And Now the Time Is Near… Project Closure: The Forgotten Finale

The last weld is inspected. The system is commissioned. The plant hums to life. The project team moves on. And somewhere, months later, the “as-built” documentation trickles in.

This is the reality of project closure in capital-intensive industries. It’s not a clean finish. It’s a slow fade. And in that fade, vital information is lost.

 

 As-Built Files: Late, Light, and Lacking

By the time the general mechanical contractor delivers the final documentation, the project is already in operation. The team that built it? Long gone. The team that runs it? Often unaware of what’s missing.

And what’s missing is more than just equipment manuals. It’s the full technical backbone of the asset:

• Specification sheets
• Design calculations
• Relief scenarios
• Control narratives
• Commissioning reports
• Warranty conditions

These aren’t just nice-to-haves. They’re essential for safe, efficient, and compliant operations. Yet 10 years down the line, try finding the relief valve sizing basis or the original heat exchanger spec. It’s like chasing ghosts. As-built documentation is critical for long-term maintenance and compliance, as highlighted in this guide from BusinessesHubs.

 

The “Well Maintenance File” Is a Myth Without Closure

Operations and maintenance teams need a single source of truth. But too often, they inherit a patchwork of PDFs, spreadsheets, and tribal knowledge. The “well maintenance file”, the one that should contain everything, is either incomplete or nonexistent.

This leads to:

• Reactive maintenance
• Costly troubleshooting
• Compliance risks
• Redundant engineering work

And it’s all preventable. Asset integrity depends on capturing and preserving technical decisions, as emphasized in GPA Canada's Asset Integrity presentation.

 

Closure Is a Discipline, Not a Deadline

We must treat project closure as a formal phase, not an afterthought. That means:

• Assigning dedicated resources for documentation validation
• Ensuring full scope: not just equipment, but engineering intent
• Digitizing and integrating into CMMS and asset platforms
• Hosting structured handover sessions with O&M teams
• Creating searchable, durable repositories—not just folders on someone’s desktop

Best practices for project closeout are well-documented, such as in AIA’s construction contract closeout guide and ProjectManager’s closure checklist.

 

When Should Closure Begin? At the Beginning.

Closure isn’t something you “do at the end.” It must be scheduled from day one. The same way we plan for procurement, commissioning, and startup, we must plan for closure. That means:

• Including closure milestones in the project schedule
• Budgeting time and resources for documentation and handover
• Defining ownership: who collects, who validates, who delivers
• Aligning with operations early to understand what they need

If closure isn’t planned up front, it becomes a scramble. And when it’s a scramble, things fall through the cracks.

 

Where Does the Information Go?

Not into a USB stick. Not buried in a SharePoint folder. It must go into systems that operations actually use:

• CMMS (Computerized Maintenance Management Systems)
• BIM (Building Information Modeling) platforms
• Asset performance dashboards
• Document control systems with long-term retention

The goal is not just to store information but to make it accessible, searchable, and usable for the next 20 years.

 

AN real life example Refinery Expansion Project – Lost Relief Scenarios and Costly Rework

A major refinery in North America underwent a multi-year expansion to increase throughput and integrate new desulfurization units. The project was technically successful, commissioning went smoothly, and production targets were met. But the closure phase? Practically nonexistent.

 What Went Wrong

• The as-built documentation was delivered six months after startup and only included equipment manuals and P&IDs.
• Relief valve sizing calculations and scenario documentation were never transferred to the operations team.
• Control narratives were stored in a contractor’s private folder and never migrated to the plant’s document control system.
• The specification sheets for critical rotating equipment were missing, making it impossible to validate spare parts or maintenance intervals.

Years later, during a turnaround, the plant needed to verify relief loads for a new flare header tie-in. But the original basis for the relief scenarios was nowhere to be found. Engineers had to reverse-engineer the entire system, costing weeks of effort and delaying the turnaround schedule.

 The Cost of Neglect

• $2.5 million in engineering rework
• 3-week delay in turnaround completion
• Lost production valued at $8 million
• Regulatory scrutiny due to incomplete safety documentation

This wasn’t a failure of design or construction—it was a failure of transition. The project team had moved on, and no one was assigned to validate and integrate the final documentation. Closure was treated as a formality, not a deliverable.

Lessons Learned

This case underscores the need to:

• Schedule closure activities from day one, not after commissioning
• Assign dedicated resources for documentation validation and handover
• Include engineering intent—not just drawings—in the final package
• Ensure integration into CMMS, DCS, and document control systems
• Host formal handover sessions with operations and reliability teams

Closure isn’t just about wrapping up. It’s about ensuring continuity, safety, and long-term performance. Without it, even world-class projects can become operational headaches.

 

Let’s Close the Gap

Project closure is the bridge between construction and operation. If we don’t build it properly, we leave future teams stranded. Let’s stop treating it as a formality. Let’s make it a milestone worth executing with precision.

Because the end of a project isn’t the end of its story. It’s the beginning of its legacy.

#ProjectClosure #EngineeringLifecycle #AssetIntegrity #MaintenanceMatters #AsBuiltDrawings #ReliefScenarios #TriplePointEngineering #dickverhoeven