What We Offer
Commissioning and Turn-Over
A building is not finished when the punch list clears. It is finished when you can operate it. Commissioning is the difference between handing over a set of keys and handing over a working facility.
Systems proven against the design intent before the owner takes possession.
Construction and commissioning, then certificate of occupancy and owner occupancy.
Experience across healthcare, laboratory and public buildings where turnover is inspected, not declared.
Substantial completion is not the same as usable
The gap between a contractor saying a building is done and an owner being able to run it is where most handover disputes live. Closing it means proving performance rather than asserting it.
- Systems are tested against intent, not just switched on. HVAC, electrical, controls and life safety are verified to do what the design said they would under the conditions the building will actually see.
- Documentation is assembled as work proceeds. Warranties, as-builts, O&M manuals and equipment data collected during construction rather than reconstructed from memory at the end.
- The people who will run the building get trained. Facilities staff walked through the systems they are inheriting, by the people who installed them.
- Occupancy is sequenced. Certificate of occupancy, final inspections and move-in coordinated against the date the owner has already planned their operation around.
What turnover includes
The handover package and the process behind it.
Systems commissioning
HVAC, electrical, plumbing, controls and life safety verified against the design intent, with results documented.
Punch list resolution
Deficiencies identified, tracked and closed out, with the owner's own walkthrough built into the schedule rather than bolted on.
Final inspections
Authority inspections coordinated against the schedule, including fire marshal review where rated assemblies or egress changed.
Certificate of occupancy
The approvals sequence managed through to the certificate, so the occupancy date is a plan rather than a hope.
Documentation package
As-builts, warranties, operation and maintenance manuals and equipment data, assembled during the work.
Owner training and handover
Facilities staff walked through the systems they are taking on, so the building can be operated and maintained from day one.
How turnover runs
Commissioning that starts at the end is already late. These stages overlap construction deliberately.
Commissioning plan set during construction
What will be tested, against what criteria and when, agreed while there is still time to build around it.
Systems started and verified
Equipment started, balanced and tested as areas complete, so problems surface in sequence rather than all at once.
Documentation assembled
Warranties, as-builts and manuals collected as trades complete rather than chased after demobilization.
Punch and owner walkthrough
Joint walk, tracked list, and closure of deficiencies before the occupancy date rather than after it.
Inspections and certificate of occupancy
Authority inspections coordinated and cleared through to the certificate.
Training and handover
Facilities staff trained on the systems, package delivered, building handed over ready to operate.
Warranty period support
A point of contact after occupancy for items that emerge once the building is genuinely in use.
Where this matters most
Commissioning earns its cost when
- The building has systems that must perform on day one, not eventually.
- Clinical or laboratory space has to be validated before it can be put into service.
- A fixed move-in date is already committed with staff, tenants or students.
- The facilities team taking over the building was not involved in building it.
- Inspection and licensure sit between completion and occupancy.
Worth knowing
- Commissioning does not replace the warranty period, it makes it shorter and quieter.
- It is not a final-week activity. Starting it at substantial completion is already too late.
- It runs inside design-build and general construction rather than as a separate purchase.
Turnover in regulated space
Some buildings cannot simply be occupied when construction ends. Clinical space returning to service may carry licensure requirements. A laboratory cannot be used until the owner has validated it, which means the contractor's closeout has to line up with the owner's validation protocol rather than run parallel to it. Public buildings answer to fire marshal review on any change to a rated assembly or egress path.
Hayco has delivered turnover in all three environments. Detail is on the healthcare, laboratory and institutional pages.
Related delivery structures: commissioning sits at the end of a design-build or general construction contract, and facility maintenance picks up once the building is occupied.
Common questions
When does commissioning start?
During construction, not at the end. The commissioning plan is set while there is still time to build around it, and systems are verified as areas complete rather than all at once in the final week.
What do we receive at handover?
As-builts, warranties, operation and maintenance manuals, equipment data, and training for the facilities staff who will run the building.
Who coordinates final inspections?
Hayco does, as part of the contract. Authority inspections are sequenced against the schedule, including fire marshal review where rated assemblies or egress paths changed.
What happens after we occupy?
There is a warranty period with a point of contact for items that only emerge once the building is genuinely in use. Most of what would otherwise appear there is caught during commissioning.
Have a move-in date you cannot move?
Tell us the building, the systems and the date. A preconstruction lead will follow up on how turnover gets sequenced to protect it.
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