“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is most adaptable to change.” – Charles Darwin
Helping your business adapt to change is an important part of what we do here at Facility Grid. Through decades of experience, we have learned how to digitize and improve many of the processes and workflows that currently exist in spreadsheets or outdated systems. We identified the key aspects of those processes that are likely to have the greatest impact on project success, and we are sharing them with you through our Survival of the Fittest Best Practices series. Our first Best Practice is commissioning Pre-Verification Testing (PVT). One of the most impactful elements of any project, implementing a PVT program on your project will drive measurable results. Read on to learn more.
Best Practice: Pre-Verification Testing (PVT)
Project testing shouldn’t feel like a pop quiz. Contractors and Cx Providers should be prepared and set up for success when they get to the functional testing activities.
Reducing errors, accelerating the functional testing process, and resource planning are a few of the reasons why Pre-Verification Testing (PVT) is a best practice for Commissioning (Cx). PVT gets construction teams ready for the formal testing witnessed by the Commissioning Provider (CxP) and addresses any potential issues or conflicts in advance of functional testing to facilitate project readiness. By including PVT requirements into the project from its outset, teams have better alignment and a clear understanding of expectations.
PVT ensures you’re ready for any test, even a pop quiz!
Why PVT?
PVT encourages teams to align project expectations with schedules, resources, and realities. By bringing the PVT requirements into the Cx Plan, CxPs, General Contractors, and Subcontractors can all understand the level of effort required to complete testing and allocate resources accordingly. Additionally, contractors understand what will be expected of them throughout the process and can plan for it.
How to achieve success?
Make sure the PVT process is part of the project scope and is not considered voluntary by project participants by including it in the Cx Specifications and Cx Plan.
Leverage a tool like Facility Grid that integrates PVT results with associated Functional Tests, highlighting issues and providing the collective team with visibility into the current state of readiness of building assets for the testing activities.
Does it work?
Our client ETC used Pre-Verification Testing on a healthcare facility chiller plant and reduced issues from 300 to 3. Having deployed this functionality on most projects now, ETC Group has reduced issues on projects to only very minor items resulting in more successful projects. Other customers have realized similar success using PVT.
Read more about the ETC project here.
Additional Resources
To learn more about PVT, we invite you to watch our previous Discovery Hour: Pre-Verification Testing, join us on August 16, 2022, for our Best Practices webinar, or contact support for a demonstration.
