Commissioning Checklist

The stages

Commissioning a control system is a sequence, and the sequence exists because each stage assumes the one before it. A functional test on a loop that was never loop-checked finds wiring errors dressed up as logic errors. An integrated test on a plant whose sequences were never function-tested finds everything at once and fixes nothing. The stages, their prerequisites, and their records are the checklist.

Before energization

• Panel installed, anchored, grounded, and bonded; enclosure rating intact; nameplates and SCCR marking present.
• Field wiring complete and terminated per the drawings; every cable labeled at both ends; megger results for power cables on file.
• Instruments installed per the installation details, with calibration certificates, and impulse lines, valves, and supports complete.
• Drawings, I/O list, and instrument list at the current revision, with field changes incorporated or red-lined.
• FAT report accepted, with every FAT punch item closed or carried into the site punch list.
• Lockout applied; energization procedure written and agreed; the utility electrical staff involved.
• Torque check on power terminations; foreign material removed from the panel; filters and fans installed.

Loop checks

A loop check proves one point end to end. For an input, the technician drives the field device or injects a signal at the device terminals, and someone at the HMI confirms the value, the units, the scaling, and the alarm. For an output, the operator commands the device from the HMI and the technician confirms it responds in the field. Every point on the I/O list gets a sheet, the sheet is signed by both people, and the I/O list status is updated. Three points on an analog loop, zero, mid, and full scale; both states on a discrete; both directions on an output. The loop check page has the detail; the checklist item is that every row of the I/O list has a signed sheet before functional testing begins.

Functional and integrated tests

A functional test takes one device or one control function and exercises it against the narrative: the pump starts in HAND, in AUTO on the level call, alternates, fails to prove and drops out, trips on seal-leak, responds to every permissive. An integrated test takes a sequence or a process area and runs it as a whole, then breaks things: kills communications, fails a transmitter, pulls the PLC into program mode, loses power, and confirms that the system does what the narrative says it does on each. The test sheets come from the narrative and the cause and effect matrix, so that every statement in those documents is tested once and signed.

Performance and handover

A performance demonstration runs the system under real process conditions for a defined period, often 7 to 30 days, with the integrator on call and a log of every intervention. Its acceptance criteria are written before it starts: uptime, alarm rate, control performance against setpoints, and the absence of unresolved faults. Handover follows acceptance and includes the record documents at their final revision, the program and configuration backups with a restore test, the spare parts, the training records, and the open items list with owners and dates. The utility signs for all of it, and from that signature the system is theirs.

The checklist

1. 01Record documents current: drawings, I/O list, instrument list, narrative, cause and effect, network drawings.
2. 02FAT accepted and FAT punch list closed.
3. 03Pre-energization inspection complete and signed.
4. 04Energization record complete: voltages, rotation, protection settings.
5. 05Controller and network startup record complete, with firmware and program versions.
6. 06Loop check sheet signed for every row of the I/O list, including spares marked as not tested.
7. 07Instrument calibration certificates on file for every instrument.
8. 08Functional test sheet signed for every device and control function in the narrative.
9. 09Integrated test record signed for every sequence, including the failure cases.
10. 10Alarm test record: every alarm in the master alarm database driven, indicated, and notified as configured.
11. 11SCADA verification: every display, faceplate, trend group, and report checked against the standard.
12. 12Security items: default credentials changed, remote access configured per the design, backups taken and restore-tested.
13. 13Performance demonstration complete with acceptance criteria met and the intervention log reviewed.
14. 14Training delivered and recorded for operators and maintenance.
15. 15Spare parts delivered and listed.
16. 16Open items list agreed with owners and dates.
17. 17Handover certificate signed by the utility.