There are two broad categories of Project Commissioning that are defined within capital projects:

• Building Commissioning
• Industrial Commissioning

These two categories of Project Commissioning are different and require different skillsets. They are often confused or thought to be the same.  This article gives definitions of Project Commissioning, Building Commissioning, and Industrial Commissioning. 

Project Commissioning 

Project Commissioning is the methodical process to verify newly installed or upgraded equipment functions per contract requirements and to prepare the newly installed assets for operation. Project commissioning is one of the three main phases of capital projects – design, construction, and commissioning – that take place over the duration of capital project execution.

Design and construction activities that precede commissioning prepare the project for on-site commissioning where equipment is physically tested in the field. There are commissioning activities that precede on-site testing as well.

All three phases of capital projects need to be correlated so that the overall project is successful. If one phase of the project works in isolation from the others, problems will be deferred to the end of the project and identified during commissioning, which will cause project delays and cost over-runs. 

Within Project Commissioning, there are two commissioning disciplines:

• Building commissioning, sometimes referred to as commercial commissioning
• Industrial commissioning 

Building Commissioning

Building commissioning (or commercial commissioning) activities focus on the building enclosure and the support systems of the building, such as heating and cooling systems, fire detection and protection systems, lighting control systems, and other life safety systems – basically the life support systems required to obtain the building occupancy permit. Building commissioning prepares these support systems prior to building occupancy or prior to industrial commissioning of plant processes within the building. Building commissioning applies to non-industrial plant processes such as commercial buildings, high-rise residential buildings, or other buildings that do not implement an industrial plant process.

Building Commissioning is the most common and widely known type of commissioning since it applies to all commercial buildings all over the world. The Building Commissioning community and knowledge base are well established with several supporting organizations defining the standards and processes to be followed. Because it is the most common, it is often misunderstood as applying to the industrial commissioning industry as well.  While the activities are somewhat related to similar thought processes, the industrial commissioning industry requires additional skillsets due to the complex nature of the systems involved. See the next section for more details on industrial commissioning.

Building commissioning is quite common and much of the information you find online refers to building commissioning. See Wikipedia for further details on building commissioning. 

Industrial Commissioning

Industrial Commissioning refers to advanced commissioning processes of more complex systems to test and verify industrial plant process of the project. An example would be oil and gas systems, water and wastewater treatment systems, power systems, renewable energy systems, manufacturing facilities, or other complex custom-designed systems to implement a specific plant process. Industrial systems typically have operating staff on-site after the project is completed to monitor and control the plant processes from a central control room or from remote monitoring facilities. This is an important distinction from building commissioning, and a key aspect to consider when bringing a new plant process online. While building commissioning projects would require ongoing maintenance after the project, they typically don’t require the active operation of the facilities. Industrial plant processes have operating staff actively monitoring and controlling the plant processes (sometimes 24 hours a day) and reacting to any operating and maintenance requirements for the life of the plant. Operational readiness becomes an important aspect to consider during industrial commissioning projects.

Industrial commissioning focuses on the complex electrical, mechanical, and automation process control systems to implement the intended plant process. Because of this, building commissioning is one small aspect of the overall industrial commissioning process. While important, the building commissioning activities are completed as some of the first systems to bring online to obtain the building occupancy permit.  Once the building is ready, further in-depth commissioning of the industrial process equipment can proceed.

For this reason, building commissioning is one small aspect of the overall commissioning process, to place the building into service prior to more advanced commissioning activities for the plant processes (as an example of a plant process that is indoors – not all plant processes are indoors). The building commissioning must be complete, but is not the main focus of the commissioning team.  More advanced testing of custom-designed electrical, mechanical, and automation systems takes place once the building is in-service to test the industrial E/M equipment within the building to implement the intended plant process. 

Building commissioning typically involves off-the-shelf equipment to be interfaced as a building management system, while industrial commissioning includes custom-designed mechanical, electrical, and automation systems to implement specific plant processes. With custom-designed systems, interfaces are unique and require sophisticated commissioning processes to integrate and test all aspects of the system to function as one plant process. Building commissioning methods for off-the-shelf equipment do not really apply to industrial systems, and when the building commissioning methods are attempted to be applied to more complex systems, lots of things get missed and systems rarely function well. Industrial commissioning requires a more thorough approach knowing that all interfaces are custom and there is a lot more opportunity for error if not properly investigated during commissioning to test both the physical interface and the software interface.

While there is an abundance of information available about building commissioning, there is limited information online related to industrial commissioning. You are currently reading the best source online for industrial commissioning – www.commissioningandstartup.com.

There currently is no certification program for industrial commissioning (although this is being developed, stay tuned for more information). There are over a dozen certification programs for building commissioning, but these do not apply to industrial commissioning. 

Summary

Because information is abundant online related to building commissioning, there is a misconception that industrial commissioning is the same. However, a more structured commissioning process is required for industrial commissioning due to the complexity of the systems. With more common knowledge of building commissioning, the structured commissioning approach required for industrial commissioning is often overlooked or delayed until too late in the project, which causes many issues during commissioning with delays and cost overruns. 

The earlier that a structured industrial commissioning process can be implemented in industrial projects, the better chance capital projects have of being successfully completed.

To learn more about what a structured industrial commissioning process looks like, sign up for our 3-day mini course. The mini-course is free, and is a great introduction if you are new to the industrial commissioning process, and a great refresher if you have been involved in commissioning in the past. Click below to get started!