Free job simulation · Automation and controls

Commissioning engineer job simulation

A commissioning engineer job simulation lets you practise bringing a plant into service. You turn raw test results into pass, fail or invalid, run loop checks, test a safety stop that fails, sort a punch list and assemble the handover dossier for a simulated dairy skid. It runs in a virtual plant, so no hardware or site visit is needed. It is practice, not employment.

You join Ashdown Commissioning Ltd (simulated company), a commissioning contractor in Bristol. A working day takes 30 to 45 minutes. Days 1 to 5 are free, about 3 to 4 hours in all. Premium continues to day 20, about 12 to 15 hours. It is practice, not employment.

Days 1 to 5 are free. You need a free account and no card. Create an account. Or try the 3-minute demo (opens in a new tab), with no account.

Free: 5 days, 3 to 4 hours
A working day: 30 to 45 minutes
Project documents: 6
Certificate, optional: £14.99

Start free See Premium

Engineer in an orange hard hat and hi-vis vest pointing at a large machine shaft in a plant hall

The project

You join Ashdown Commissioning Ltd (simulated company)

Ashdown Commissioning Ltd (simulated company) is a commissioning contractor in Bristol. You help its team deliver a project for Fenwick Dairy Products Ltd, at Milk reception, balance tank skid U-1 (project MRS-300).

You are the junior commissioning engineer on a new milk balance tank skid. The electrical contractor says it is nearly finished. Your job is to prove it: insulation tests before anything is switched on, loop checks of every instrument, an I/O checkout, functional and site acceptance tests, and a punch list, with a hold point at each step where somebody must sign before the work goes on. Along the way somebody is working on a live panel without a permit, the client wants the pump started early, and an emergency stop test fails. The skill is to be calm, exact and impossible to hurry past a hold point.

What you will do

Turn raw test results into pass, fail or invalid with the right acceptance criteria
Run loop checks and read the pattern of errors to find the fault
Stop an unsafe act and refuse to start a plant with category A items open
Raise a management of change request instead of patching a live plant
Assemble a handover dossier a client's quality manager would accept

The people you deal with

Commissioning Leadcompany
Project Managercompany
Instrument Techniciancompany
Client Operations Managerclient
Client Safety Officerclient
Electrical Contractor Supervisorclient
Contractor Electricianclient
Control System Vendor Engineervendor

The company, client and site are fictional. The people are fictional too.

Look inside

What the simulator looks like

The workplace, your tickets, the documents and the team chat, as a learner sees them.

Start in the workplace, with the team around you.
Today: the morning email and your tickets for the day.
Work: every ticket, by day, with its status.
A ticket, written the way a colleague would write it.
A project document with its number, revision and status.
Ask a colleague. They are AI colleagues: they help you think, they do not hand out answers.

Screenshots from the simulator. Company, people and data are fictional. Portraits are AI-generated.

Meet the team

The colleagues you work with

You can read their messages and ask them questions. They are AI colleagues with AI-generated portraits, both clearly labelled. They help you think a ticket through; they do not hand out its answer.

KAKofi AsanteProject ManagerSimulated colleague, company side
SLSandra LockhartCommissioning LeadSimulated colleague, company side
RCRavi ChandranInstrument TechnicianSimulated colleague, company side
IBIdris BaigClient Safety OfficerSimulated colleague, client side
HCHilary CartwrightClient Operations ManagerSimulated colleague, client side
TGTommy GallagherElectrical Contractor SupervisorSimulated colleague, client side
DFDesmond FaganContractor ElectricianSimulated colleague, client side
GJGreta JankowskiControl System Vendor EngineerSimulated colleague, vendor

Fictional people. Portraits are AI-generated.

What you get

What you walk away with

Commission a dairy skid: pre-commissioning tests, loop checks, functional tests and a handover dossier.

Roles to look for

Commissioning Engineer
Commissioning Technician
C&I Commissioning Engineer
Field Service Engineer

1129 live openings on the UK jobs board, checked 28 Oct 2026. See the jobs

Your proof

Your work pack, as a PDF and a zip, with your documents, timesheet and skills before and after.
A certificate anyone can verify. Optional, and included in Premium.
An entry on your EDWartens profile under Work experience, marked as a job simulation.
A work record with your skill scores, with Premium.

