Best Practices of Commissioning to Follow During the Turnover Phase

 

Commissioning - Turnover Phase

•        The turnover phase of any construction project is a well-ordered shift of building operations to the operation and maintenance (O&M) team from the project commissioning management services team.

•        This transition is physical, signifies completion of commissioning-specific activities and involves knowledge transfer in the form of documentation.

•        A successful transition is said to occur when the commissioning-specific documentation is complete, fully organised, building systems are operable as per the design and O&M personnel are trained appropriately to operate the systems.

Up to Date As-Built Documentation

•        Construction projects are largely directed by design documents that elucidate and describe countless working elements that require to be put together for a successful turnover.

•        The global commissioning management authority requires to be updated about the modifications as they impact commissioned equipment and gets updated documentation from the project team.

•        The commissioning authority is not accountable for updating design-specific documents, but they are responsible to ensure that red-lined updates are reflected well in as-built drawings given to the owner – particularly, mechanical as well as controls as-builts.

•        As-builts provide the O&M personnel with comprehensive information, using which they fix system problems, locate equipment, trend the performance of equipment and transfer knowledge to new personnel as and when needed.

Well-Structured Commissioning Documentation

•        Similar to design documents, commissioning documentation should showcase the real conditions of the commissioned systems.

•        At the least, the commissioning final report should consist of the Commissioning Plan and Performance Verification Criteria, Pre-Functional (PFC) and FPT notes, the Commissioning Issues Log and a letter of acceptance, along with supporting documents like Testing Adjusting and Balancing report, site visit reports, etc.

•        The FPT and PFC notes are crucial resources that could aid present and future building operators in developing a systems manual (if not provided in the turnover phase) and help them with re-commissioning, three to five 5 years post turnover. 

Providing a Systems Manual

•        As part of the turnover package, the systems manual is not needed, unless the project seeks LEED Enhanced. Having said that, it’s another important resource that may ensure a successful turnover.

•        Moreover, a systems manual should ideally include riser diagrams, control sequence highlights and control drawings. It is basically a tool that can be utilised by O&M personnel for troubleshooting, operating, and maintaining and monitoring building performance.

Developing a Re-Commissioning Plan
•        In general, the re-commissioning plan should detail the following:
Ø  Overview of the on-going commissioning process
Ø  Responsibilities and roles of the commissioning team
Ø  Schedule of re-commissioning
Ø  List of the systems involved
Ø  In-depth instructions for the replication of FPTs, implemented by the commissioning authority in the Acceptance phase.
Ø  Re-commissioning documents to monitor outcomes
Ø  Instructions and recommendations to set and track facility performance benchmarks