A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to participate as a panelist in TecnoEdificios (international event, organized by Latin Press), where the topic of Commissioning for Engineering and leED certification (for its acronym in English of Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) was touched.
By Germán Alexis Cortés H.*
Within the framework of the event we shared ideas and concluded that the Commissioning service can be given at several levels: a) when supervision and accompaniment is required to achieve a LEED certification in a green project, or b) when a more complete and detailed service is required for networks and engineering systems.
On this occasion, I am going to refer to this last level, because it is a little more complete and detailed, but above all because it takes into account all the electronic networks of a modern and efficient building; where obviously the security and control networks occupy a significant part.
To clarify and close the issue of LEED, let's remember that there are six (6) areas that involve multidisciplinary professionals, such as architects, urban planners, bioclimatics, mechanical, civil, hydraulic, electrical engineers among many others; and that its main objective is to save energy and be kind to our environment, so that our planet can remain sustainable. Inspection activities verify parameters and characteristics, focused on earning points in certification. It is a mandatory stage to achieve LEED certification.
Therefore it is important to specify that the commissioning service we are going to talk about involves only the electrical and electronic part, where the number of professional disciplines are smaller, however the level of detail and complexity is much higher. It is not mandatory, but it is highly recommended to achieve amazing results with little money.
What is Commissioning?
It is a service whose objective is to guarantee quality, efficiency and prevent the money invested in technology from being wasted. It involves the activities of Supervision, Accompaniment, Inspection, Verification, Adjustment, Detailed Calibration and Acceptance of some system.
What does it consist of?
Normally you should start along with the planning and design stage of the technological resource. It is reviewed in detail if the planned and designed solutions meet the real needs (and capabilities) of the project owners, according to current local and international regulations.
During the stages of acquisition, installation, assembly, commissioning, configuration and parameterization, a technical accompaniment is carried out and through routine inspections it is verified that all the activities are done as planned and contracted.
The commissioning service contributes a lot to the process, clearly indicating and controlling the scope, cost, time and level of quality expected of a system. As it is present in all stages of the project, it is assumed that implicitly the necessary variables are being controlled so that the project reaches its end properly, without operational surprises, cost overruns and on time.
In the final stage, as will be explained later, tests are carried out that must be done in the scenarios of normal situation, alarm, emergency and failure. If there are multiple systems, these same performance tests must be done for each subsystem autonomously and subsequently together with all the subsystems involved, operating in an integrated manner.
Once aspects to be improved are detected, it is a fundamental part of the service to suggest and supervise the adjustments (many times they are made by the integrator or contractor, but on other occasions they are made by the same company that does the commissioning), to guarantee that the performance of the systems is efficient. From this fine and meticulous calibration, making them operate perfectly, the true value of the acquired systems arises.
Once all the technical and functional tests are passed, the professional documentation of the project and the appropriate training of the responsible people at the operational and administrative level are supervised.
When the technology project is operating smoothly and the issues of technical support, supply of spare parts, guarantees and maintenance have already been clarified, then the technical acceptance of the system is given and the administrative and legal liquidation of the project is proceeded.
Let's differentiate with other services in the facilities
Auditing, Supervision or Inspection of a contract. It is a similar service, but with a much lower complexity and scope, because it is usually contracted only for the installation stage and is limited to verifying that the terms of the contract at a legal and economic level, are respected. Although it is assumed that the supervising professional must be knowledgeable about the subject, many times he is not an expert in the field (especially in electronic networks) and then his contribution is limited to reviewing schedules, quantities and receiving partially or totally, through minutes that bear his signature.
Many times a continuous inspection is done, which requires a full-time professional on site who is usually called the "supervising resident engineer or Auditory". Sometimes the supervision can be partial and only when it is specialized does it really contribute to the project.
In Latin America, the supervisor has a reputation for being "the bad guy in the movie" and sometimes does not contribute with his comments anticipating the facts as it should be, but is limited to punishing or serving as a "stone in the shoe" of many contracts. The auditor almost always delivers progress and contract status reports on a weekly or monthly basis. The minutes of delivery and the reports of committees, as well as their communiqués and authorizations, are their deliverable documents.
If the contract supervisor was from start to finish, and did an exceptionally good role, he could get very close to commissioning's work; after all, the supervisor is the direct representative of the project owner.
Audit. It is a service that checks an entire system ALREADY installed and working. A general inspection is done and simple testing protocols are used. Determine if the installed system and its operation is appropriate for each case.
A new system or an old system can be audited. It is customary to hire a technical audit (there may be administrative, legal, accounting), when there is disagreement between the owner of the system and the integrator who supplied and installed. Or also by the owner or manager of a project, when there are doubts about the desired operation and an impartial opinion of a third party is required.
The deliverable documents are the reports of their management, progress and the final report, which almost always includes a physical and functional inventory of what was found. The report also proposes possible solutions to the problems encountered, although it is not within its scope to solve them, nor to make adjustments or optimize the systems and their configuration.
Accompaniment. It is a service that some designers offer in an additional way, to avoid that the project is "orphaned" during the construction phase. It consists of occasionally attending the work to verify that the contracted integrator is doing the work suggested in the design. Their job is simply to warn when the way is lost and advise the owner and / or contractor to get back on track in what was designed.
Scheduled visits are made at the end of the important phases and the "technical advisory channel" is left open to solve the contractor's doubts or approve significant changes. He then becomes a kind of advisor to the Audit office and the general management of the project, filling the gaps of specialized information and reducing the costs of the project in general. However, it has no responsibility for purchasing, installing or delivering decisions, much less for the final operation of the systems.
