The Project Manager’s Role in the Commissioning Process

The project manager has an important role in building commissioning, but it is not the same as the role of the owner, the owner’s representative, or the commissioning provider [CxP]. The project manager’s job is to integrate commissioning into delivery, protect the time / programme and resources needed to complete it properly, and coordinate the parties who must make it happen.

That means the project manager is usually a delivery and coordination lead, not the technical authority for commissioning. The owner and owner’s representative define project intent and approve key commissioning decisions, while the CxP leads the technical commissioning process, reviews, testing strategy, and final reporting.

What commissioning actually is

ASHRAE defines commissioning as a quality-focused process that verifies and documents that commissioned systems and assemblies are planned, designed, installed, tested, operated, and maintained to meet the Owner’s Project Requirements, or OPR.

This shows why commissioning cannot be treated as a late-stage testing event. It starts early, runs through design and construction, and depends on project management discipline as much as technical expertise.

See our article ‘What is Commissioning in Construction?’ for further detail.

Where the project manager fits

On a typical project, commissioning is initiated by the owner and led technically by the CxP, but it succeeds or fails based on whether the project manager weaves it into the actual delivery process. ASHRAE’s guidance assigns the Project Manager responsibilities for scheduling, facilitating meetings, incorporating commissioning requirements into contracts, coordinating testing operations, managing subcontractors and suppliers, supplying documentation, and responding to issues raised during commissioning.

“The project manager is the person who makes commissioning workable inside the real project. The PM keeps commissioning from being squeezed out by procurement delays, trade sequencing conflicts, incomplete submittals, access problems, and late-stage programme pressure.”

What the PM is responsible for

The project manager’s commissioning responsibilities are mostly managerial rather than specialist technical tasks, and in practice, they usually include the following.

Integrating commissioning requirements into the master programme, procurement strategy, and subcontract scopes.
Making sure contractors, suppliers, and specialist trades understand their commissioning obligations before work starts.
Scheduling and facilitating commissioning scoping meetings, coordination meetings, readiness reviews, and test windows.
Coordinating access, utilities, temporary conditions, labour, and sequence dependencies so tests can actually happen.
Tracking submittals, start-up status, inspection readiness, training obligations, and close-out documentation that affect commissioning progress.
Reviewing and responding to issues and resolution logs so open items are assigned, chased, and closed.
Protecting time in the programme for retesting, deferred testing, seasonal testing, and training where needed.

What the PM does not own

A common source of confusion is assuming that the project manager “owns commissioning” just because they are managing the project, within this role – they do not ‘own’ or ‘run’ the commissioning, also they do not have the CxP reporting to them – the CxP reports to the Owner or their confirmed ‘Representative’.

The PM does not normally own the following:

Defining the Owner’s Project Requirements.
Setting the final project commissioning scope on behalf of the owner.
Writing the technical Basis of Design.
Acting as the commissioning provider unless separately appointed and qualified to do so.
Designing functional test procedures, interpreting specialist results, or making technical pass-fail judgments on behalf of the CxP or design professionals.
Accepting systems on behalf of the owner unless that authority is explicitly delegated in the project governance structure.
Coordinating the Commissioning Activities.
Have the CxP report to them.

This is good to understand as it prevents the PM role from becoming blurred with the role of the CxP or the owner’s representative. The PM manages delivery conditions and coordination; the CxP manages the commissioning process and technical verification; the owner approves and accepts outcomes.

Commissioning in the programme

One of the most valuable things a project manager can do is treat commissioning as a live workstream in the programme, that runs from ‘pre-design to occupancy and operations’ rather than an end of project event, to tick some boxes, just before handover.

The PM should discuss with the CxP and build in time for:

Submittal review cycles that affect commissioned systems.
Factory and site readiness activities, start-up, and pre-functional checks.
Functional and performance testing windows, including witness requirements.
Correction of deficiencies and retesting.
Training, Systems Manual assembly, and final handover deliverables.
Deferred, seasonal, or post-occupancy testing where conditions prevent earlier completion.
Any other items the CxP or Owner needs,

If those steps are not visible in the programme, they usually get compressed at the end, and commissioning becomes reactive instead of planned.

Commissioning in contracts and procurement

The project manager also plays a major role in making commissioning a contractual requirement. ASHRAE’s commissioning specifications guidance says the design and construction documents should clearly define the commissioning activities that designers and contractors must perform during the design, construction, correction periods, and warranties, and should make each team member’s roles and responsibilities explicit.

