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Commissioning proves that the building works. Every system (ventilation, heating and cooling, water, power, lighting, controls, fire alarm and suppression, lifts, security) is checked, set up, tested, adjusted and demonstrated against the design before the building is handed over. In many projects a commissioning manager or commissioning authority leads it.
| Step | What happens |
|---|---|
| Pre-commissioning | Installation checks: complete, clean, safe to start |
| Testing and balancing | Each system run, measured, adjusted to design values |
| Controls | Sequences and set points tested |
| Integrated systems tests | Systems tested together (fire mode, power failure) |
| Witnessing | The client, designer or authority watches key tests |
| Handover | Results, certificates and settings handed to the operator |
Where information comes in
- The commissioning plan lists systems, tests and responsibilities: build it from the asset list in the model.
- Test results (design value, measured value, settings, date, who) belong with the assets.
- Certificates (electrical, fire, lifts) are handover documents linked to the systems they cover.
- Defects found during commissioning are issues: track them to closure.
Commissioning results arrive as 2,000 scanned test sheets in a folder. A year later, a room is too hot; the FM team can't find what the air flow was set to, and re-balances the system by trial and error.
Each test result is recorded against the asset tag in the asset register: design and measured flows, damper settings, date and engineer. The FM team pulls up the terminal unit, sees it was set to 180 l/s, finds it now at 110 l/s, and fixes a stuck damper in an hour.
Design the fields you'd record for each air terminal (diffuser) during commissioning, so the operator can use them later.
Key takeaways
- Commissioning checks, tests, adjusts and demonstrates each system (ventilation, heating, power, controls, fire, lifts) against the design.
- It follows a plan: pre-commissioning checks, testing and balancing, integrated systems tests, witnessing and handover.
- Results (measured values, settings, certificates) are part of the handover information.
- Linking results to asset tags turns them into the operator's baseline.
Your notes
Related tool
Build an asset register from an IFC and check it on the model: data quality in colour, a data sheet per asset, rooms and systems, a first maintenance plan and tag labels.
Open Asset Register Builder →