Commissioning operational readiness assessment August 2024

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Commissioning & Operational Readiness – a standardized assessment methodology 
 
 
 
 
 
Abstract: Considering the value of a one-day delay in achieving a 
project’s in-service date, this is a significant business risk to manage. 
The Commissioning & Operational Readiness Assessment is a 
standardized assessment methodology that helps improve schedule 
performance by enabling organizations to ensure transition 
readiness through each phase of commissioning and startup. 
The transition from construction to operation is the commissioning 
and startup. 
Correct commissioning is vital to the satisfactory operation of any 
plant or facility, and it is essential that sufficient time and resources 
be allocated to different stages of commissioning and startup. 
Special efforts are needed to ensure safety and reliability at 
commissioning. Since commissioning, startup and shutdown 
activities have been responsible for many accidents, failure and 
other issues, these activities merit special attention. 
Processing plant commissioning embraces activities such as 
cleaning, flushing, verifications (Punching sessions), leak tests, 
performance evaluation (prior ready for commissioning RFC) and 
functional tests essential for bringing a newly installed facility into 
routine operation (prior ready for operations RFO). 
 
 
Commissioning is the startup for the very first time, is the last major 
phase before operation, there is a risk that commissioning will take 
place under great time-pressure or even some delayed 
commissioning activities may continue after the initial operation of 
the plant. 
“Is the highest risk period in the lifetime of the plant. 
 
 Fig.2 BP America (in Texas) Refinery Explosion 
Accident Description 
Accident: BP America (Texas City) Refinery Explosion 
Location: Location: Texas City, TX 
Accident Occurred On: 03/23/2005 | Final Report Released 
On: 03/20/2007 
Accident Type: Oil and Refining - Fire and Explosion 
Investigation Status: The Board approved its final report by a vote of 5-
0 at a public meeting in Texas City on March 20, 2007. 
At approximately 1:20 p.m. on March 23, 2005, a series of explosions 
occurred at the BP Texas City refinery during the restarting of a 
hydrocarbon isomerization unit. Fifteen workers were killed, and 180 
others were injured. Many of the victims were in or around work trailers 
located near an atmospheric vent stack. The explosions occurred when 
a distillation tower flooded with hydrocarbons and was overpressurized, 
causing a geyser-like release from the vent stack. 
Keywords: Commissioning, operational readiness, assessment 
 
1.Introduction 
Following any tech transfer project, the subsequent startup of the 
manufacturing line is almost always full of challenges. The goal is to 
startup as soon as possible once the project is completed but also to 
achieve steady state throughput as quickly as possible after the startup 
begins. 
This type of startup is what is called a “Vertical Startup.” In practice, 
vertical startups are rare because management teams typically focus 
their attention on having the facility and the equipment qualified in time 
to meet the process qualification milestone. 
 
The consequence of this thinking is that a broad range of workstreams 
are often neglected or receive inadequate attention although they are 
critical to startup. Workstreams like staffing, training, procedure 
development, supply chain, analytical methods, etc. must all be ‘ready to 
go’ by this important milestone. The result can be like having perfectly 
tuned race cars lined up on the starting line of a Formula 1 race, but with 
untrained drivers, little gas, unpracticed pit crews, and no spare parts. 
 
Before a plant or facility is handed over for normal operation, it should be 
inspected, checked, cleaned, flushed, verified, and tested. This process 
is called commissioning and involves both the contractor and operators 
of a facility (client). 
 
The primary objective of this article is to inform the reader (particularly 
those who are a part of management teams) about commissioning and 
startups and how Operational Readiness is the organizational state that 
needs to be reached for vertical startups to exist. The secondary 
objective is to help the reader build an understanding of Operational 
Excellence in addition to Operational Readiness. 
 1 
Email address: 
 arvindo.candeio3@gmail.com 
 Introduction to the Commissioning and 
Operational Readiness Assessment. 
A.J. Candeio 
Commissioning & Reliability Engineer 
6 Publications 22 citations 
August 2024 
Fig.1 Soap leak testing & verification (marked up P&ID is needed) 
 
 
 
 
2. Commissioning Methodology 
Overall commissioning includes four construction milestones and 
three project milestones. 
 
Construction milestones: 
 practical or civil completion (PC or CC) 
 Mechanical Completion (MC) 
 Electrical Completion (EC) 
 Instrumentation Completion (IC) 
Project milestones: 
 Ready for commissioning (RFC) 
 Ready for Operations (RFO) 
 Beneficial operations (BO) 
Careful planning is necessary for commissioning and startup, 
integration of systems, particularly control systems with others, has to 
be seamless. 
Commissioning execution plan (CEP) is the high-level commissioning 
plan that is used to generate the method of statement (discipline 
commissioning master plan). A correct startup sequence and procedure 
are needed and should be followed with utmost care and diligence. 
For any machinery or equipment, specific set of spare parts is needed 
for commissioning and start up. Generous quantities of spare parts 
should be provided for this phase so commissioning and startup are 
not delayed for lack of spare parts or tools. 
2.1 Pre-commissioning 
This stage often involves many activities such as installation; 
inspections of equipment, piping, and machinery, checking of units and 
facilities against designs (punching sessions), such as the piping and 
instrumentation diagram (P&ID), flushing and cleaning, pressure 
testing, functional testing, simulation and more. 
Flushing 
 Air blowing / card board blasting, 
 Service blowing 
 Pigging (the most efficient method of pipe cleaning) 
 
