibility and clarity on what success looks like during commissioning. When all project groups have a clear vision of what’s required for commissioning, everyone can contribute to completing commissioning on-time and on-budget. Commissioning software gives this visibility and clarity as the tool to communicate to all groups working on projects – what is required for successful commissioning, who needs to do it, and when does it need to be done by. Since successful commissioning and startup is the precursor to meeting your project in-service date, this must be everyone’s primary objective when working on projects – successful commissioning and startup.

Commissioning software is not just a tracking tool – it is the workflow management tool that defines how your capital project will be successfully completed. Instead of writing a hundred-page commissioning plan document that nobody will read anyway, commissioning software is the tool to model your commissioning plan and define the process to complete projects. And completing capital projects on-time and on-budget should be everyone’s goal on the project – shouldn’t it?

When commissioning software is used incorrectly – or worse, paper and spreadsheets are used instead – project teams are just gambling. They have no way to impact the outcome of their projects. All they can do is roll the dice and hope for the best at the end. This is hardly a good approach to projects.

There are some really good software options on the market – some of the best commissioning software has been created in the last few years – to take advantage of the new computing power and data analyse tools that exist. Cloud-based commissioning software is the most common, providing software as a service as required to complete capital projects. When you implement the right commissioning platform, you are able to complete projects as efficiently as possible. Construction commissioning software can easily save 2-3 days to complete projects, which usually covers the cost of the software. And in reality, these systems can save your projects weeks or months of completion, easily offsetting the cost of software. People ask – what is the cost of the software – when in reality, a better question to ask is how much can this software save projects? When you ask better questions, you get better answers – because the right software implementation can easily save projects a significant amount of time and money to complete commissioning much more efficiently. Time and money that you’re leaving on the table if you’re still using paper and spreadsheets.

Download the complete 25+ commissioning software list of available platforms and start using these systems on your projects – download the commissioning software list here.

Technical commissioning is not actually what’s missing on projects. There are lots of smart people working on projects, and they’ll get the testing done one way or the other.

What’s missing on projects are the project management aspects that are supposed to go “around” the technical commissioning. What’s missing are the systems and controls to manage commissioning starting much earlier in projects.

Your projects may have one or more of these problems:

• Your transition from construction to commissioning is disorganized/incomplete
• Commissioning is delayed due to constant snags
• Commissioning is squeezed into half the time (16 hour days to try to recover)
• You lose time during commissioning, and miss your project in-service date

And I’m willing to bet it’s because you’re making one or more of these mistakes:

• You’re not managing commissioning using PM systems/controls
• You have no systems-based approach through all stages (starting during FEED)
• You plan your projects from left to right
• You’re still using paper and spreadsheets to manage commissioning
• Only a handful of people on your project understand what’s required for commissioning
• You use contracts to get the work started, but not as a tool to finish

This is due to a gap in the construction industry. Project managers must know how to complete capital projects during commissioning. However, commissioning project management is not included in any of the project management literature that exists. When such a critical process (completing projects during commissioning) is not explained to people working on projects, it’s no wonder 9 out of 10 projects are late and over-budget. ICxA exists to address this gap — setting the professional standard for commissioning competence across capital projects.

That’s why we created the Commissioning Academy – to help project managers and commissioning managers understand commissioning project management, so they can complete projects during commissioning, using systems and controls to lead/manage commissioning, with much better outcomes to meet project cost and schedule objectives. For commissioning professionals ready to formalise that expertise, ICxA’s Commissioning Leadership credential (CxL) is the recognised mark of commissioning capability.