From a PM perspective, this means commissioning should appear in:

Tender packages and scope descriptions.
Subcontract and supplier obligations.
Milestones, notices, and hold points tied to testing and turnover.
Documentation requirements such as submittals, start-up forms, test reports, training records, and Systems Manual inputs.

If commissioning is left vague in the procurement stage, the project often inherits disputes later about who should attend tests, who should provide technicians or instruments, who pays for retesting, and what close-out information is required.

Coordination with the CxP

The relationship between the project manager and the CxP is one of the most important working relationships in the whole commissioning process. The CxP plans, reviews, verifies, documents, and reports; the PM creates the site and programme conditions that let that process happen effectively.

A strong PM supports the CxP by:

Getting the right people into commissioning meetings.
Making sure submittals, drawings, and vendor information arrive when needed for review.
Aligning trade contractors so start-up and test prerequisites are complete before witness events are booked.
Escalating unresolved issues quickly enough that they do not derail later testing or handover.
Maintaining pressure on close-out items, training, and final document delivery.

A weak PM, by contrast, can leave the CxP technically correct but exposed and stranded; no access, no staff, no power, no sequence clarity, and no time left in the programme.

Coordination with the owner and design team

The project manager also sits between the Cx process and broader project governance. The owner may need to approve changes, resolve scope questions, or accept deferred testing plans, while the design team may need to respond to design review comments, submittal issues, or technical deficiencies identified during testing.

That puts the PM in a coordination and translation role. The PM does not replace the designer or the CxP, but does help move information to the right decision-maker fast enough for the project to keep moving and get involved supporting the team members contractually and to help push the close out anything that is outstanding.

For information on the Designer, read our article “The Project Manager’s Role in the Commissioning Process”

The PM’s role during testing

Testing is the part of commissioning most people notice, but even here the PM’s role is mostly orchestration rather than authorship. The CxP develops or manages the testing procedures and verification process, while contractors and vendors often execute start-ups, checklists, and many test activities required by the specifications.

The PM’s contribution is to make testing executable by ensuring:

Systems are actually ready to be tested inline with the programme.
Trades and vendor representatives are booked and present.
Dependencies such as controls integration, TAB completion, power availability, and safety conditions are ready.
Deficiencies found during testing are assigned and corrected promptly.
Retesting is planned before final completion pressure makes it difficult.

That is why a project with a good CxP but poor project management can still have a chaotic commissioning phase. Technical competence alone does not solve sequencing and coordination failures.

The PM’s role in handover

Commissioning is closely tied to handover, and this is another area where the PM’s influence is strong. ASHRAE’s stakeholder guidance includes Project Manager responsibilities for assembling documentation, contributing to the Systems Manual, supporting training, and delivering reports and records needed for handover / turnover.

So by the time the project nears completion, the PM should be driving a close-out checklist that includes not just defects and certificates, but also:

Final and outstanding commissioning items.
Training plans and records.
Systems Manual inputs and final assembly requirements.
Test results, issues logs, and deferred test plans.
Evidence needed for certificate of occupancy or equivalent authority review where commissioning is code-linked.

Handover quality depends heavily on how well the PM has managed commissioning inputs throughout the project.

Common mistakes project managers make

Most commissioning failures that involve project management are not caused by bad intentions. They usually come from treating commissioning as a specialist side task instead of a delivery workstream with real requirements, deliverables, programme, procurement, and coordination needs.

Common PM mistakes include:

Leaving commissioning out of early procurement and trade scope discussions.
Assuming the CxP will somehow coordinate site readiness without contractor leadership.
Booking tests before systems, controls, TAB, or documentation are ready.
Allowing unresolved issues to accumulate until retesting time disappears.
Treating training and Systems Manual inputs as close-out paperwork rather than operational requirements.
Confusing the PM’s coordination role with the CxP’s technical authority.
Not listening to the Commissioning Team.

When those mistakes happen, commissioning tends to become compressed, adversarial, and document-heavy without giving the owner much confidence in real system performance.

Why this matters

A well-run project can still hand over a poor building if commissioning is squeezed, fragmented, or poorly coordinated. The project manager is the role most able to prevent that outcome because the PM controls the delivery environment in which commissioning either succeeds or fails.

So the project manager’s role is not to “be the commissioning expert.” It is to make sure the commissioning experts, the designers, the contractors, and the owner can do their jobs in the right order, with the right information, at the right time.