Capital Projects / Commissioning / Design

Manage Design Submissions and Requirements

The Manage Design Submissions and Requirements task is a comprehensive view of work packages for commissioning projects and their action items. This task enables you to enter and manage project commissioning documentation from the planning phase, through design submissions until approved. These approved documents can then be tracked through the construction phase and post-construction phases as construction checklists and test procedures, so that the documentation is available for the full lifecycle of your building.

Using the Manage Design Submissions and Requirements task, the design team can enter and manage project commissioning documentation received from commissioning agents from the time the design is submitted until the submission is 100% approved. If an action item for a design submission, or other document type does not have the document attached, the design professional can attach the document using this task.

Working from this view, you can review all work packages for commissioning projects, or you can use the Filter console to view only specific work packages, work packages for a specific project, work packages having actions associated with specific project phases, or work projects for projects with specific statuses.

Using the Manage Design Submissions and Requirements task, design professionals and commissioning agents can:

• Approve documentation actions once the design team and commissioning agent have finalized the design. See Approving Design Submissions.
• Add new work packages and actions as the scope of work is more precisely defined. See Adding Commissioning Work Packages and Actions.
• Assign project actions to a selected work package: If you have defined actions for the project, but have not yet assigned them to a work package, you can do so from this task. See Assigning Project Actions to a Work Package.
• Associate a document with an existing documentation action item: These actions enable you to track documentation from the document's review phase to its final approval, so it is important to have the document attached. See Adding a Document to an Action.
• Review documentation for actions items, and check in a new document if needed. See Reviewing and Updating Commissioning Documents.
• Update action item details with the latest information. For example, you can enter the Duration - Est. Design (Days), Hours - Est. Design, Cost - Est. Design (Cap.), and Cost - Est. Design (Exp.). Design time and cost estimates are based on information that has been provided by architects, designers, and contractors who have analyzed a project's requirements. See Editing Action Items for Commissioning Work Packages.
• Export action items for the selected work package to Excel (by clicking XLS), or to a Word document (by clicking DOC).

Approving Design Submissions

If an action is tracking design submissions, the design professionals work closely with the commissioning agent to finalize the design, ensuring that it conforms to the owner's project requirements. The owner then approves the design. Once a design submission is finalized, you enter a new action for the final design submission, attach the document for the agreed-upon work, change the Action Type to reflect the documents new purpose now that it is approved, and use the Approve Documentation button to approve the document. Using the Approve Documentation action is important, as the application uses this action to automatically update the action item's status to Approved, and additional fields become available to document the persons approving and verifying the design submission, and the dates these actions were done.

Only commissioning documentation approved using the Approve Documentation button can be used during the construction phase as construction test lists and testing procedures, so approving documents is a critical part of the commissioning process. See Approving Documentation Action Items.

Add Commissioning Work Packages and Actions

To add commissioning work packages and actions:

1. Select the Capital Projects / Commissioning / Design / Manage Design Submissions and Requirements task.

   The Commissioning Work Packages pane presents the work packages that are associated with Commissioning projects.

2. To add a new work package:
   1. Click Add Work Package in the Commissioning Work Packages pane.
      The Add Work Package form appears.
   2. Enter the following required fields:

      Project Code: Select the project the work package is for. The list includes the Project Code (the system-generated unique identifier for the project), as well as the Project Name to help you identify the correct project.

      Work Package: Enter a name for the work package. The name must be unique for this project.

      Date -Est.Start/Date - Est. End: Select the estimated start and end dates for the work package.

   3. Enter the following recommended field:

      Days Per Week: Enter the number of days per week that will be work days for this work package. It is important to remember when estimating design schedules that the timeline in the Gantt chart depends on the project or work package Days Per Week setting in addition to the start date and duration for the action.

   4. Enter the following fields as needed:

      Summary/Description: Enter additional information specific to this work package.

      Project Phase: Select a Project Phase value, such as Design, Execution, or Closeout. This is useful from the Projects application when you want to track the project at the Design phase or Execution phase level. Or, from Commissioning, when locating projects for which you want to add work packages, you can search for these projects by their phase.

