Buildings and infrastructure

    Commissioning software for buildings that have to work on day one, not eventually.

    A commercial building, hospital or transport hub is only as good as the systems that keep it running — HVAC, electrical, fire and life safety, vertical transport, BMS. Deskely holds the pre-functional checklists, functional performance tests, integrated systems tests and snag record behind every practical completion certificate, so the commissioning authority can sign with evidence instead of assurance.

    RISER STACK — TAG REGISTER BY FLOORL4-MEPPlant roomPFC + FPT signedL3-MEPAHU + BMSPFC + FPT signedL2-MEPRiser + FCUsFPT in progressL1-MEPSwitchgearPFC pending

    The problem

    Practical completion arrives whether or not the evidence does.

    Building commissioning runs across dozens of MEP subcontractors, a Cx authority, a design team and a client, each holding their own version of what has actually been tested. When the fit-out programme compresses, checklists, FPT scripts and snag reports scatter across email, spreadsheets and PDF exports — and nobody can say with confidence which systems are actually ready for occupation.

    WHERE THE EVIDENCE LIVESPFC checklistsPhotos in a chat threadFPT scriptsExcel, per tradeSnag reportsPDF markupsTAB resultsStandalone reportPRACTICAL COMPLETION9 daysIs the building ready?Unknownfour trades disagreeOne commissioning record removes the reconciliation entirely.

    PFCs are a paper exercise

    Pre-functional checklists for AHUs, chillers, switchgear and fire panels are filled in on site and photographed into a WhatsApp thread, with no link back to the asset or the FPT that depends on them.

    FPT results don't reach the CxA

    Functional performance test scripts are run by different MEP trades on their own templates, and the commissioning authority spends weeks chasing down which systems actually passed.

    Integrated systems testing is unverifiable

    Fire, smoke control, lift recall and BMS interlocks all have to perform together during IST and cause-and-effect testing, but the evidence that each trigger was actually tested lives in separate trade reports.

    Snags are tracked in three different places

    The main contractor's snag list, the client's defects spreadsheet and the architect's marked-up PDF rarely agree, and closing the same item three times delays sign-off.

    TAB reports arrive disconnected from the design intent

    Testing, adjusting and balancing reports get filed as standalone PDFs instead of being checked against the design airflows and water flows they were meant to verify.

    Soft landings has no record to build from

    O&M manuals, as-built records and the commissioning dossier are supposed to hand over cleanly into a soft landings period, but they are usually assembled from scratch after practical completion.

    How it runs

    From pre-functional check to practical completion.

    1. 01

      Pre-functional checklists

      MEP assets checked and signed off floor by floor before any functional testing is attempted.

    2. 02

      Functional performance testing

      Systems tested against their sequence of operations, with results attached to the asset and reviewed by the CxA.

    3. 03

      Integrated systems testing

      Fire, life safety, lift and BMS interlocks tested together against the cause-and-effect matrix, floor by floor.

    4. 04

      Practical completion & DLP

      Snags cleared, O&M and as-built records compiled, and the PC certificate issued with the dossier ready for the defects liability period.

    COMMISSIONING SEQUENCEPre-functional checksMEP assets signed off01100%Functional performance testSystems tested to sequence02100%Integrated systems testCause-and-effect verified0362%Practical completionSnags cleared, dossier built0418%Every gate reports from the same records — no separate status spreadsheet.

    Side by side

    Scattered trade reports versus one commissioning record.

    The question the client, CxA and building control officer all ask at handover is the same: can you show every system was tested, in sequence, before the building was occupied?

    Scattered trade reports versus one commissioning record.
    AspectSpreadsheets and PDFsDeskely
    PFC and FPT evidencePhotographed checklists and trade-specific templates.Signed records attached to the asset, visible to the CxA in real time.
    Integrated systems testingSeparate reports per trade with no shared cause-and-effect view.Scenario-by-scenario record against the interlock matrix.
    TAB resultsStandalone reports filed after the fact.Logged against design values, per system and terminal unit.
    SnagsThree lists that disagree with each other.One register, categorised and gating practical completion.
    O&M and soft landingsAssembled from scratch after PC.Built continuously from the commissioning record.

