|
Once the plant has been built and installed according to the project plan, it is necessary to commission it. Commissioning controls the transition from the construct phase to the operational phase. Commissioning includes performing agreed tests to validate plant performance and ensure it meets the design performance metrics.
Failure to properly commission new or updated plant can greatly increase the time from start-up to maximum sustainable capacity and lead to considerable operating and maintenance costs as personnel try to get the plant to run correctly. It is relatively common to find that the time estimated to bring the plant fully up to maximum sustainable capacity after installation and commissioning is inadequate and sometimes, significantly so. This sometimes results from an attempt to put the best ‘gloss’ on the project at the proposal stage but it can also be due to a poor understanding of the difficulties in getting complex assets up to full production. This lack of understanding can also manifest itself in other areas of the project such as inadequate cost and labour estimates.
There is often a tendency for project groups to hand over a plant too early and before the plant is operating correctly as the project is coming to a close and desire to finish on time overcomes the need to get the plant running to specification. It is a common complaint of operations and maintenance staff that projects are foisted on them before they are properly finished and they are then expected to finish off the detail and provide the support functions that most would consider the responsibility of the project team.
Asset registers, equipment numbering, spare parts, documentation and training are often poorly implemented or omitted at the commissioning phase and it is left to those operating and maintaining the asset to sort these out if they want them. This is despite the fact that these support functions are normally detailed in the project scope and in most cases have been factored into the project cost.
|
