RECAP | ROUNDTABLE | Commissioning and recommissioning

Uptime Institute’s April 27, 2020, Inside Track roundtable examined the importance of commissioning and recommissioning. Uptime Institute consultant Juan Orozco joined the discussion, which included data center owners and operators from North America and EMEA, all of whom regularly conduct Level 5 or integrated systems testing.
With such a high level of agreement, the discussion revolved around issues such as getting the greatest benefit from commissioning and when is the best time to conduct re-commissioning. Most participants agreed that facilities should be commissioned after each major construction project and recommissioned after a pre-determined period, such as three years as suggested by Orozco. However, a US-based data center provider offered two innovations: one involving quality control and the other regarding how to conduct commissioning while meeting COVID-19 access and social isolation rules.
In making his recommendations, Orozco noted that commissioning brings a number of important benefits, including increased reliability, greater energy efficiency and better operations because commissioning scripts provide the basis for thorough and accurate MOPs and SOPs. He also noted that both commissioning and recommissioning offered opportunities that are not available in live environments for data center owners and operators to optimize reliability and energy efficiency.
The participants all shared some of their experiences, with their observations supporting well-understood truths about commissioning, including
• Use an independent third-party commissioning agent (CxA) for all Level 4 and Level 5 commissioning projects.
• Do a thorough examination of the CxA because having a lasting relationship can improve the quality of the commissioning work. This level of continuity enables CxAs and data center owners and operators to partner to reduce the number of issues discovered by commissioning.
• Incorporate the commission scripts into all procedures when possible.
A Europe-based data center services provider urged the panel to go beyond these well-accepted goals. He wanted to understand what could be done to ensure proper operation of the facility in between major commissioning and recommissioning efforts. His question prompted a discussion of continuous commissioning or at least periodic equipment and systems testing that would be beyond routine maintenance. A number of the participants had suggestions, especially regarding generator testing.
Later in the discussion, the US-based data center provider noted that it first conducts Level 5 commissioning on facilities it provides to clients but then also conducts a second set of commissioning to help clients within these new facilities. The second set of tests validates the initial commissioning report.
Finally, the facilitator asked whether the group should consider commissioning a non-essential activity, given the access limits created by COVID-19. Orozco emphasized that commissioning should never be considered non-essential, and the US-based data center provider shared that it had conducted its first-ever remote commissioning.
The effort involved significant pre-planning, especially to ensure adequate bandwidth for the remote connection, and was also time-consuming. However, he said it was effective and would require only a brief on-site inspection after the COVID-19 limitations have lifted.