3

Commissioning Phase Three –

Close-Out
CHAPTER OUTLINE

Close Out Reservations...................................................................................................................... 181

Complete Commissioning Documentation ...................................................................................... 182
Complete Training and Update Documents to “As Commissioned” ............................................ 182
Update Operating Procedures to “As Commissioned”................................................................... 183
Assist Continued Operation, Troubleshooting and/or De-bottlenecking Projects...................... 183
Close Down the Commissioning Team ............................................................................................ 183
Complete Close-Out Hazard Study................................................................................................... 184

As the installation, construction and commissioning of systems within a project comes to

a close, the commissioning personnel will remove themselves from the ongoing detail of
running the new operation, their potential shift responsibilities decline and the team will
revert back to regular day operation to complete all paperwork systems and bring general
documentation up to an “as-commissioned” status.
It is common that the commissioning engineers are assigned one or more of the topics
below to follow through to completion and complete the commissioning of the project:
• Close out reservations
• Complete commissioning documentation
• Complete training and update documents to “as commissioned”
• Update operating procedures to “as commissioned”
• Assist continued operation, troubleshooting and/or debottlenecking projects
• Close down commissioning team
• Complete close-out hazard study.

Close Out Reservations

The commissioning team will now review all hazard study actions compiled during the
various stages of the project, including design (known as Hazard Study or HSE 3), and the
commissioning-related hazard studies documented in this handbook as Hazard Study 4
(pre-introduction of safe chemicals) and Hazard Study 5 (pre-introduction of hazardous

Chemical and Process Plant Commissioning Handbook, DOI: 10.1016/B978-0-08-097174-2.10003-9 181

Copyright Ó 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
182 CHEMICAL AND PROCESS PLANT COMMISSIONING HANDBOOK

chemicals), and also any pre-start-up safety reviews to ensure all outstanding actions are
completed and fully signed off. If the actions are not complete, the commissioning team
will champion the close-out of all outstanding actions and issue the findings as required.
There potentially will have been modifications to the process initiated and conducted
through the commissioning and start-up phases to enable the plant to run effectively and
efficiently to the design intent; these modification procedures must now be diligently
followed through to completion and all sections signed off.
Many punchlist items will have been created, some transferred to the reservations to
handover list and signed off; however, some will be outstanding. These need now to be
pushed to completion by the commissioning team to close this section of the project out.
It is worthy of note that there will not only be punchlist items for mechanical work, but
those associated with the control system also.

Complete Commissioning Documentation

As the team returns to normal day working after weeks of intensive commissioning
periods in the field, followed potentially by shift-working activities leading the operations
team in the start-up of the new asset, some commissioning procedures may have been
left incomplete and not completely signed off, although the procedure has actually been
executed. A trawl through all commissioning documentation now needs to be conducted,
all documents brought up-to-date before finally passing to the client and/or operations
group for archiving.
A review of all electronic files also needs to be completed, updated accordingly and
saved to the appropriate hard drive or site network location for archiving and future use.
It is important that all procedures and revisions of the project P&IDs are correctly and
carefully archived, as in many instances some seldom-performed operations, potentially
in the future operation of the plant, will need reference to the original commissioning
documentation for assistance with the rectification of a process issue.

Complete Training and Update Documents

to “As Commissioned”
Some “on-the-job” training will still need to be conducted to ensure the operations
personnel are fully conversant with their new role and all personnel training procedures,
records and files are completed and importantly validated. This work must be seen
through to full completion.
A complete review of all training materials must also now be undertaken, all sections,
drawings, descriptions and validation questions brought up to the “as commissioned”
status before full revised documents are handed over to the client or operations personnel
for future plant use.
 Chapter 3 • Commissioning Phase Three – Close-Out 183

It is of the utmost importance that the commissioning team leave a full and detailed
legacy to the operations group detailing all experience and pratical know-how of how the
new asset operates to full design rates and conditions. Completing in full, to the best
known knowledge and information, the training materials is one of the key steps to
passing on the weath of information gained durting the commissioning to the new
operating plant team.

Update Operating Procedures to “As Commissioned”

With newly gained operational experience, update all operating procedures to reflect the
most up-to-date information available. Issue to the operations group.
If target values have been produced for the operators (typically DCS screen prints with
all instruments shown at their required value), these will need to be updated and re-
issued to ensure the most up-to-date information is available to the operations team.
The commissioning personnel also have an obligation to assist the project team in
updating plant mechanical, instrument and electrical records, control system (especially
if DCS screens have been changed and logic within sequences) and the spares lists within
the mechanical systems relevant to the plant.

Assist Continued Operation, Troubleshooting

and/or De-bottlenecking Projects
It is not uncommon for the operations group to retain an element of the commissioning
team (typically one or two individuals) to form an ongoing plant technical support
function for the first few months, possibly up to a year of initial operation. If this action is
required, an appropriate selection process to identify the right person from the
commissioning team will need to be made, the personnel then joining the operations
group at the correct time.
The troubleshooting team selected will then help resolve issues that result in the first
operational period. Examples of their work will include:
• systems within the plant not performing to the design intent
• head up and lead any de-bottlenecking (increase in plant throughput) projects
• taking a prominent role in maintenance and/or overhaul events, usually undertaken
after a year’s operation to investigate potential internal wear or corrosion of the
process.

Close Down the Commissioning Team

As all commissioning work gets completed, commissioning team members will gradually
leave the group to new projects; finally the commissioning manager will fully disband the
184 CHEMICAL AND PROCESS PLANT COMMISSIONING HANDBOOK

team, hopefully to the next new project. This will leave the commissioning manager with
the final task of organizing a well-earned celebration of the team’s excellent performance
and the overall success of the project!

Complete Close-Out Hazard Study

At a designated time post-beneficial operation (typically 3–6 months after beneficial
production) the commissioning manager must, along with other key plant and project
personnel, conduct this final review of the newly commissioned plant.
Based on the Hazard Study 6 process pioneered by ICI in the 1960s, this study checks
that previous hazard studies have been completed and that early operation is consistent
with the design intent and with the assumptions made in earlier hazard studies. The
hazard study at this point is to identify and record operating and maintenance difficulties
and ensure feedback to the relevant functions responsible for the project for rectification
considerations, and ongoing lessons learnt.