Project process
How We Work: Discovery Through Commissioning
Every Geek Engineering project follows the same seven-phase discipline: technical discovery, a written specification with agreed acceptance criteria, gated design reviews, visible build progress, factory acceptance testing, planned commissioning, and a documented handover. The phases scale down for small projects — they never disappear, because each one exists to prevent a specific, expensive failure mode.
Seven phases
The path from first call to supported system
- PHASE 1
Discovery & technical fit
Every engagement starts with a technical conversation, not a sales pitch. You describe the objective, equipment, constraints, and timeline; we ask the questions that determine feasibility and honest fit. If we are not the right team, we say so here.
What this phase produces
- Shared understanding of the objective
- Fit assessment, stated plainly
- Proposed first step with scope boundaries
- PHASE 2
Specification & proposal
Before significant engineering, the scope becomes a written document: what the system must do, what is excluded, what we need from you, and how acceptance will be demonstrated. The proposal prices that document — not a guess.
What this phase produces
- Functional specification or scoped statement of work
- Acceptance criteria agreed in advance
- Milestones, deliverables, and ownership terms
- PHASE 3
Engineering & design
Mechanical, electrical, controls, and software design proceed with the interfaces engineered together. Design reviews happen at defined gates with your team in the room, so direction changes cost review comments instead of rework.
What this phase produces
- Drawings, schematics, CAD models, and architecture documents
- Design review records and resolved actions
- Updated schedule and risk register when reality moves
- PHASE 4
Build, program & integrate
Panels are built, code is written, and subsystems come together — with fabrication placed at qualified shops under our drawings where physical build is in scope. Progress is visible: you see working software, wired panels, and test results, not status adjectives.
What this phase produces
- Built and wired hardware
- Programmed PLC, HMI, and application software
- Integration test evidence ahead of formal acceptance
- PHASE 5
Acceptance testing (FAT)
The system demonstrates its specification against a written test procedure — with your parts and your people witnessing where practical. Deviations become a punch list with severities and owners, resolved before shipment or deployment.
What this phase produces
- Executed FAT records
- Punch list with closure evidence
- Shipment/deployment readiness decision
- PHASE 6
Installation & commissioning
Onsite work is planned around your production calendar: pre-power checks, I/O verification, sequence testing, and a controlled ramp to rate. A site acceptance test re-verifies the essentials under real conditions.
What this phase produces
- Commissioned system at agreed performance
- SAT records
- Operator familiarization during ramp-up
- PHASE 7
Handover & support
Done means documented: as-built drawings, final code under version control, manuals, and training. Post-project support is scoped as its own agreement, so expectations are written rather than assumed.
What this phase produces
- As-built documentation package
- Training delivered to operators and maintenance
- Support terms agreed in writing
Stages and what closes each one
A phase is not finished because time has passed. Each one has a defined gate, agreed before the work starts.
| Stage | What happens | What closes it |
|---|---|---|
| Discovery & technical fit | A technical conversation that settles whether the work is feasible, what it actually involves, and whether we are the right team for it. | An agreed statement of the problem, what success means, and a plain answer on fit |
| Specification & proposal | Scope, exclusions and acceptance criteria are written down first, and the price follows that document. | Your approval of the specification, before programming or design starts |
| Engineering & design | The four disciplines are designed together, with reviews at fixed gates instead of surprises afterwards. | Resolved review actions and an issued design package |
| Build, program & integrate | Hardware is built and code is written against the specification, with progress you can watch and test rather than take on trust. | Internal test complete against the specification |
| Acceptance testing (FAT) | The system is proved against a written test procedure before it ships, and every deviation leaves with an owner. | Signed factory acceptance and an agreed punch list |
| Installation & commissioning | Site work is planned around production, then ramped under control rather than switched on and hoped for. | Equipment running to specification on site, with the site acceptance test signed |
| Handover & support | You finish holding the as-builts, the final code, the manuals, and a trained team. Anything ongoing is agreed separately and in writing. | You hold everything needed to operate and modify the system |
Last reviewed by Geek Engineering senior engineering review.
Why this shape
Each phase prevents a specific failure
Specifications prevent building the wrong thing. Design gates prevent expensive late reversals. FATs find problems where they are cheap. Staged commissioning bounds production risk. Documented handover prevents vendor lock-in — including to us. The process is not bureaucracy; it is accumulated scar tissue, applied in your favor.
- Acceptance criteria are agreed before the work, never negotiated after it
- You see evidence — drawings, code, test records — not status adjectives
- Changes are visible decisions with stated impact, not silent absorption
- Deliverables are yours, in native and unlocked form, per the agreement
- Small projects get scaled-down phases, not skipped ones
Process questions we hear most
Why do you insist on a specification before quoting fixed scope?
Because a quote without a specification prices a guess, and the gap between two people's guesses becomes change orders later. For genuinely exploratory work we use bounded time-and-materials phases instead — the discipline is matching the commercial model to the actual certainty, not pretending certainty exists.
Can you follow our company's project and documentation standards?
Yes. Where client standards exist — drawing formats, code structure, validation templates, management-of-change procedures — we work inside them. Where they do not, our own templates become a starting point you keep.
How do you handle changes mid-project?
Through a visible change process: the request is assessed for scope, schedule, and cost impact, you decide with that information, and the record survives the project. Small clarifications flow freely; genuine scope changes are never absorbed silently, because silent absorption is how projects end up late and disputed.
What do you need from our team during a project?
Three things predict smooth projects: a decision-maker who attends design reviews, timely access to equipment and information, and honest disclosure of constraints — including undocumented equipment realities. The proposal states your obligations explicitly so they can be planned, not discovered.
What happens if the scope changes mid-project?
Changes are recorded, priced and scheduled as changes rather than absorbed silently. The functional specification is the reference point: if a request falls outside it, that is stated, along with what it affects — cost, schedule, or both. Silent absorption of scope is how projects arrive late with nobody able to explain why.
Who writes the acceptance criteria?
They are drafted with the specification and agreed by both sides before build starts. Acceptance criteria written after a system is built tend to describe what the system does rather than what it was supposed to do, which is why the sequence matters more than the wording.
Continue your project research
Start with phase one
Discovery costs you a conversation. Describe the objective and constraints; a senior engineer will respond with questions and an honest fit assessment.
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