Equipment Commissioning Checklist for Australian Dealers

Technician tests a tractor during commissioning

An equipment commissioning checklist is the signed record that a machine was installed correctly, tested against its specification and shown to be safe before anyone put it to work. In Australia that means working through site readiness, installation checks, safety function tests, performance verification and a formal handover, and keeping the evidence. This guide gives you that checklist in the order your team will use it, then shows where AI inside a dealer management system (DMS) or ERP can take the paperwork off your technicians.

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TL;DR

Commissioning is a safety gate, not a startup demo: Safe Work Australia’s code of practice expects plant to be shown safe before it is energised or released for use.
Work in stages: site readiness, pre-commissioning, energised testing, process or wet testing where relevant, performance testing, then handover.
Every test line needs the condition, the expected response, the actual response and a pass or fail, signed by a competent person.
Faults get documented and closed, or formally accepted by the right authority, before handover.
An ERP with AI built in can pre-fill, chase and file this evidence, so the checklist becomes a by-product of the job and not an extra task.

What commissioning covers and when it happens
Stage 1: Site readiness before the machine ships
Stage 2: Installation and pre-commissioning checks
Stage 3: Safety function tests
Stage 4: Functional and performance testing
What to do when a test fails
Stage 5: Handover, training and records
A commissioning checklist you can copy
Where AI in your DMS or ERP fits
From checklist to asset record
Start with the module you need
FAQ
Sources

What commissioning covers and when it happens

Commissioning is the set of adjustments, inspections and tests needed to establish that plant is safe, complete, functional and performing to its specified requirements. For new or relocated equipment it starts after installation is complete and verified. Recommissioning, for example after a machine moves to a new site or is substantially altered, is included, and the University of Wollongong’s plant commissioning procedure applies the same structured verification to relocated plant as to new installations.

For a dealership, this usually lands in one of three places:

New machine sales. You deliver, set up and commission before the customer takes responsibility for it.
Rental fleet additions. Each new unit is commissioned before it earns revenue.
Relocations and rebuilds. A used or reworked machine goes back into service at a new site.

Who owns the checklist matters. Under model WHS Regulation 204, a person with management or control of plant must not commission it unless, so far as reasonably practicable, it is without health and safety risks. The regulation text also requires the person commissioning to be competent, to receive available risk information, and the process to include inspections. State and territory WHS laws apply where adopted, so confirm the wording in your jurisdiction.

Stage 1: Site readiness before the machine ships

Most failed commissioning jobs fail before the truck leaves. Clear these blockers first.

Delivery and placement

Delivery route, gate and door widths, turns, lifts and the unloading plan.
Floor or slab capacity, installation footprint and working clearances.
Foundations, anchoring requirements and removal of any old equipment.

Services and conditions

Electrical supply, hydraulic, pneumatic, water and drainage connections matched to the manufacturer’s requirements.
Environmental conditions such as temperature, ventilation and dust.
Permits, site induction rules, required trades, site contacts and timing.

Equipment identity on arrival

Model, serial number and purchase order match the paperwork.
Accessories, spares, manuals, certificates and safety data sheets are present.
Transport damage is inspected and any discrepancy is recorded and reported to the supplier straight away.

This is where build order and commissioning workflows earn their keep: the serial number, options fitted and customer details should travel once from the sales order to the checklist, not be retyped by whoever is on site.

Stage 2: Installation and pre-commissioning checks

Pre-commissioning happens before the machine has power or a test medium. Its purpose is to confirm that installation is complete, safe, accessible, documented and free of safety-critical defects. Sydney Water’s commissioning specification uses readiness and pre-commissioning hold points for exactly this reason, and the idea carries over to equipment dealing.

According to Safe Work Australia’s plant guidance, your checks should cover:

Installation against drawings and the manufacturer’s instructions.
Foundations, level, alignment and fasteners.
Guards, labels and signage in place.
Electrical connections, earthing and isolators.
Required utilities connected and matching the equipment’s requirements.

Before starting, confirm the latest installation instructions are in hand, the right parts and tools are on site, test instruments are in calibration, the risk assessment is understood, permits are active and isolation or lockout arrangements are defined.

Installers should follow the manufacturer’s instructions and relevant Australian Standards, such as AS/NZS 3000 for electrical installations, and notify the relevant parties if they find new risks during installation, as Safe Work Australia’s equipment hazards guidance explains.