Free courses that go with it

What you can talk about at interview

You can explain what a pre-commissioning check proves and how you record a pass, a fail or an invalid result.
You can describe how you loop check an analogue loop and what you write on the sheet.
In Premium, you can talk through a functional test, a management of change request and how you push back when the client wants to start early.

Day by day

Your 5 free days, and the project they build

Each working day takes 30 to 45 minutes: clock in, a morning meeting, your tickets, an end-of-day report, clock out. Do a day at a time or several in one sitting. On day 1 your manager checks what you know and plans your learning. Every ticket is checked, and you see the model answer after it.

Milk balance tank skid U-1 commissioning

For Fenwick Dairy Products Ltd (fictional)

Fenwick Dairy is adding a balance tank skid with a transfer pump, a control valve and three instruments to milk reception, and the electrical contractor says it is nearly finished. This project proves it: tests before energising, loop checks, I/O checkout, acceptance tests and a punch list, with every hold point signed before work goes on.

In scope for you

Turn insulation and loop test results into pass, fail or invalid
Stop unsafe work and refuse to start with category A items open
Check every I/O point and commission the pump starter and control valve
Raise a management of change request for the low-low interlock
Assemble the commissioning handover dossier

You hand over

Insulation resistance results with pass or failTest record
Loop check sheet for three analogue loopsLoop check sheet
Daily commissioning reportDaily report
I/O point-to-point checkout findingsI/O checkoutPremium
Management of change requestChange controlPremium
Categorised punch listPunch listPremium
Commissioning handover dossierHandover dossierPremium

Milestones in the free days

By day 2Commissioning plan reviewed and insulation results judgedMilk balance tank skid U-1 commissioning
By day 5Loop checks done, daily report written, pump starter commissionedMilk balance tank skid U-1 commissioning

Tickets, day by day

Day 1
2 tickets
- Site induction: permits, isolation and hold pointsQuiz
- Review the commissioning plan Rev 1Document review
Day 2
2 tickets
- Insulation resistance results: pass, fail or invalidTable
- Is the P-101 motor winding fit to run?Calculation
Day 3
2 tickets
- Loop check a level loop in the process labHand-in
- Loop check sheet for the three analogue loopsTable
Day 4
2 tickets
- Live work without a permitDecision
- Write today's daily commissioning reportWriting
Day 5
1 ticket
- Commission the transfer pump starterHand-in

On day 5 you clock out and your manager does a final review with you, and your work pack is ready: the free days, in about 3 to 4 hours.

Premium: days 6 to 20about 12 to 15 hours with the free days

After day 5 the project goes on with a change request, site work, faults, a handover and a capstone reviewed by an engineer. Your manager also checks in on days 5, 10 and 15, and the final review comes after day 20.

By day 10Transmitter calibrated, I/O checked out, change request raisedMilk balance tank skid U-1 commissioning
By day 15Emergency stop failure handled, site acceptance run, punch list categorisedMilk balance tank skid U-1 commissioning
By day 20Dossier checked and the handover note given to the Operations ManagerMilk balance tank skid U-1 commissioning

See the Premium plan

Day 6
1 ticket
- Calibrate a pressure transmitterHand-in
Day 7
1 ticket
- I/O checkout: what is wrong at each point?Table
Day 8
1 ticket
- Start the plant before the category A items are closed?Decision
Day 9
1 ticket
- Raise a management of change request for the low-low interlockWriting
Day 10
1 ticket
- Stroke the control valve and set the controller actionHand-in
Day 11
1 ticket
- Hand, Off, Auto and floats without bypassing the E-stopHand-in
Day 12
1 ticket
- The emergency stop runs on for four secondsDecision
Day 13
1 ticket
- Site acceptance test and two hidden faultsHand-in
Day 14
1 ticket
- Categorise the punch listTable
Day 15
1 ticket
- Re-plan after the crane delay and the vendor leaveWriting
Day 16
1 ticket
- Check the draft handover dossier indexDocument review
Day 17
1 ticket
- Check the first pump run readingsCalculation
Day 18
1 ticket
- Capstone: the commissioning handover dossierHand-in
Day 19
1 ticket
- Handover note to the Operations ManagerWriting
Day 20
1 ticket
- A conversation about your own workViva

Your workplace

Where you work, and with what

You work in a process plant with a control room: Fenwick Dairy Products (simulated company), Milk reception and balance tank skid U-1. It is a 3D room with your colleagues in it.

