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
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