GUIDE TO

BETTER QUALITY
THROUGH
ADVANCED
COMMISSIONING
TECHNIQUES
TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. INTRODUCTION 3

2. START WITH THE END IN MIND 4

3. PROJECT INITIATION 5

4. CONTRACTS, DESIGN AND PROCUREMENT 6

5. FACTORY ACCEPTANCE TESTING 9

6. CONSTRUCTION PRIORITIES 11

7. PRE-COMMISSIONING, COMMISSIONING AND START-UP 12

8. HOW TO SIMPLIFY YOUR CONSTRUCTION COMMISSIONING INSPECTIONS 15

FTQ360 - Guide To Better Quality Through Advanced Commissioning Techniques

01.
INTRODUCTION

As projects become more complex and have increased levels of

automation systems, we need to approach commissioning from
a fresh angle and leave bad habits of the past behind.
Devising a new approach to commissioning will help you to adapt to integrated systems that are a
given if you want to achieve quality success. As you’ll know, commissioning is not simply just testing
of the equipment at the end of the project. To achieve the levels of quality required by the project,
commissioning must be front of mind from the outset and integrated throughout every single stage.

FTQ360 - Guide To Better Quality Through Advanced Commissioning Techniques 3

02.
START WITH
THE END IN MIND

If you want better quality on your projects, start by defining your end goal and only
then start preparing for commissioning. This will set your project up for success
- to deliver on-time and on-budget. Only when you start with the end in mind will
you achieve better quality with these advanced commissioning techniques.

FTQ360 - Guide To Better Quality Through Advanced Commissioning Techniques 4

03.
PROJECT INITIATION
As underlined earlier, commissioning cannot be an
afterthought and addressed when the commissioning team
arrives on-site at the end of the project to start their testing.
At this point, all the commissioning team can do is point
out problems. And as projects become more complex,
the problems also become more complex if they are
not identified and addressed early on in the project.
The new approach to commissioning should be
implemented as early as the project initiation stage - way
before a shovel ever touches the ground. When plans
are being developed and contracts are being written is
the time to integrate commissioning into the project. All
project participants must share the end goal of project
completion during the project’s initiation stage.
Of course there are perceived barriers to this approach:
one example often cited is that it requires way too
much significant upfront work. But by fully defining all
commissioning requirements, the project team will better
understand expectations right from the outset and may even
save hours spent on rework. The commissioning team should
help by providing input to the earlier stages of the project to
ensure that work that precedes commissioning is always
started with the end in mind.
Commissioning (Cx)
Management Software
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FTQ360 - Guide To Better Quality Through Advanced Commissioning Techniques 5
04.
CONTRACTS, DESIGN
AND PROCUREMENT

How the project is structured and the contracting strategy both have a major
impact on commissioning success. Right from the beginning of the planning
process, the thought process needs to establish how the project will fit together
during end-stage commissioning.

For every additional contract created, there is an additional contract interface

between systems that needs to be verified. With too many contracts and too
many interfaces to align between different subsystems, commissioning can
become unnecessarily complex.

There are certainly many competing priorities when evaluating contracting

strategies, and the commissioning team can provide input to help the project
team understand the commissioning process and how the project components fit
together in the end.