Hours and rhythm

Days, 07:30 to 16:00, Monday to Friday (simulated)

07:30 site briefing with the client's safety officer
07:45 permits checked and signed at the permit board
12:30 progress check with Sandra
15:30 daily report and record sheets written up

You clock in and out of every day. The simulated clock runs faster between events, so a day takes 30 to 45 minutes of real time.

Machines and equipment

Real lab machines stand in the workplace, and the hands-on tickets point to the matching EDWartens Lab exercise. In the UK edition you do the lab exercise yourself, tick a checklist and hand in your notes and figures. It is a self-review hand-in. The lab does not mark you or send us a result.

The lab exercises for this role are listed under Prepare, further down.

Systems and kit

Commissioning ticket tracker (simulated). Each job is a ticket such as MRS-112. You do the work, attach the evidence and hand it in; Sandra reviews it against the plan.

PPE on site: Safety boots, Hi-vis vest, Hairnet and beard snood in production areas, Safety glasses, Insulated gloves for live testing, where a permit allows it.

The 3D workplace of the simulated company in the Commissioning Engineer job simulation — The simulated workplace you walk around. The company and the people are fictional.

Skills checked

The skills your manager checks

On day 1 you rate yourself on about eight skills for the role, from never done it to could teach it. Your manager then asks two short "show me" questions on the skills you rated highest. The same skills are rated again at the final review, so you see a before and after.

Commissioning
Written communication
Safety and safe systems of work
Testing and acceptance
Handover and documentation
Loop checks and I/O checkout
Fault finding
Document and revision control

A "How to do this" panel opens on tickets that use a skill you rated low. Where you have shown you know a skill, the help stays folded away, and you can open it any time.

Real documents

The documents you will work with

Each one has a title block with a number, a revision, a status and who prepared, checked and approved it, the way a project document does. You read them, check them and write your own, and what you hand in becomes a controlled document too. Everything is kept in your work pack.

MRS300-PTW-001
Site rules, permit to work and hold points
Rev 2Site rules
MRS300-INS-001
Instrument index and equipment list, skid U-1
Rev 2Instrument index
MRS300-PRE-001
Pre-commissioning checks and acceptance criteria
Rev 1Pre-commissioning checklist
MRS300-COM-PLN-001
Commissioning plan and procedure
Rev 1Commissioning plan
MRS300-LCS-001
Loop check sheet template and acceptance rule
Rev 1Loop check sheet
MRS300-LOG-004
Raw site notes, day 4
Rev 1Shift log

Documents that arrive in Premiumchange requests, records, handover

MRS300-IOC-001
I/O point-to-point test record, day 7
Rev AI/O checkoutPremium
MRS300-FTS-001
Functional test procedure and record
Rev AFunctional testPremium
MRS300-MOC-001
Management of change form and rules
Rev AMOCPremium
MRS300-FTS-001
Functional test procedure and record, after MOC-01
Rev BFunctional testPremium
MRS300-SCH-001
Remaining activities and resources
Rev 2SchedulePremium
MRS300-PCH-001
Punch list, raw findings
Rev APunch listPremium
MRS300-HOV-002
Handover dossier index, draft
Rev ADossier indexPremium
MRS300-HOV-001
Handover requirements (taking over)
Rev AHandover indexPremium

Tools

In the industry, and here

Tools in the industry and what you use here
In the industry	Here
Insulation tester, multimeter, loop calibrator	EDWartens Lab's process and panel exercises, with injected signals, meters and a calibrator
Loop check sheets, punch list, daily report in spreadsheets	Tables and documents you fill in and have checked
Permit to work and lock-out records	Site rules, hold points and permit register as documents
Completion dossier in a document system	A pack you assemble and upload for review

Standards

The standards the work follows

BS 7671 / IEC 60364-6
BS EN 60204-1 / IEC 60204-1
ISA-5.1
Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 (safe work practice)

In the UK

The Commissioning Engineer role in a UK setting

Who employs this kind of engineer: Commissioning contractors, systems integrators and the water, food and drink and process companies whose plants they bring into service.

Where: Industrial regions such as the North West, Yorkshire, the Midlands, Scotland and the South West have many projects of this kind, and commissioning work often involves travel to site. This is context, not a statement about vacancies.