Flushing procedure during the pre-commissioning activities is needed 
for piping and checkout form should be filled and signed off prior to 
mechanical completion. 
Many process piping systems constructed in new plants do not require 
significantly high cleanliness levels and are often “flushed” with water 
after hydrostatic testing. 
 At this stage, the actions of controllers and motorized valves should be 
checked. Major equipment should be also thoroughly inspected, 
monitored and final closed in (Boxing up vessels) in the presence of 
commissioning team or client. Initial measurements of critical clearances 
should be taken for later comparison control. 
 
 2.2 Importance of redline drawings (P&ID) 
 
Redlines are a critical aspect of the construction process. All deviations 
must be drawn in red so the project team can see the change. It helps 
ensure that all the designers and workers are always on the same page 
about what is being constructed and when. 
 
Dealing with project changes is a part of being a contractor, and every 
change should be documented. Redline drawing is the first step, with an 
as-built drawing following it. 
For the inspections of equipment during pre-commissioning phase, it is 
useful to ask Maintenance Manager / Engineer(s) to attend the activities 
or even participate in the commission for inspection and testing of all 
equipment and rotatingmachinery including electrical or mechanical 
machines. 
 
After all maintenance staff should take care of these machines and 
equipment during operations and the commissioning stage is the best 
opportunity to start this task. During the commissioning phase prior RFC 
all Standard operation procedures (SOP’s), potential deviation analysis 
(PDA’s) should be developed, and training or awareness should be 
conducted to operators and mechanical artisan. 
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Fig.4 Mechanical punching Test Pack M-001 
 
 
 
 
3. Typical challenges and Problems in Commissioning 
 
Shortcomings in basic design contributes less to commissioning 
difficulties than errors in detail design and construction. The reason is the 
fundamental concepts have generally the most researched, examined 
and evaluated by senior technical staff. Also, shortcomings in basic 
designs are usually discovered and mitigated in the detail design. 
On the other hand, in the areas of detail design, installation and 
construction, surprises are not uncommon. Faulty or absent venting 
arrangements occurs frequently. For example, if vessel vents are too 
close to the inlet nozzles, feed materials might be vented unintentionally. 
A pump set up with insufficient suction head to meet NPSHR has been 
reported during commissioning of many plants. The situation may be 
worsened by partial suction restriction due the plugging of a temporary 
strainer or similar condition. The results, in terms of cavitation, could be 
problematic and damaging. 
 
Lack of detailed assessments where a flow is split often leads to 
unsatisfactory results. Examples are a sampling stream in parallel with 
the main flow and a level control maintained by recirculation as well as 
outflow, with a control valve on one flow only. In general, such a problem 
can happen in any place where the flow is split. When a control valve on 
a line is actuated, the flow of both would be affected and accurate control 
of these flows is not usually possible by only one valve. Sometime a 
dedicated control valve is needed on each line to properly control flow of 
each line. 
 
The automatic control is another hot topic in the commissioning. 
Whereas realistic simulation exercises attempt to test control 
performance as much as possible, there have been severe limitations to 
do so in the absence of job fluids and normal operating conditions. 
Commissioning plans should therefore be viable on the assumption that 
some control devices will not operate when needed and alternative 
means of operation and control should be included. 
 
Sudden major leaks from piping or equipment after pressure testing have 
been reported in some occasions, but such leaks are relatively 
uncommon if the piping and facilities are properly fabricated, inspected 
and tested. However, others of disfunctional pressurization and leaks 
have been common in the commissioning. There have been dangerous 
incidents where fluids from a high-pressure circuit leaked into an ancillary 
low -pressure circuit through a faulty item such as defective equipment, 
tube or valve. This resulted in release of a large quantity of pressurized 
material and even high-pressure flammable material. Careful attention 
should be given to all systems including low pressure auxiliary and 
ancillary systems and their potential interfaces and exposures to other 
process or high-pressure circuits. For instances, there was a case that 
high pressure gas in a compressor pressurized the lubrication oil system 
because of faulty internal part inside the machinery which caused 
extensive damages. 
 
Vacuum leaks are a common problem during commissioning of vacuum 
systems, particularly air leaks into vacuum system. 
Wrong or imperfect application of materials of construction have been 
widely reported as serious problems in commissioning (e.g., wrong 
gaskets). Two examples are wrong initial material selection and 
secondly, errors in manufacturing, fabrication, and welding. 
Thank and vessel linings have been a known source of problem and poor 
performance during commissioning. In theory, lining is a good and cost-
effective solution. Unfortunately, in many cases, defects and problems 
became apparent at the commissioning stage. 
 