Hydraulic machinery

Much dealer equipment is hydraulic. SafeWork NSW advises that testing and commissioning be done by a competent hydraulics person where practicable, using the manufacturer-specified fluid and settings. Relief valves should be checked, and people kept clear of high-pressure injection and gravity hazards. Put a named competent person on that line of the checklist, not just a tick box.

Stage 3: Safety function tests

Safety validation comes before performance testing. Test each of these and record the result:

Emergency stops, from every station.
Interlocks and guarding.
Light curtains, where fitted.
Alarms and automatic shutdowns.
Any equipment-specific controls named in the manufacturer’s documentation.

Standards depend on the machine. Safe Work Australia’s code points to AS/NZS 4024 for machinery safety, AS/NZS 4024.3610 for conveyors and applicable pressure-equipment standards, and recommends specialist guidance for hydraulics, pressure, gas, electrical and hazardous-area work. Name the standard on the checklist line so the technician knows what a pass looks like.

Stage 4: Functional and performance testing

The sequence in the Safe Work Australia code runs from cold checks to energised tests, wet or process tests where they apply, then integrated site acceptance and performance testing against the design and acceptance criteria. Sydney Water’s specification separates these cleanly:

Stage	What it means	Example for a dealer
Pre-commissioning	Checks with no power or test medium	Alignment, fasteners, guards, connections
Dry commissioning	Tests with energy applied	Controls, interlocks, e-stops, rotation
Wet commissioning	Tests with a test medium	Hydraulic or coolant circuits on test fluid
Process commissioning	Tests with the real process fluid or load	Working cycle under representative load
Site acceptance test	Performance against acceptance criteria	Output, throughput and quality verified

Test every relevant operating mode and protective function. For each line, record:

The test condition.
The expected response.
The actual response.
Measurements such as current, temperature, vibration, accuracy, throughput or quality.
Pass or fail, with a signature.

A line that only says “tested OK” is not evidence. A line with a reading, a condition and a name is.

What to do when a test fails

Document the issue and resolve it, or obtain formal acceptance from the appropriate approval authority, before handover. The University of Wollongong procedure is clear that sign-off and formal authorisation come before operational use.

A simple defect rule works well. Sydney Water’s specification lets work progress only where there are no Category A defects, meaning those affecting safety, compliance, operation, maintainability or performance verification. Category B defects need an agreed rectification action and acceptance. Adopt the same split in your own checklist:

Stop items: anything touching safety or function blocks handover until fixed and retested.
Agreed items: cosmetic or minor items go on a punch list with an owner and a date, accepted in writing by the customer.

Stage 5: Handover, training and records

Strong handovers are operational transfers, not document dumps. Safe Work Australia says workers must receive the information, training, instruction or supervision needed to protect them before plant is used, and that people installing, commissioning, testing or maintaining plant must receive relevant hazard and risk information.

Your handover pack should include:

Test and verification results with signatures.
Operating manuals, user guides and troubleshooting guides.
Maintenance requirements, service instructions and the first service schedule.
Spares lists, calibration evidence and drawings.
Training records for the operators and maintainers who received instruction.
Defect closure evidence and the final commissioning sign-off.

The Wollongong procedure requires the responsible lead and the relevant management representative to approve commissioning and formally authorise operational use. Treat readiness, pre-commissioning, operational readiness and handover as separate approvals, not one checklist ticked at the end.

How long to keep records

For plant requiring design or item registration, Safe Work Australia says records of tests, inspections, maintenance, commissioning, decommissioning, dismantling and alterations must be kept for as long as the plant is used, or until control is relinquished. Check with your state regulator whether a given machine falls into that category. Either way, store commissioning records against the asset’s serial number, so the evidence is still findable years later.

If you also run field service crews, the same discipline applies to the job closing step. A job handover checklist for field service teams shows how a consistent close-out protects both the technician and the customer.

How long to keep records

A commissioning checklist you can copy

Use this as a skeleton and add the manufacturer’s own requirements.

Readiness: route, access, floor capacity, clearances, services, permits and site contacts confirmed.
Receipt: serial number, model, accessories, manuals, certificates and SDS verified. Transport damage inspected.
Installation: foundations, level, alignment, fasteners, guards, labels, earthing, isolators and utilities checked against drawings.
Preparation: instructions on hand, instruments in calibration, risk assessment understood, isolation defined.
Pre-commissioning sign-off: competent person signs that installation is complete and safe to energise.
Safety tests: e-stops, interlocks, guarding, light curtains, alarms and shutdowns passed.
Functional tests: all operating modes and controls tested, readings recorded.
Performance test: output, throughput and quality verified against acceptance criteria.
Defects: stop items closed, agreed items listed and accepted.
Handover: operator training, documents, spares, sign-off and authorisation for use.

