Handover protocols register each contractor's equipment as commissioned once its isolated test log clears the PMO gate. Those logs never capture pressure, flow or signal mismatches that only appear when two packages operate against the same utility header.
PMO systems treat every clearance as an independent milestone. The next progress payment releases without requiring a joint interface verification run between the mechanical and electrical packages.
Commissioning teams later discover the drift during live ramp-up. The mechanical contractor's set points no longer match the electrical protection relays because each side calibrated against its own reference model.
Multi-contractor truth surfaces only after the defects liability period begins. Rectification then falls outside the original package budgets and requires fresh variation orders.
Australian capital programs already carry enough schedule pressure without adding post-handover reconciliation as a hidden line item. Yet every month the same pattern repeats on rail, water and energy projects.
The fix is not more dashboards. It is a mandatory joint interface test that must complete before any single package can claim final sign-off in the PMO.
Until that gate exists, commissioning remains a series of independent performances rather than a single verified operating state.