Some people consider commissioning to be too much trouble and too much time to tack on to the end of a project. Of course, commissioning is not something that should be “tacked on to the end of construction,” but it is true that most functional performance testing necessarily occurs towards the end of construction. This does not mean, however, that the testing should be troublesome or extraordinarily time consuming.
The commissioning process throughout the design and construction phases of a project is intended to minimize the level of effort and pain associated with testing during the acceptance phase. These early commissioning steps include design reviews, submittal reviews, controls integration meetings, and the development of customized functional performance test procedures and acceptance criteria reviewed by all responsible contractors. The intent is to go into the acceptance phase poised and prepared for smooth and successful testing.