FTQ360 - Guide To Better Quality Through Advanced Commissioning Techniques 6

04. CONTRACTS, DESIGN AND PROCUREMENT
The most important aspect of the contract for the
commissioning team is the technical specification, since this
defines what the project needs to accomplish and therefore
what the commissioning team needs to verify in the end.
An inadequate or incomplete technical specification will cause
challenges through all stages of the project if the design team
is not able to understand the detailed requirements to include
in the design, the construction team does not have the details
of the installation and the quality requirements that must
be achieved, or the commissioning team does not know the
performance requirements that the system must achieve.
There are a few important aspects to consider in the
technical specification. If your project has a large automation
component, then this needs to be clearly defined in process
control narratives (PCN) or functional requirements
specifications (FRS).
The logic programmers will only be able to implement what is
defined in the PCN and FRS. Without these details, the system
may not function as intended and add significant effort during
commissioning to troubleshoot and design the missing logic
components.
As well, if your project requires cyber secure systems, this
needs to be defined upfront in the technical specification. It is
not enough to state that ‘systems must be cyber-compliant’
since it becomes much more complicated than this when
implementing in the field. A thorough definition of cyber
compliance needs to be agreed at the beginning of the project
rather than at the end of the project during commissioning.
The design process must incorporate the following:
k Constructability
k Commissioning sequence
k Operation and maintenance
FTQ360 - Guide To Better Quality Through Advanced Commissioning Techniques 7
04. CONTRACTS, DESIGN AND PROCUREMENT
The construction team can certainly provide input to the
design team to ensure that the systems being designed can
viably be installed in the field. And the commissioning team
can provide guidance on the sequence of how commissioning
is planned, in order that the design packages are systematized
in the same manner.
Operation and maintenance of the equipment needs to be
considered, and since the commissioning team will be the
first group to operate the new equipment, they can provide
valuable input to the design process to ensure that the
systems can in fact function in the field and be adequately
tested prior to handover to the owner’s operating team.
Commissioning (Cx) Management Software
Built by the experts.
Procurement contracts are established early in the project and
need to consider commissioning requirements as well. One
of the first set of tests on equipment is Factory Acceptance
Testing (FAT). Procurement contracts need to clearly define
the FAT requirements, expectations for level of testing and
requirements for witness testing.
Procurement of specialized equipment can often have
a long lead time, and this needs to be aligned with the
commissioning sequence while accounting for any longer
duration FAT requirements.
FREE DEMO
05.
FACTORY
ACCEPTANCE TESTING

FAT is a critical step of the process that can mitigate risk on the project. Any
errors or defects identified during FAT can save significant time in the project
while float may still exist, rather than during critical path commissioning activities.
Proper planning of FAT needs to take place with the commissioning team’s
involvement.

There are two components of FAT – hardware FAT and software FAT. Hardware
FAT is well established in the construction and commissioning industries. But
as projects have become more complex, a properly conducted software FAT is
essential to the process. The software FAT tends to be deferred to site, since it
requires the hardware and software design to be completed early in the project.

FTQ360 - Guide To Better Quality Through Advanced Commissioning Techniques 9

05. FACTORY ACCEPTANCE TESTING

Since the hardware design is often required prior to undertaking
the software design, the software lags the hardware and is not
always available for FAT. By skipping this critical integration
of hardware and software in the factory, all the issues to be
discovered during software testing are deferred to site.
While it may seem that the project is saving
schedule by shipping the hardware to site earlier
and completing the software design in parallel with
equipment delivery and installation, this is actually
only deferring issues to later in the project when they
will have a greater impact on cost and schedule.
Only then can further activities take place to interface
all the subsystems into a single system, verifying that
there are no installation errors and that the system
functions seamlessly to execute the plant process. If
instead, each subsystem design and hardware/software
integration need to be verified in the field, this can add
significant time to the whole sequence, especially if the
software is still at an early stage of design and test.

When carefully planned and executed, an integrated FAT

sets the commissioning phase of the project up for the
best chance of success. During the project planning
phase, the project needs to establish sufficient timelines
to allow the hardware and software designs to be available
for FAT, in order that the hardware and the complete
integrated design are verified prior to arriving at site.
06.
CONSTRUCTION PRIORITIES
Based on the commissioning sequence, the Cx team
determines both the order of what subsystems are
required and when they need to be handed over from
the construction team.
While the construction team’s attention is on installation
of each piece of equipment (as it should be), the mindset
must shift towards subsystems rather than each piece of
equipment, as the commissioning team requires a group
of equipment to perform a given function of the system.
The project mechanical completions help to define the
construction priorities and what is required for
each group of equipment.
But it is not suitable to simply define all the mechanical
completions on the project. These need to be incorporated
into an integrated construction and commissioning schedule.
The handover process from the construction team to the Cx
team can be quite complex with many activities on-site and
overlapping work functions.
Each subsystem handover needs to be planned in micro detail
for it to go smoothly. Even then, there may be delays due to
uncontrollable equipment delivery or installation issues. It is
critical that the commissioning team be involved early in the
project to plan the commissioning sequence, work with the
construction team to establish construction priorities and
forecast potential impacts to the commissioning sequence
and how they can be mitigated.
FTQ360 - Guide To Better Quality Through Advanced Commissioning Techniques 11
07.
PRE-COMMISSIONING,
COMMISSIONING AND
START-UP

Once all construction ITPs are successfully completed and mechanical completions
are signed off, the commissioning team can commence with pre-commissioning
activities. The commissioning team must prepare all the pre-commissioning
checklists in advance to perform the required checks in the field without delay.

