Project Management in the Oil and Gas Industry

1.3.8 Commissioning and Startup
Importance of this stage varies depending on the nature and size of the 
project itself. In the case of housing projects, commissioning and start up 
will be applied to the building, for example during the finishing stages as 
per each floor or by each stage of completion as received for the HVAC, 
plumbing system, painting, and other final stages to start using the building.
A team formed by the owner and consultant is to receive the work in 
this stage. The work will be a list of the parts that need repair from the 
contractor.
It is a different story in the case of industrial projects such as construct-
ing pipelines, pumps, and turbine engines, or a new plant. In this case, a 
new team will formulate consisting of members of the projects and oper-
ating personnel who receive work and have the head of the team. Noting 
that, this team should be competent and have previous experience in com-
missioning and startup. The team will have a specific target to start the 
operation where the reception is not performed until after the primary 
operation. Start up and commissioning at this stage is to make sure that all 

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Project Management in the Oil and Gas Industry
the mechanical systems work efficiently and safely without any leakage or 
error in the operation. This stage takes a period of time depending on the 
size of the project and may extend to months.
The cooperation between the operation and project team is essential. 
The operation starts according to the schedule for this specific stage. It can 
be in hour units and all the parties should agree on this schedule to provide 
a smooth transition in a safe manner because increasing temperatures and 
pressure without previous study may cause a disaster. So again, competent 
people and a good schedule are the keys for successful commissioning and 
startup.