When is a Commissioning service needed?
In any large or small project, there should be the work of supervision by a third party, outside the design, sale of equipment and its installation. In principle, the activity can be done by the owner of the system, as long as he has the time, the disposition and the specialized knowledge of the project. However, to be objective and realistic, only in large and important projects, where the integration of several subsystems is required, it is vital that there is commissioning.
The right time to hire is from the very beginning of the project. It is necessary in the installation phase and essential in the reception phase of the systems. However, the vast majority of times only the commissioning service is contracted, at the end of the facilities to help review the systems and receive them contractually. But many times in that phase, there is no way to solve errors and the systems even calibrated in detail, do not manage to pass all the tests.
Test Protocols
One of the most important steps in commissioning is to examine its operation, once the installation and configuration has been completed. A number of test protocols are used for each subsystem, which apply depending on the conditions of each installation. This immense and detailed checklist must be created for each installation and must be adjusted with each element (passive or active) of the system in mind. All items should be tested and routines followed by the test protocol. This phase can last several weeks, according to the number of points tested.
Systems are tested in four (4) different operating scenarios:
a) In a normal situation, seeking to establish the traditional parameters of operation and verifying the maximum permitted tolerances.
b) In alarm condition, when other devices of the same subsystem are in an abnormal situation.
c) In the presence of a fault: which can be 1. On the device itself, 2. On devices close to and related to the one being tested and 3. On different devices in the same subsystem.
d) In an emergency environment, that is, when other subsystems or the same tested one is within the context of evacuation or verified emergency.
Systems are tested in two (2) different ways of interacting:
a) Operating autonomously, that is, each subsystem is independent and sovereign in its actions.
b) Operating in an integrated manner with the other existing subsystems, that is, when in a synchronized and automatic manner the actions of one subsystem depend on those of another.
This generates eight (8) different situations for each device, which must be tested and verified in several sites:
a) On each remote device.
b) In the controller or intermediate equipment that receives the signal from the device.
c) In the equipment that centralizes the information for administration and monitoring, within the main control room. Many times it is the PSIM or BMS/BAS Integration software.
The goal is to ensure that the performance of each element, within each subsystem, is the best possible operating in any scenario.
I recommend that you attend different certified training courses (www.alas-la.org), where you can learn details of each device and perform your own testing protocol, a useful tool to improve the performance of systems.
Which systems can be commissioned?
Basically any system, however speaking of modern electronic networks, we can divide them into some electronic networks with more than 30 subsystems:
1. Electronic Security: Alarms for intrusion detection, environmental signals and Fire - Access Control of people, vehicles and objects - Closed Circuit Television.
2. Communications and Computing: Passive networks for wired and wireless data - analog and digital voice networks - external data links - active equipment for networking - workstations and peripherals - data center.
3. Audio and Video: Ambient sound networks - evacuation networks - digital signature - communal television - meeting room automation - professional multimedia
4. Control and Automation: lighting networks - air conditioning, refrigeration and environmental management networks - electromechanical equipment networks for basic services - fluid control - energy saving - air quality
5. Special subsystems: Call of nurses - supervision of fire hydraulic networks - hotel access - HD imaging networks - Scada for industrial process - airport systems - administrative software and dedicated use.
6. Total integration of all subsystems under the concept of PSIM or BMS/BAS
Economic investment
It depends on the amount of qualified human resource needed. Many times a single professional is not an expert in all electronic networks, therefore a work team is required. The value of the service is directly related to the time of the project and the complexity and extent of it.
As a reference, when a complete service is contracted – starting in the planning phase and ending in the maintenance stage; it is estimated that its average value can approach 5%, of the total value of the electronic project. If only the testing phase is contracted, the value can drop by half.
Profile of the professional for commissioning
It must be a team of certified, accredited engineers (electrical, electronic or similar) with at least 10 years of specific experience in the systems to be supervised. Preferably whoever directs the service, should use some project management methodology (PMI, Prince2 or similar), to guide a planned process that takes into account all technical, administrative, legal and economic variables. He must be an integral, competent, dynamic, organized professional, with impeccable ethics and above all impartial, to avoid that his suggestions are contaminated by the commercial aspect.
* He must be an excellent communicator, who manages in a kind but inflexible way, that things happen. You must ensure that the performance of the contracted system is continuously improved (even achieving functions that were not designed or contracted).
* The commission must be contracted directly by the owner of the project.
* The group of professionals involved in this stage must have the tools, test equipment, measurement, verification and registration necessary for each subsystem.
Excellence in quality
When a system has been commissioned and has passed all the necessary tests, it is calibrated to avoid as much as possible the failures in the expected operation. Therefore it becomes a quality process, so that current electronic systems are a true tool for efficient administration and good management in security.
* Germán Alexis Cortés H. is a Colombian Electronic Engineer, with a postgraduate degree in Engineering Management Systems. Consultant of the National Institute of Standards and Technology – NIST, in Electronic Security and Building Automation. CCP of ASIS, and CISSP of ISC2. He has over 20 years of experience in the electronic security industry. Renowned lecturer and university professor on high-tech issues at the Latino level. He has been a director of several companies in the sector and is currently a partner and directs Insetrón Ltda, an engineering and technical consulting company in electronic network projects for security, communications and automation. He has successfully participated in more than 150 projects at the Latino level.
