Commissioning performance testing — running the plant at design load over a defined period to demonstrate it meets its guaranteed throughput and quality.
Commissioning, FAT & SAT — in depth
The final gate is performance. The plant is run at design flow and load over a defined test period, with witnessed sampling against the contractual guarantees and a reliability run to prove stable, continuous operation — the objective basis for plant acceptance and handover.
What matters in practice
Plant at full flow and load.
Effluent against guarantees.
Stable continuous operation proven.
Objective pass criteria.
| Item | Basis | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Throughput | Design flow | Records |
| Quality | Guarantee | Lab |
| Reliability | Test period | Logs |
| Power/chem | Design | Consumption |
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Read MoreReynolds & Bauhm designs and delivers commissioning, fat & sat solutions backed by process engineering and performance guarantees.
Fundamentals, design drivers and practical guidance
Commissioning performance testing — running the plant at design load over a defined period to demonstrate it meets its guaranteed throughput and quality.
A Factory Acceptance Test verifies the panel, PLC and software against the functional design specification before it leaves the factory: I/O is simulated, interlocks and trips are forced, alarms and sequences are demonstrated, and the client witnesses and signs off. Site Acceptance Test then repeats the critical checks in situ, confirming that field wiring, instruments and final elements behave as the tested logic expects once connected to real plant.
Loop checking is the systematic, point-by-point proof that every instrument signal travels correctly from field to control system and every output drives the right final element, in the right direction, with the right scaling. Only when loops are proven does performance testing begin — running the process against its guaranteed duty (flow, removal efficiency, energy) over a defined period to demonstrate the contract is met before handover.
Reynolds & Bauhm runs structured FAT and SAT regimes, full loop-check documentation and witnessed performance tests, so plants are handed over proven against specification with a complete, auditable commissioning record — not signed off on optimism.
What our engineers assess on every scope of this type
| Parameter | Typical basis | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| SAT | Repeated on site | Proves field wiring and instruments |
| Loop check | Every signal, point by point | Confirms path, direction and scaling |
| Interlocks | Cause-and-effect tested | Safety functions proven before run |
| Performance test | Against guaranteed duty | Demonstrates the contract is met |
| Documentation | Signed records per stage | Auditable basis for handover |
| FAT | Witnessed at supplier works | Catches logic/panel faults early and cheap |
Common questions on installation and commissioning
Through a witnessed performance test running the process against its guaranteed duty — flow, removal efficiency and energy — over an agreed period. Meeting the targets over that run is the basis for acceptance and handover.
A complete commissioning pack: FAT and SAT records, loop-check sheets, interlock cause-and-effect results, the performance-test report and a closed punch list — an auditable trail that the plant was proven, not assumed.
Because a fault found in the supplier's works during Performance & Reliability Testing-type checks is far cheaper and faster to correct than the same fault discovered during live commissioning on site. FAT proves the panel, logic and sequences against specification before anything ships.
FAT verifies the control system in the factory with simulated I/O; SAT repeats the critical checks on site once the panel is wired to real instruments and final elements. SAT confirms that the proven logic still behaves correctly with field reality connected.
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