Commissioning and building handover

A systematic check that the building actually works as designed at completion – and that you take it over with defects captured, documents complete and systems tested.

We lead commissioning on the client’s side: from the test plan through its evaluation to seasonal testing, and with it the whole building handover process. The tests are performed by the contractors – we make sure they take place, prove something and produce a result that can be enforced.

When to address this

• Construction is nearing completion and every contractor tests only their own part – nobody is responsible for the systems working together.
• The deadline is pressing and you risk taking over a building with defects that will then take years to resolve.
• The contractor hands over binders of protocols and inspection reports and you have no way of knowing whether they are complete and whether the tests actually proved anything.
• Or last time you took over a building where heating ran against cooling, and you paid for the fine-tuning out of the operating budget.

Deliverables

Commissioning

• Commissioning plan with acceptance criteria
  • Which systems, which tests, when, and how success is recognised
  • Review of contracts and design documentation: whether anyone actually owes the tests contractually and what can still be enforced
• Evaluation of tests by system – passed, failed, or under what conditions
  • Oversight of functional and integrated tests
  • Integrated tests across systems: power outage, fire scenarios, concurrent loads
  • Seasonal tests and evaluation of trial operation while the results can still be claimed under warranty
• List of defects and outstanding work with removal status – from tests and inspections, addressed to specific parties, with deadlines and responsibilities, tracked until resolved

Building handover

• Document checklist – what exists, what is missing and who to ask for it: inspection reports, protocols, declarations, manuals
  • Including warranty conditions: what to comply with so they don’t lapse, and how to record warranty events
• Recommendation to accept or not to accept, with reasoning
• Handover protocol with documented condition
  • Takeover by coherent parts: who, when and with what documentation
  • Demonstration and handover of systems to the operating staff as part of the tests, not a later favour from the contractor
  • Documentation and data for operations are handled in parallel by information handover to operations

Scope can be narrowed

A common entry point is a handover readiness assessment a few weeks before the deadline – what is missing, what is at risk and what can still be done. Or standalone oversight of integrated tests of key technologies, typically building services.

Connects to

• Construction coordination
• Information handover to operations