Cold Storage Project Governance Checklist

Project register and responsibilities

For each item record an owner, status/notes and date. Retain unresolved actions; checklist completion is not a site or project approval.

• Record project, site/location, budget envelope, preparer, date and target commissioning date from the cover sheet.
• Keep one version-controlled directory for URS, drawings, RFQs and minutes.
• Maintain a decision log: what, who, date and rationale.
• Define change control before contract award, escalation and steering-committee cadence.

User requirements document (URS)

Source section 3 records scope for qualified design and comparable responses.

• List chambers with setpoint, tolerance and internal volume.
• Record pallet positions, racked/floor arrangements, aisles and material-handling compatibility.
• Define loading docks, levellers, air-locks and dock shelters.
• Obtain refrigeration duty in kW per chamber with a qualified load breakdown.
• Document N, N+1 or 2N redundancy choices by critical system; these are options, not prescribed requirements.
• Define BMS, alarms, remote access, audit trails, data ownership and controls openness.

Refrigeration architecture decisions

Source section 4 requests documented decisions, not universal technology recommendations.

• Record NH₃, CO₂, HFO and HFC evaluation against project and local constraints.
• Document central, distributed, cascade or transcritical CO₂ topology decisions.
• Define hot-gas, electric or water defrost per evaporator group where appropriate.
• Assess domestic-hot-water, subfloor-heating or office-HVAC heat recovery.
• Record floating-head-pressure and variable-frequency-drive strategy.
• Check regional spares and service evidence for selected refrigerants/equipment.

Procurement strategy and RFQ pack

Source section 7 proposes at least three qualified independent suppliers per lot. This is a bid-planning target, not a ColdMatch supplier-count or response guarantee. The team reviews the brief, contacts suitable suppliers on the buyer's behalf and presents organised responses.

• Agree lots and single-EPC versus multi-package boundaries.
• Set technical, commercial and lifecycle evaluation weights before RFQ issue.
• Record shortlist criteria and evidence without assuming a fixed number of respondents.
• Draft warranty, delay/liquidated-damages, spares, training and uptime service-level terms for professional review.
• Schedule clarifications and appoint a single point of contact.

Delivery, commissioning and handover

Source section 9 requests acceptance evidence and follow-up, not guaranteed delivery or performance.

• Maintain the critical-path schedule for civil, refrigeration, controls and commissioning interfaces.
• Agree factory acceptance tests and site acceptance/pull-down protocols.
• Include the loaded/unloaded mapping plan agreed with the quality lead; see the regulatory checklist for applicability.
• Retain as-built documents, operation/maintenance manuals, spares lists and training logs.
• Schedule the source's 12-month energy/uptime review; it is a review milestone, not a performance promise.

Sign-off register

Page 5 records role, name, signature and date for the sponsor, project manager, lead refrigeration engineer, procurement lead and quality/compliance lead (pharma or food). Preserve these fields. Signatures do not replace permits, engineering approval or legal review.