   5. Click Save.
3. To add a new action to a work package:
   1. Select the work package in the Commissioning Work packages pane.
   2. In the Action Items pane, click Add New.
   3. In the Action Item Details form, enter data for the new action. For a description of the fields, see Adding Actions to an Approved Project.
   4. Click Save.
4. To assign project actions to a work package:

   If you have created actions that are associated with the project, you can select from these actions and assign them to the work package.

   1. Select the work package from the Commissioning Work Packages pane.
   2. In the Action Items pane, click Assign Project Actions.

      The Assign Project Action Items to Work Packages form shows the project's current actions.

   3. Select the check boxes for the actions you want to add to the work package. To select all actions, select the check box in the column header.
   4. Click Assign Selected Records.

      The Action Items panel now includes the selected actions.

5. To edit an existing action for a work package:
   1. Select the work package in the Commissioning Work Packages pane.
   2. In the Action Items pane, click Edit in the row for the action item.
   3. The Action Item Details form appears.
   4. Update the action information as needed. For a description of the fields, see Adding Actions to an Approved Project.

      For example, during the design phase, you can enter

      Duration - Est. Design (Days) and Hours - Est. Design. This is the estimate of the work days or the number of hours required for this action based on the information provided by design professionals.

      Cost - Est. Design (Cap.), and Cost - Est. Design (Exp.): These estimated costs are provided by design professionals.

   5. Click Save.

If the action item is associated with a document, see the next procedure for Adding and Approving Documentation Action Items.

Adding Documents to Actions

Many Design process tasks are restricted to show specific types of document action items. Additionally, if the action does not have a document attached, the action will not show up in these views. Upon reviewing an action, if you notice that an action does not have an entry in the Document column and a document is available, you can associate a document with the action.

To add a document to an action:

1. If needed, use the Filter console so that the view shows only specific work packages, work packages for a specific project, work packages having actions associated with specific project phases, or work projects for projects with specific statuses. After selecting criteria, click Show.
2. From the Commissioning Work Packages pane, select the work package for which you want to review documentation.
3. In the Action Items pane, click Edit in the row for the action.

   The Action Item Details form appears.

4. Click the Check In New Document button next to the Document field.
5. Use the Check In New Document dialog to locate and select the document, and click OK.
6. Click Save on the Action Item Details form.

   The document is given an auto-numbered ID that begins with activity_log followed by the Action Item ID. The Document field now has buttons available to check in a new version of the document, to lock the document for editing, or to delete the document. See Using the Document Management System.

   Now that the document is attached, the action will show up in the view for its Action Type.

Reviewing and Updating Commissioning Documents

From the Manage Design Submissions and Requirements task, you can quickly locate and open commissioning documentation.

1. If needed, use the Filter console so that the view shows only specific work packages, work packages for a specific project, work packages having actions associated with specific project phases, or work projects for projects with specific statuses. After selecting criteria, click Show.
2. From the Commissioning Work Packages pane, select the work package for which you want to review documentation.
3. In the Action Items pane, click the link in the Document column for the action item. A dialog appears that enables you to open or to save the document.
4. Review the document.
5. If you need to revise the document, from the Action Items pane, click Edit in the row for the action item. On the Action Item Details form, click the Check Out Document button. For more details see Using the Document Management System.

Editing Action Items for Commissioning Work Packages

As a result of the design review, more precise cost and schedule estimates are available. From the Manage Design Submissions and Requirements task, you can edit action item information.

To edit action items:

1. From the Commissioning Work Packages pane, select the work package to which you want to add an action item.
2. In the Action Items pane, click Edit in the row for the action you want to edit.

   The Action Item Details form appears.

3. In the Commissioning Work Packages pane, select the name of the work package for which you want to add or edit actions. The actions currently associated with the selected project are displayed in the Action Items pane.

   The Edit Task dialog appears. The Project Code and Work Package are filled in with the project and work package you selected. The Date Requested and the Action Item ID are system-generated.

