Decide the scope split first
The single most consequential decision in a storage EPC is where the equipment supply scope ends and the balance-of-plant scope begins. Split-scope structures are cheaper on paper and expensive at commissioning, because performance liability sits with nobody in particular.
A wrap in which one counterparty carries system-level performance, from foundation through the point of interconnection, converts a coordination problem into a contractual one.
Schedule risk lives in three places
Across Canadian projects, delay concentrates in a small number of predictable areas.
- Permitting and municipal approvals, particularly fire-safety review of the enclosure layout.
- Transformer and switchgear lead times, which routinely exceed the battery lead time.
- Utility witness testing and energization windows, which are scheduled by the transmitter, not by you.
Cold-climate engineering is not an add-on
Thermal management specified for a temperate climate underperforms through a Canadian winter, and auxiliary load for heating erodes round-trip efficiency if it was never modelled.
Require the HVAC and thermal design to be validated at site-specific design temperatures, and require auxiliary consumption to appear in the performance guarantee.
Write the commissioning plan into the contract
Commissioning should be a defined deliverable with test procedures, acceptance criteria and a punch-list process attached to payment milestones. Projects that defer it discover disagreements at the moment they have the least leverage.