FAT/SAT
A FAT (Factory Acceptance Test) is the test in which the customer accepts the equipment at the supplier's premises before shipping. A SAT (Site Acceptance Test) is the test after installation, where the equipment is tried in its real environment.
Also known as: FAT, SAT, Factory Acceptance Test, Site Acceptance Test, acceptance testing
The FAT takes place in the supplier's workshop, following a test procedure agreed with the customer in advance, often with the customer's representative and sometimes a third party or classification society present. The equipment is tested against the specification: function, safety functions, dimensions, pressure or load. Deviations go on a punch list that is closed before or after shipping, as agreed. The SAT happens once the equipment is installed and connected to the rest of the plant, and shows that it works with the customer's systems under real conditions. Both end in a signed protocol that becomes part of the delivery documentation. Anything changed between FAT and SAT must also go into the as-built documentation.
Example
An automation supplier runs the FAT on a control cabinet in its own workshop with the customer present, goes through the I/O list point by point and signs the protocol. After installation the SAT is run against the customer's plant, and the changes made during commissioning are entered in the as-built drawings.
Related terms
- As-built documentation — As-built documentation shows the equipment or installation as it was actually built and installed, with every change from the original drawings included.
- Manufacturing Record Book — A Manufacturing Record Book (MRB) is the complete manufacturing documentation for a delivery: certificates, welding and NDT records, test and dimensional reports that show the equipment was made to requirements.
- Supplier Document Requirements List — A Supplier Document Requirements List (SDRL) is the customer's list of which documents a supplier must deliver, in what format and by when, as part of the contract or purchase order.