Commissioning engineering is often presented as the exciting side of industrial automation.
You travel internationally, work with new machinery, stay in hotels and receive extra money for expenses. Instead of maintaining the same production line for years, you see different factories, customers and technologies.
All of that can be true.
The less glamorous version includes delayed flights, twelve-hour site days, poor sleep, rushed software changes, hotel food, weekend work and customers asking why a machine that is still missing three sensors is not ready for production.
Commissioning can build automation skills faster than almost any office-based role. It can also consume your personal life when the travel policy, overtime rules and project planning are poor.
What a Commissioning Engineer Actually Does
The job begins after the machine has been designed and partially built.
A commissioning engineer may be responsible for:
- Checking PLC, HMI and drive software
- Testing every input and output
- Confirming motor directions
- Adjusting sensors
- Configuring VFDs and servo drives
- Diagnosing industrial networks
- Testing manual and automatic operation
- Correcting machine sequences
- Testing alarms and fault recovery
- Supporting production trials
- Training operators and maintenance staff
- Completing acceptance documents
The engineer is where electrical, mechanical and software problems meet.
A machine may fail to cycle because:
- The PLC logic is incomplete.
- A cylinder is slower than expected.
- A sensor bracket is incorrectly positioned.
- A motor is rotating backwards.
- The safety circuit has not been completed.
- The customer changed the sequence after the software was written.
- A network cable was damaged during installation.
The commissioning engineer is expected to identify which problem is real and keep the project moving.
How Much Travel Is Normal?
Travel depends heavily on the employer.
A factory controls engineer may travel only several times per year. A machine-builder commissioning engineer may spend most of the year away.
Current industrial job advertisements still show roles requiring 75% to 80% travel, particularly for commissioning, field service and building or industrial controls. Siemens has advertised senior commissioning work with travel of up to 80%, while Honeywell has listed controls positions with 75% travel.
Travel can mean:
- Monday-to-Friday trips within one country
- Two or three weeks on site followed by one week at home
- Several months at one customer plant
- International rotations
- Emergency visits with little notice
- Weekend flights between projects
The percentage alone does not tell the full story.
“50% travel” could mean six continuous months abroad and six months at home. It could also mean travelling three days almost every week, which may be more disruptive because you are constantly packing, driving and recovering.
A Typical Commissioning Day
A reasonably planned day might look like this:
| Time | Activity |
|---|---|
| 06:30 | Breakfast and travel to site |
| 07:30 | Safety meeting and project review |
| 08:00 | I/O testing and machine checks |
| 12:00 | Quick lunch |
| 12:30 | Sequence testing |
| 16:00 | Customer production trial |
| 18:00 | Software corrections |
| 19:30 | Backup, notes and next-day plan |
| 20:00 | Return to hotel |
Not every day is this long.
During a quiet installation period, the engineer may finish normally because mechanical or electrical work is still incomplete. Near production start, however, everyone suddenly needs the machine working immediately.
The last part of commissioning is where schedules often stretch:
Mechanical work finishes late → software testing starts late → production date does not move.
The commissioning team absorbs the delay.
The Hours Are Not Always Predictable
The official schedule may say eight hours per day.
The practical schedule may become:
- Ten- or twelve-hour shifts
- Weekend work
- Night production trials
- Split shifts
- Early starts followed by late software corrections
- Travel immediately after the site day
Within the EU, the Working Time Directive generally requires an average maximum working week of 48 hours, at least 11 consecutive hours of daily rest and weekly rest in addition to the daily-rest period. National laws, collective agreements, averaging periods and employment arrangements determine how these protections apply in practice.
Contractors and travelling employees should never assume the employment contract handles this fairly. Overtime, travel time and time off in lieu need to be understood before the first trip.
What Per Diem Actually Means
Per diem is a daily allowance intended to cover expenses while travelling.
Depending on the company, it may cover:
- Meals
- Incidental expenses
- Local transport
- Sometimes accommodation
Common arrangements include:
Company-paid hotel plus daily meal allowance
The employer books and pays for the hotel. You receive a fixed daily amount for food and incidental expenses.
Receipt-based reimbursement
You pay for meals and claim the actual cost later, subject to company limits.
Flat all-inclusive allowance
You receive one amount expected to cover accommodation, meals and other daily expenses.
This can be profitable in a cheap location and unpleasant in an expensive city.