4. Enter the following required fields:

   Action Title: A identifier for the action. The name must be unique among actions for this work package.

   Action Type: Select the type of action. When you assign an action a type, you are able to view the Action Status in reports, such as Action Status by Action Type (Execute process/Schedule tab), and view milestone statuses (Monitor process/View Milestone Statuses). When estimating schedules and duration, you can filter by Action Type to see only those actions on the Gantt chart.

   Date to Perform:  Date you plan to begin the action. By default, this is set to the current date. Enter an estimated date if you are planning on tracking design schedules using the design Gantt chart.

   Duration - Est. Design (Days): By default, this is set to 1 day, but enter an estimated value, so that you can track design schedules on the Gantt chart. The design schedule estimate is based on information that has been provided by architects, designers, and contractors who have analyzed a project's requirements.

   Hours - Est. Design: By default, this is set to 0, but enter a value to indicate the number of person-hours this action will take. For example, if the action's Duration is two days, and two people will be working on this action for eight-hour days, then the person-hours for this action is 32 hours. The S-Curve analysis uses person-hours in its calculations for work, so it is important to enter these hours if you are generating S-Curve charts in the Projects application.

   Cost - Est. Design (Exp.) and  Cost Est. Design (Cap): By default, these costs are set to 0.00, but enter an estimate if you want to compare estimated design costs to actual costs in the Project Analysis report. These design costs are provided by architects, designers, and contractors who have analyzed a project's requirements.

5. Enter the following recommended fields:

   Work Package: If not already entered, select the work package for the action item. Although, not required to save the record, an action must be associated with a work package so that vendors can bid on it, and you can generate reports that show data for work packages. Working from Commissioning, during the Construction Phase, Commissioning Agents and Trade Contractors are able to see their designated work scope only by work package.

   Action Item Status: Select the current status for the action. If you record Action Item Status, you can view reports that include this field, such as Action Status by Action Types on the Management Console Schedule tab. After you change the status from N/A, the action item can no longer be deleted; you can cancel it (if the status is Scheduled) or stop it (if the status is In Progress). When working from the Commissioning application, it is important to use the Approve Documentation action to approve the documents. This automatically updates the status to Approved. See Approving Documentation Action Items.

   Project Phase: Select a Project Phase value, such as Design or Execution. For example, this is useful if you want to track the project at the Design phase or Execution phase level in the Project Analysis report. Or, when adding actions to work packages you can search for work packages by the Project Phase for the project with which the work package is associated. For more information on the Project Analysis report, see the Creating Management and Oversight Reports topic. 

   Work Breakdown Structure Code: A hierarchical structure that is used to organize tasks. For example, if a task is first in the outline of your project actions, then the outline number for that task is 1; the outline number for the first subtask under this task is 1.1.

   Site Code/Building Code/Floor Code/Room Code: Select the location information for the work to be done.

   Description: If needed, enter additional information for this action.

   Approved By: Enter the person approving the action. When working from the Commissioning application, it is important to use the Approve Documentation action to approve action items for design submissions. See Approving Documentation Action Items.

   Created By: This is a system-generated field that holds the name of the user who entered this action.

6. Enter additional information as needed. For example

   Approved By:  Enter the name of the person approving this work. From Commissioning, if the action is for a document, use the Approve Documentation action to approve the document. See Approving Documentation Actions.

   The following fields are used for scheduling if you are creating service requests for this action.

   Problem Location Enter precisely where the problem exists, so that others following up on this item will be able to easily find the problem. For example, if you are assessing the condition of a room, you might enter "Back corner near window"

   Equipment Code: Select the equipment needed to perform this action by selecting an equipment item from your equipment inventory.

   Problem Type: Select the type of problem this action item is addressing.

   Primary Trade Required: Select the type of craftsperson required to perform this work.

   Date Required: Select the date this craftsperson is needed.

   Date Requested: Date the service request was entered. This can be a read-only field set to the current date.

7. Click Save.
8. Attach a document: After you save the action, to attach a document to the action, click the Check In New Document button next to the Document field to select the document. See Using the Document Management System.