UK standards and regulations to know about

BS 7671 (Part 6) and IEC 60364-6
Inspection and testing of electrical installations, including insulation resistance and continuity.
BS EN 60204-1
Electrical equipment of machines.
Electricity at Work Regulations 1989
The law on safe work with electrical systems. HSE guidance HSG85 explains safe working practices.
Permit to work (HSE HSG250)
HSE guidance on permit-to-work systems for hazardous work, including isolations and hold points.
CDM 2015
The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations: duties for clients, designers and contractors on construction work, including handover information.

Schemes to be aware of

ECS card (Electrotechnical Certification Scheme)
The industry card that many UK electrotechnical employers and sites ask to see. It is linked to qualifications and a health and safety assessment. EDWartens does not issue it, and this simulation does not lead to it.

These are named so that you recognise them. A job simulation does not teach them as a qualification, the tasks use simplified data, and you should always read the current edition of anything you rely on.

Your proof, optional

A certificate you can verify

The free days are free. The graded, verifiable certificate is an optional extra, and it is included in Premium.

A graded, verifiable certificate with your score and band
A public verification page and QR code
One-click add to LinkedIn as a licence or certification
Issued by WARTENS LTD. It is a training certificate, not an accredited qualification, and the company is simulated

Optional: £14.99 including VAT, once you pass.

Job simulation certificate: how it works

Sample

Job Simulation Certificate

Your name

completed the Commissioning Engineer job simulation at Ashdown Commissioning Ltd (simulated company). Your score and band are shown on the real certificate.

Number: EDW-JS-0000
Issued by: WARTENS LTD

Not an accredited qualification. A verification page and QR code are printed on the real certificate.

Premium

Want the full project, reviewed by an engineer?

Premium runs to day 20, about 12 to 15 hours in all, and includes the graded certificate. Your free days carry over, and nothing you did is lost.

£53.99 including VAT, one payment. If you have bought the certificate, you pay £39.00.

See Premium Compare Free and Premium

Working days 6 to 20 (about 12 to 15 hours in all): change requests, site work, faults and handover
A capstone deliverable reviewed by an engineer
An AI viva on your own work
The graded certificate and a work record PDF with your skill scores

Prepare

Free courses and labs that get you ready

Linked from the tickets that need them. You can read them before you start.

Free courses

EDWartens Lab guides

The hands-on tickets point to these lab exercises. You do the exercise, tick the checklist and hand in your notes and figures. In the UK edition that is a self-review, and nothing is marked as passed on the lab's say-so.

A course that goes with this role

Professional Module

A paid course in PLC, HMI and WinCC SCADA programming with Siemens TIA Portal, taught live online by an instructor. It is a separate product: you do not need it to finish the job simulation, and it does not lead to a job. Its certificate is a certificate of completion, not a regulated qualification.

Price: £2,568 including VAT (£2,140 + VAT)
Format: Live online, five days, with self-paced modules after

See the Professional Module

About the Commissioning Engineer role

FAT, SAT and the loop check: three tests in one table

These tests are often confused, and a commissioning engineer is expected to keep them apart.

Factory acceptance test (FAT): done at the supplier's works against the agreed specification, before the equipment ships.
Site acceptance test (SAT): done after installation, on the customer's site, to show the installed system meets the specification.
Loop check: proves that one instrument, its wiring, the I/O channel and the control system tag all agree, for example a transmitter range reading correctly on the operator screen.

A commissioning day, ticket by ticket

The free days follow the order a real job does. You start with site induction, permits and hold points, review the commissioning plan, judge insulation resistance results, loop check three analogue loops and commission a transfer pump starter in the lab.

Along the way you write the daily commissioning report, which is the document a client reads first. Premium days continue with transmitter calibration, an I/O checkout where every point has a different fault, a site acceptance test with hidden faults and the categorised punch list.

Sign-off sheets, punch lists and the dossier

Commissioning produces evidence. The simulation gives you a loop check sheet template with its acceptance rule, a raw site notes page that you have to turn into a report, and a punch list of raw findings that you must categorise.

You also review a draft handover dossier index against the project records. The point of each task is the same: records that a client's quality manager would accept, with failures shown honestly rather than tidied away.

Each document is a small lesson in tone: plain, dated and signed off, so that a stranger can trust it.

Reading the pack: P&ID, loop diagram and I/O list

Before any test you need to read the documents that define it. The pack includes an instrument index, pre-commissioning checks with acceptance criteria and a management of change form.

