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Testing and Commissioning Commissionability
John Herbert
Director
Reducing the risk and the financial consequences is critical
for every property developer, contracts often contain heavy
penalties for delay, but in real life assigning liability
can be difficult, even using the standard form of contract.
Therefore, property developers increasingly adopt a single
contract package, providing a single point of contact to administer
projects, with the main advantage being all the risks and liabiliies
will be borne by the Contractor. The downside, all the process and
decisions once handled by the developer are now handled by the
Contractor, with little transparency.
And that includes various important functions such as
Commissioning (Cx).
Commissioning is the process of taking static components into
operation, as a complete system, and ensuring the systems
perform, meeting the requirements of the design intent
and owners needs.
In the past Testing and Commissioning (T&C) was viewed as
a last minute chore, not really part of the works, just
something to be completed before handover. Often the key
handover documents were delivered years late and a pound
short of expectations.
One of the key reasons poor buildings were delivered was
the missing Testing and Commissioning processes before
handover, leaving the building owner taking over a new building
that does not perform as intended. And some buildings, a
decade after handover still do not perform correctly.
During the contract, slippage coupled with the pressure of
finanical penalties meant that the time allocated at
commencement for Testing and Commissioning was squeezed out of
the programme, a few weeks became days. Obviously several weeks
work cannot be compressed into days, so the finishing activities
such as Testing and Commissioning (T&C) the systems were
curtailed.
In response to the problem, Green building rating tools, such
as LEED and BEAM, demanded comprehensive Testing and Commissioning
records, and contracts were revised to ensure that T&C could
not be relegated to the last day before handover.
Trying to resolve T&C difficulties after installation is
complete is both time consuming and very expensive, creating
additional pressure for more shortcuts.
Reviewing the unexpected "surprises" ocurring during the
Testing and Commissioning phase it is apparent that the
underlying root cause could have been resolved, on paper,
months before the commencement of the physical T&C
process.
Not only T&C problems, O&M requirements, including
arrangements made for inspection and maintenance can be
resolved on paper, before the equipment is installed, a
welcome improvement for the future building operators.
Its important, particularly for hotels built before
the hotelier management contract is signed, providing
confidence that T&C and O&M were addressed before
installation work started.
Commissionability Report
Commissionability is the term used for a comprehensive desktop
review of the contract documents including the shop drawings to
ensure that the systems to be installed are capable of being
commissioned efficiency and effectively, and therefore reducing
the risk of any last minute T&C surprises that could
cause a dispute and or delay the project.
Can it be commissioned?
Kelcroft's expertise and experience, gained over three continents
including Europe and Asia, provides the knowlegde to prepare a
a detail commissionability review and reporting findings, with
solutions in engineering language that both architects and
engineers can understand.
Experience is key, because the commissionability review "should"
happen before the equipment schedule is finalised, which is
advantagous, because once the equipment is arrived on site
changes can be expensive.
Commissionable system
Can the MEP Systems be Commissioned?
CIBSE commissioning code defines a commissionable system as a system
that can be commissioned using CIBSE Commissioning Code M.
Typically commissioning problems only emerge after the installation
work is completed and commissioning works start.
Instead, a commissionability review identifies those obstacles on
the drawing board, that avoids delay, and its cheaper and faster to
just change the drawings.
For a quotation call us today!