Since the hardware and software were properly integrated and tested in the factory,
pre-commissioning mainly consists of confirming that there are no installation errors.

FTQ360 - Guide To Better Quality Through Advanced Commissioning Techniques 12

07. PRE-COMMISSIONING, COMMISSIONING AND START-UP
However, anything that has changed since factory testing
needs to be verified. For example: mechanical piping, cabling,
any interfaces that were not available in the factory, or any
design changes since FAT. If the construction team has
implemented a thorough quality management system during
installation, then pre-commissioning should go smoothly.
However, if quality was not a strong focus during installation,
pre-commissioning can take much longer than anticipated
with impacts to cost and schedule.
To ensure that quality is maintained through construction,
pre-commissioning, and commissioning, a software system
needs to be implemented to manage inspections and track
deficiencies. Spreadsheets are no longer suitable to manage
quality and commissioning processes on complex projects,
and there are much better solutions that exist today to help
manage these functions.
It is recommended that a fully integrated software system needs
to be investigated and implemented early on in the project.
Following pre-commissioning activities, the equipment can
then be integrated, and commissioning tests performed.
Again, since the hardware and software were tested in the
factory, the commissioning tests should focus on confirming
there are no installation errors and that all components of the
system, including field devices that were not available during
FAT, are integrated together and tested as one system.
If the hardware and software were not fully tested in the
factory, then the errors and deficiencies will be encountered
later in the project during commissioning activities. This will
add cost to the project and cause schedule delays as each
error is encountered and while troubleshooting takes place to
rectify the deficiency.
FTQ360 - Guide To Better Quality Through Advanced Commissioning Techniques 13
07. PRE-COMMISSIONING, COMMISSIONING AND START-UP

Following commissioning activities, start-up includes starting the plant process for the first time. For example, adding
process fluids to the systems such as in the oil and gas industry or initiating power transfers such as in the power
industry. Starting the systems allows performance testing to begin, where all technical requirements from the technical
specifications are verified, including all fault scenarios, to confirm correct operation of the systems. Any fine tuning of the
system is determined and implemented during performance verification to ensure optimized performance of the system.

By starting with the end in mind, the
commissioning phase of your project can be
set up for the best chance of success. With
commissioning incorporated into every stage
of the project, your project has a better chance
of being completed on-time and on-budget.
With the help of the tools available today, it is no
longer necessary to struggle with tracking and
managing activities in spreadsheets. Involve the
commissioning team early on in your project and
implement the techniques mentioned above to achieve
better quality and performance on your projects.

Commissioning (Cx) Management Software FREE DEMO

Built by the experts.
08.
HOW TO SIMPLIFY YOUR CONSTRUCTION
COMMISSIONING INSPECTIONS

It is no easy task attending to every detail and staying on schedule.

We understand these challenges and built our FTQ360 Commissioning platform with tools that improve and streamline your
construction commissioning process by giving you the power to:

k Digitally collect reports and documents in an organized way to create an automatically formatted closeout package
k Guarantee an organized and safe start-up with pre-planned and tracked activities
k Replace multiple apps with a single source solution you can share across all devices and team members
k Kick-start your Cx program with adaptable and powerful interactive checklists
k Communicate all issues quickly and easily and then seamlessly document those deficiencies
k Integrate equipment, sub-systems and systems into the heart of the Cx process
k Take a managed approach to data accuracy and security, but in a user-friendly way

The FTQ360 Cx Platform ensures that commissioning engineers can focus more time on inspections and reports – and
less on administrative processes and unnecessary tasks. If you’re looking for more streamlined ways to complete project
commissioning, book a demo today to take a tour of FTQ360’s software.

FTQ360 - Guide To Better Quality Through Advanced Commissioning Techniques 15

www.ftq360.com

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Annapolis, MD 21401