ISA-5.1 gives the instrument tag names you will see on drawings, and IEC 60364-6 and IEC 60204-1 sit behind the electrical checks. The simulation also asks you to refuse to start a plant while category A items are open, and to raise a change request instead of patching a live plant.

Where commissioning leads

Commissioning engineers move towards project engineering, controls leadership, or specialist work such as safety systems and instrumentation. Learn next whatever your first project exposes: loop calibration, motor control and permit systems are the common gaps.

The related roles on this page, instrumentation and SCADA, are the two disciplines you will test most often.

Keep your own record of the faults you met and how each was found. Interviewers for commissioning roles often ask for a story about a test that failed, and the daily reports in this simulation give you several to tell.

Keep going

Related job simulations and courses

Content reviewed 19 Oct 2026; the working-day description updated 24 Oct 2026. Practice, not employment.

Questions

Quick answers

What does a commissioning engineer do?

Job advertisements describe leading or witnessing pre-FAT, FAT and SAT, functional testing, loop checks, I/O checkout, communications checks and sequence validation, and closing a punch list. The simulation turns each of those duties into a task.

What is the difference between FAT and SAT?

A factory acceptance test is done at the supplier's site before shipment. A site acceptance test is done after installation on the customer's site, against the agreed specification.

What is a loop check?

A test that confirms a field instrument or device, its wiring, the I/O channel and the control system tag all agree. For example, a transmitter's range shows correctly on the operator screen.

What is a punch list?

A list of outstanding defects and missing items that must be fixed before handover, usually ranked by importance. In the simulation you categorise the raw findings and decide which items stop the start-up.

How do I become a commissioning engineer with no experience?

Advertisements typically ask for an electrical, instrumentation or related degree or diploma. Show that you can read P&IDs and schematics and run test records. A practice plant with loop checks and a punch list is a practical start.

What documents does a commissioning engineer use?

P&IDs, electrical schematics, a control philosophy, I/O lists, loop diagrams, test procedures and sign-off sheets. The simulation supplies a pack of these for the dairy skid.

Can commissioning be done remotely?

Parts can, such as virtual factory tests and remote I/O checks. Site safety checks and final witness tests normally need people on site, so a simulation shows method and records, not site experience.

Is commissioning travel-heavy?

It is often site-based and project-driven, but patterns vary by employer, so check each advertisement. The simulation does not assume any travel.

Do I need site experience first?

No. The simulation teaches the order of work, the paperwork and the safety rules as you go. Some electrical knowledge helps.

Is the dairy or the contractor real?

No. Ashdown Commissioning and Fenwick Dairy are made-up companies and the project is simulated. The tests, forms and situations follow what a junior commissioning engineer meets.

How long does it take?

The free week is about ten hours over five days. The full Premium edition runs over twenty working days and about thirty to forty hours, at your own pace.

Which equipment brands does it use?

None. The content is vendor-neutral, so it applies to any plant that follows the same standards.

What do I get at the end?

A work record with scores by task and skill, which shows on your EDWartens profile under Work experience, marked as a job simulation.

Is the Commissioning Engineer job simulation free?

Yes, to start. Days 1 to 5 are free. The certificate (£14.99) and the Premium edition (£53.99) are optional, and both prices include VAT.

Does it count as work experience?

No. It is a training project at a simulated company, not employment, an internship or a placement. A job simulation is a realistic training project at a simulated company. It is not employment, an internship or a work placement, and it is not a job offer. Hours are active hours the learner logged on EDWartens UK.

A job simulation is a realistic training project at a simulated company. It is not employment, an internship or a work placement, and it is not a job offer. Hours are active hours the learner logged on EDWartens UK.

Start the Commissioning Engineer job simulation today

Days 1 to 5 are free, about 3 to 4 hours. No card to start. Practice, not employment.

Start free See Premium

A corner of the simulated workplace in the Commissioning Engineer job simulation

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Commissioning engineer job simulation

You join Ashdown Commissioning Ltd (simulated company)

What you will do

The people you deal with

What the simulator looks like

The colleagues you work with

What you walk away with

Roles to look for

Your proof

Free courses that go with it

What you can talk about at interview

Your 5 free days, and the project they build

Milk balance tank skid U-1 commissioning

In scope for you

You hand over

Milestones in the free days

Tickets, day by day

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Day 6

Day 7

Day 8

Day 9

Day 10

Day 11

Day 12

Day 13

Day 14

Day 15

Day 16

Day 17

Day 18

Day 19

Day 20