Mastering Commissioning: The Ultimate Scheduling Guide

In this blog, I’m thrilled to take you through my approach to commissioning and integrating it into a project schedule and production plan. As we work through these details, I hope to help you visualize, plan, and understand how to integrate commissioning successfully into your overall project planning. It’s crucial to plan all the way through to the finish line—and that’s exactly what I’ll walk you through today.

Now, let’s dive in. Commissioning is such an exciting part of the process for me. While I don’t claim to be a commissioning expert or a master of MEP (mechanical, electrical, plumbing), my experience as a superintendent overseeing MEP trades and partners has given me a solid foundation. I’ve honed my ability to successfully incorporate these systems into production plans, and I’m eager to share that with you.

For simplicity’s sake, let’s use a typical building as our example—whether it’s a laboratory, hospital, office building, or any other structure. The key is to visualize MEP and commissioning within your project’s schedule or production plan.

Step 1: Utilities Infrastructure

First, let’s discuss offsite utilities—such as water, sewer, storm drains, power, communications, and gas. These utilities are typically brought within about five feet of the building, a phase I refer to as the utilities infrastructure. From there, the utilities are brought into the building, which I call the entry rooms. 

Each utility—whether it’s water for the fire pump room, mechanical room, or irrigation, or sewer connections, power, communications, or gas—is brought into the building through dedicated entry points, depending on the design.

Step 2: Bringing Utilities into Entry Rooms

Once utilities reach the entry rooms—often on the ground floor (though sometimes in a parking garage or other location depending on the building)—the next step is distributing them vertically throughout the building. This includes bringing power, communications, water, and more up through electric rooms, bathrooms, chases, and other vertical routes to serve the building’s needs.

Step 3: Utilities Up the Building

The vertical distribution phase brings everything up to where it’s needed, particularly for major systems like HVAC. My primary concerns here are ensuring that power, internet, and controls are in place, especially as they relate to commissioning the HVAC system. 

Air handlers, ductwork, and hydraulic piping need to be ready for installation, particularly when handling hot and cold water, while also ensuring that all controls and power connections are established. This phase supports essential tasks like mechanical startup and point-to-point testing.

Step 4: Operating the HVAC System

Once the necessary systems are in place, it’s time to focus on HVAC commissioning. This includes connecting all components to power and controls and ensuring the mechanical system can start up. At this stage, cooling or heating can be initiated depending on the climate, ensuring that the building is safe for workers and ready for other key commissioning activities like pre-functional checklists, functional performance testing, and the building flush.

Integrating Commissioning into the Production Plan

Integrating commissioning into the project’s production plan is essential. I always approach this using a time-by-location format for construction production planning. After major construction phases—like foundations, superstructures, interiors, and exteriors—it’s crucial to begin planning for commissioning.

When incorporating commissioning into your production plan, remember to include the sequence of activities like overhead mechanical work, framing, in-wall rough-ins, drywall, painting, and casework. Commissioning activities such as connecting the dry side (ductwork) and wet side (hydraulic piping), as well as power and controls, should be scheduled at the right time to ensure smooth execution.

I highly recommend building commissioning activities into every floor’s timeline. For example, after pre-functional checklists and point-to-point testing are completed on each floor, commissioning activities can begin. This ensures a systematic and coordinated approach to commissioning across the entire building.

Commissioning Milestones to Track

Some key milestones to track in your production plan include:

• Completion of electrical rooms and service entry sections.
• Installation and connection of distribution frames, internet controls, and building networks.
• Hydraulic piping systems like hot water, chilled water, and sanitary systems.
• Landing of air handlers, exhaust fans, and pumps.

Once all of these systems are in place, you can move forward with key tasks like air exhaust, point-to-point testing, test and balance, fire alarm integration, functional performance testing, and building flush. These milestones should be well-documented in your production plan to ensure the project stays on track.

Substantial Completion and Final Requirements

Achieving substantial completion requires attention to detail. All inspections (including engineering walk-throughs, elevator inspections, and life safety tests) must be completed. Additionally, fire sprinklers must be fully operational, and any punch lists or preliminary balancing reports must be addressed. Ensure that all local authority sign-offs are secured before receiving your substantial completion certification.

Key Takeaways for Mastering Construction Commissioning

To wrap things up, here are some key points to remember:

• Visualize the commissioning process from the start and integrate it into your production plan.
• Understand how each system ties together in the commissioning process.
• Superintendents and project managers must collaborate closely to network commissioning activities within the project schedule.
• Start planning for commissioning early—delaying this can be detrimental to your project’s success.