System Commissioning and Start-up

Services offered:-     Validation     Startup    Records    Procedures    Training    Auditing    Witnessing    Appraisal    EU ETS

 

Who should do this?

For around $2000/day plus expenses the system vendor will.  Another approach is for the main contractor's instrument engineers to commission the system.  This is fine for maybe 80% of the equipment, but metering systems are very specialised systems, with very many pitfalls for the inexperienced or unwary.

Remember, even a small error or omission undiscovered from the outset could result, over time, in massive metering errors in terms of $$$$$.

Who carries out the final calibrations to full "fiscal" standards before start-up?

System vendors don't usually do this for most system instruments prior to shipment because they cannot be sure that they will remain in calibration after shipment to site and installation. Vendor reps are usually unable to bring a full set of certified test equipment to site, and sometimes the instruments on fiscal metering systems are just calibrated in the same way as the rest of the plant instrumentation - sometimes even with uncertified and unsuitable test equipment.  Plant start-ups have even been delayed because the regulatory authorities are not happy with the standard of the system calibrations.

The solution is simple, HMS can carry out ALL the commissioning and pre-start-up validations. Or, if there are issues with the warranty from the system vendor, we can manage and oversee the work of the vendor's commissioning engineer, whilst also carrying out our own independent system testing and validation to proper "fiscal" standards. This will ensure that the system is properly validated before start up, and most importantly, this is also possibly the only way you'll get a proper and fully comprehensive "punch list" for the system.  Remember, the system vendor will not go out of his way to highlight any shortcomings with his system.

(Just in case you are not sure; a "punch list" is a list of faults, missing items, or things that need modification. There are very often quite a few of these on metering systems after commissioning.)