Corporate card
The company provides a card for approved travel costs. You must still submit receipts and justify unusual spending.
As a US reference point, federal FY2026 meals-and-incidental allowances range from $68 to $92 per day, depending on location, while the standard rate is $68. First and last travel days are normally paid at 75% of the applicable allowance. These are government travel rates, not mandatory private-sector commissioning rates, but they demonstrate why a single worldwide allowance makes little sense.
Per Diem Is Not Automatically Extra Salary
People sometimes calculate:
€60 per diem × 20 days = €1,200 extra income.
That may be true when accommodation and travel are already paid and the allowance exceeds your food costs.
It may not be true when the allowance must also cover:
- Hotel costs
- Rental accommodation
- Local transport
- Parking
- Laundry
- Expensive airport meals
- Weekend living costs
For EU workers posted temporarily to another country, travel, board and accommodation allowances or reimbursements are treated separately from the basic remuneration that applies to the assignment. Employers should clearly state the posting terms and how these expenses will be handled.
A generous-looking per diem can disappear quickly when you are expected to arrange everything yourself.
Travel Days Create Arguments
One of the most important questions is whether travel time is paid.
Possible policies include:
- Full hourly pay
- Normal salary with no additional payment
- A reduced travel rate
- Fixed travel-day payment
- Overtime after a defined number of hours
- Time off in lieu
- No payment outside normal working hours
Rules differ by country and employment status. In the United States, for example, travel away from home that crosses an employee’s normal working hours can count as compensable work time under federal rules, while ordinary commuting is treated differently.
The contract should also explain what happens when:
- The flight leaves on Sunday.
- You drive four hours after completing a site shift.
- A flight is cancelled.
- You must wait at an airport overnight.
- The customer site closes but you cannot return home.
- You travel between two customer sites during the day.
“Travel as required” is not a complete compensation policy.
The Personal Cost
The hardest part is often not the technical work.
It is maintaining a normal life while repeatedly disappearing.
Frequent commissioning travel can interfere with:
- Relationships
- Exercise
- Diet
- Sleep
- Medical appointments
- Family responsibilities
- Hobbies
- Friendships
- Education outside work
You may return home on Friday night, spend Saturday recovering and begin packing again on Sunday.
Hotels also become less exciting after the novelty disappears. A room is not a holiday when you leave before sunrise, return after dinner and spend the evening correcting PLC code.
Why People Still Choose Commissioning
Despite the disadvantages, commissioning is one of the fastest ways to become genuinely capable in automation.
You encounter:
- Different PLC platforms
- Multiple machine types
- Real industrial networks
- VFDs and servo systems
- Safety equipment
- Customer requirements
- Electrical and mechanical faults
- Production pressure
- Project responsibility
In one year of commissioning, you may experience more unusual machine problems than a factory technician sees in several years on one production line.
The role can also provide:
- Overtime
- Travel allowances
- Per diem
- Rapid promotion
- Strong future contracting opportunities
- International contacts
- A route into senior controls engineering
The technical growth is real.
The lifestyle cost is also real.
Questions to Ask Before Accepting the Job
Before signing, obtain clear answers to these questions:
- What percentage of travel occurred in the team last year?
- How long is a normal trip?
- Are weekends on site common?
- Are travel days paid?
- How is overtime calculated?
- Who pays for hotels, flights, rental cars and parking?
- What does the per diem cover?
- Is the first and last travel day paid differently?
- Can engineers return home during long projects?
- How much notice is normally given before travel?
- Is compensatory time provided after long commissioning periods?
- What happens when a project is extended?
Ask existing commissioning engineers, not only the recruiter.
The recruiter describes the policy.
The engineers describe what actually happens.
Final Verdict
Commissioning engineering can be an excellent career for someone who wants rapid technical growth, varied projects and a path toward senior or contract automation work.
It is a poor fit for someone who needs a highly predictable routine.
The realistic trade-off is:
More experience, responsibility and earning potential
in exchange for:
Travel, irregular hours, fatigue and less control over your personal schedule.
Per diem can improve the financial package, but it should not distract you from the more important questions:
- How often will you be away?
- How are overtime and travel paid?
- Are expenses genuinely covered?
- Does the company protect rest time?
- Is the experience worth the lifestyle?
Commissioning is not paid travel.
It is engineering work performed wherever the unfinished machine happens to be.