Where AI in your DMS or ERP fits

The weak point of every commissioning checklist is not the content. It is the follow-through: forms filled in later from memory, photos in a technician’s phone, serial numbers retyped, and sign-offs that never reach the asset record. This is where AI inside a DMS or ERP is useful, provided it sits inside the system that already holds the sale, the serial number and the work order.

When you assess any AI layer for commissioning work, ask whether it can:

Pre-fill from existing records. Customer, machine, options and serial number come from the sales order, not from a technician’s typing.
Flag gaps before sign-off. A missing reading, an unsigned stop item or an absent training record is surfaced while the crew is still on site.
Summarise results for handover. A clean pack for the customer, built from what was actually recorded.
Answer questions across modules. A service manager can ask about a unit’s commissioning history, parts used and warranty position without opening four screens.

The reason to prefer AI that is part of the ERP is simple: it works on the same data as your service, parts, rental and warranty teams. Our approach is described on the MDMS AI page, where AI is built into the ERP, not bolted on. AI output still needs a competent person to review it. The signature on a commissioning record belongs to a human who ran the test.

Our view: commissioning data should travel once

We build MDMS for equipment dealers, and we see the same pattern in the dealerships we speak with. The machine is sold in one system, built up in another, commissioned on paper and warranted in a spreadsheet. Every handoff retypes the serial number, and every retype is a chance for the record to drift from the machine.

Our position is that data should travel once. The commissioning checklist should be created from the build order, completed on an offline-capable mobile app at the site, and filed against the asset without anyone re-keying it. Service history, rental history and warranty claims then sit on the same record.

That is also why we put AI inside the ERP. Our AI is designed to work on the records your team already keeps, so checking, summarising and chasing sign-offs becomes part of the workflow and not a separate tool. You keep full ownership of your data throughout, with no lock-in.

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From checklist to asset record

A commissioning record is the first entry in a machine’s lifecycle. Connect it to what comes next:

Service: the first service schedule and parts list flow into workshop service and work orders.
Rental: a commissioned unit can enter the fleet with its inspection history, and our guide to a rental inspection checklist covers the return side of the same discipline.
Field work: technicians can capture timestamps and photos on the job, as described in our piece on field service checklists.
Lifecycle: the full history stays with the machine through equipment asset lifecycle software, including relocation and recommissioning.

Before a commissioning visit, a parts check before dispatch helps make sure the right fittings, fluids and consumables are on the truck, so the job does not stall halfway through.

Start with the module you need

MDMS is modular, so you can begin with the pain that costs you most. The Equipment module is $59 per month, as are Service Workshop, Field Service, Rental and the other department modules on the pricing page. A Data upload service is $259 one-off per module and a Training package is $499 one-off per module. MDMS AI is $449 per month, plus $29 per month per AI-enabled user seat. All prices are in Australian dollars as published on our site, and contracts roll monthly.

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If you want to see how a commissioning checklist can run from build order to handover in one system, explore MDMS and its AI and start a free trial.

FAQ

What is the difference between installation and commissioning?

Installation is putting the equipment in place and connecting it. Commissioning is proving it works safely and to specification: inspections, adjustments and tests, followed by sign-off. Commissioning should start only after installation is complete and verified.

Who is allowed to commission equipment in Australia?

Model WHS Regulation 204 requires the person commissioning plant to be competent and to receive available risk information. Specialist work such as hydraulics, pressure, gas, electrical or hazardous areas calls for a suitably qualified person. Check your state or territory’s WHS regulation and the manufacturer’s requirements.

Do I need a different checklist for every machine?

Use one master structure, from readiness through handover, and add the manufacturer’s requirements and the relevant Australian Standards for each machine type. A conveyor, a hydraulic attachment and a workshop press share the same stages but differ in their test lines and acceptance criteria.

How can AI help with a commissioning checklist?

AI inside a DMS or ERP can pre-fill machine details from the sales order, flag missing readings or unsigned items, and assemble the handover pack from recorded results. A competent person still performs the tests and signs the record.

Equipment Commissioning Checklist for Australian Dealers