    What changes

    Floor by floor

    PFC and FPT progress visible to the CxA

    Scenario-based

    integrated systems and cause-and-effect evidence

    One register

    for snags instead of three competing lists

    Ready on PC

    O&M and soft landings dossier, not reconstructed later

    Before you shortlist

    Estimate what your current process costs

    Enter your tag count and record handling time to see the admin hours and cost in play — then book a demo against your own numbers.

    Open the ROI calculator

    FAQ

    Questions about buildings and infrastructure.

    Project types

    The same commissioning ladder, from a single fit-out to a whole transport hub.

    What changes between building scopes is the asset breakdown, who witnesses the functional tests and when the building has to be handed over. The record types, the gates and the audit trail behind them do not.

    01

    Commercial office fit-out and base build commissioning

    A commercial office building lives or dies on its M&E: chillers, AHUs, VAV boxes, BMS points and fire alarm cause-and-effect all have to be pre-functionally checked, functionally tested and balanced before the building is handed to a tenant fit-out team. Deskely holds every system, asset and test in one register with the Cx process and PC gate built in.

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    02

    Hospital and healthcare facility commissioning

    A hospital commissioning programme carries risk that an office building does not: medical gas pipework has to be pressure and purity tested before it ever reaches a patient, isolation rooms have to prove pressure regimes under HTM guidance, and derogations against those standards have to be tracked, justified and closed. Deskely holds every clinical and building system in one register so nothing reaches occupation on an assumption.

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    03

    Airport terminal and transport hub commissioning

    Terminal commissioning happens in phases, often overnight or in isolated zones, next to a building that is still processing passengers and flights. Baggage handling systems, security screening, BMS and life safety all have to be integration tested against tight possession windows. Deskely tracks every system and phase in one register so live-side risk is never assumed away.

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    04

    Rail and metro station and systems commissioning

    Rail and metro commissioning is constrained by possession windows, governed by a formal safety case, and dependent on interfaces between station M&E, tunnel ventilation and a signalling system that is rarely under the same contractor's control. Deskely tracks assets, interfaces and possessions in one register so the safety case is supported by evidence rather than assembled retrospectively.

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    05

    Stadium and large venue commissioning

    A stadium or large venue has one immovable constraint that most buildings do not: an opening fixture or event date announced to the public long before construction finishes. Deskely tracks life safety, crowd management, broadcast and hospitality systems in one register, tested in both normal and full event mode, so readiness is proven against the calendar rather than hoped for.

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    06

    Hotels and hospitality commissioning

    A hotel is a repetitive residential fit-out wrapped around a commercial MEP plant, all pointed at a fixed opening date that marketing has already announced. Deskely templates the guest room record once and instantiates it across every floor, while back-of-house plant, life safety and FF&E run as their own tracked scopes.

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    07

    Education and campus commissioning

    Schools, colleges and universities are commissioned inside a calendar that will not move: a summer holiday window, or a live campus where buildings must hand over one at a time while others stay occupied. Deskely tracks each building, phase and room type as its own scope so partial handover is planned, not improvised.

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    08

    Tunnels and highways commissioning

    Tunnels and major highway schemes carry life-safety consequence in their ventilation, fire and SCADA systems, and a road or transport authority that inspects every claim before it signs. Deskely holds ventilation, fire life safety, SCADA, traffic management and lighting as linked subsystems, so integrated systems testing is run and evidenced against a fixed acceptance framework.

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    09

    Laboratory and research facility commissioning

    Laboratories and research facilities depend on fume cupboards, containment and pressure cascades performing to a tolerance most buildings never need to consider, then proving it through a validation process before a single sample is handled. Deskely tracks each room, containment zone and piece of critical equipment against its own performance criteria, with validation evidence built in as it is generated.

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    10

    Mixed-use and residential tower commissioning

    A residential tower repeats an apartment fit-out hundreds of times up a building whose risers, smoke control and life safety systems only work as a whole. Deskely tracks each apartment as an instance of a templated record while riser, smoke control and central plant scopes run as their own subsystems, so sectional completion is issued floor by floor with real evidence behind it.

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