 
 
4. WHY A FOCUS ON READINESS? 
 Getting off to a good start is the essence of Operational Readiness (OR). 
OR is a management approach widely used in the chemical production 
and energy sectors which has direct applicability to drug makers. 
These industries use formal Operational Readiness and Assessment 
(OR&A) programs as a risk management paradigm to guide management 
practices for performing pre-startup reviews of (1) new processes 
regardless of scale, from big plants to small plant startups, (2) processes 
that have been shut down for modification, and (3) processes that have 
been administratively shut down for other reasons. However, being “ready” 
needs to go beyond just performing pre-startup reviews – particularly for 
the life sciences industry. It needs to include an analysis of the product 
input and output variances and the control strategy deployed – not to 
mention evaluating the actual startup afterwards, which is one of the best 
performance indicators of OR. 
Key elements of operational readiness assessment: 
 
For the long–term operational success and viability of a new 
facility, operational efficiencies require attention and development 
during the design and construction phases which are heavily 
influenced by the high pressures imposed for schedule and budget 
compliance. If not planned well in advance, the transition from 
construction to operation can be chaotic. A predictable opening 
day that can confidently deliver stable and reliable building 
performance is dependent on three key components: facility 
readiness, people readiness, and information readiness. 
 
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Fig 5-Operational Readiness diagram. Courtesy of Jacobs. 
 
 
4.1 Facility Transition Planning to Asset Management 
For the long–term operational success and viability of a new facility, 
asset management requires attention and development during the 
design and construction phase where the focus is predominantly on 
building the physical assets, driven by the high pressures imposed for 
schedule and budget compliance. If not planned, the baton pass from 
construction to occupancy and asset management can be less 
efficient and less effective. 
 
 
 
Understanding the potential risks and cost overruns associated with 
transitioning a new facility can enable the owning organizations to 
effectively and predictably plan for smooth transitions from 
construction to operational readiness and long term asset 
management that contribute to lower O&M costs, increased facility 
longevity and a superior customer or occupant experience. With an 
increase in the level of technology in facilities coming online in the 
near future, it is imperative that the transition planning, workforce 
preparation, and data transference are consistent and reliable for 
organizations expanding their portfolio and seeking an integrated 
operations and asset management program from opening day of a 
new facility. 
 
Engagement of the operations and support teams, including security, 
environmental health safety and security, facility management, and 
engineering and maintenance, throughout the system startup and 
commissioningphases will have staff better prepared to accept full 
operations and maintenance responsibility during the transition to a 
fully operational facility with the ability to support the owning 
organization in a productive and safe environment. 
 
 
 
To become operationally ready, leaders must begin working toward 
that objective early in the project – ideally at the beginning stages of 
the project during the preliminary design review (but no later than the 
Design Qualification). This early involvement may surprise most 
operations managers, but this effort is essential. 
 
5. Formal operational readiness and assessment 
program 
 
 
Lastly, companies should develop and implement an OR&A program 
that anticipates problems and either eliminates them or puts 
management systems in place to mitigate them. OR&A programs have 
historically recognized that an operational system is comprised of 
multiple elements: 
1 People, 
2 Procedures, and 
3 Equipment. 
Consequently, an organization’s preparedness efforts need to address 
these three areas individually as well as in an integrated fashion. Logic 
trees are frequently used for this effort as a visual diagnosis that lays out 
a problem and all its possible solutions, allowing you to choose the best 
course of action. 
Do the people match the equipment? Is the equipment properly 
operable for the people who have been selected and trained to operate 
it? 
 
Do the procedures match the equipment? E.g., have we avoided 
situations in which the operators have been given Version 1 procedures 
manuals to operate Version 2 equipment? 
 
Do the procedures match the people who are to use them? 
 
Acknowledgements 
 
The author like to thank to the respectable reviewers for giving proper 
instruction to improve the quality of this paper. 
 
 About the Author 
 
 
 Arvindo Candeio, graduated from Eduardo Mondlane University in 
Mechanical Engineering between 2008-2013, son of two public 
servants: Joao Candeio and Juliana Sadraque. I was born in a small 
border town in Mucumbura - Tete Province, I went through a difficult time 
due to the effects of the civil war, during my childhood I was a cattle and 
goat herder and helped my parents cultivate corn, beans, and sorghum 
in the village of Mapalo, 5 km from the administrative post of 
Mucumbura. 
References 
 
[1] Oil & gas Mozambique Project_ learnings from FLNG Coral, 
IPF Integrated processing facility and IGF Initial gas facility IBL 
and OBL 2023-2024 
 
[2] https://www.wbdg.org/resources/transitioning-new-facility-
from-construction-operations-asset-management 
 
 
Email address: 
 arvindo.candeio3@gmail.com 
4 
July 2024