Honiara, Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands
Honiara International Airport, located on Guadalcanal, is the primary gateway to the Solomon Islands and a critical hub for national trade, tourism, and development. To expand capacity and ease congestion, a major infrastructure upgrade was undertaken, which included constructing a new departure terminal and taxiway, as well as repurposing the existing international terminal for domestic flights.
To support these upgrades, Dewick & Associates was engaged by mechanical contractor Duct Air Drafting to produce the Mechanical Services Engineering Commissioning Plan and O&M Manuals. This provided the airport’s facilities management team with a compliant, structured documentation package for all newly installed mechanical systems.
By Louise Gardner
Credit: This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. The file Honiara Airport, Solomon Islands can be viewed on wikimedia.
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The mechanical contractor Duct Air Drafting delivered the mechanical services works, including HVAC systems designed for a tropical climate environment, hydraulic services, and associated plant that support the terminal’s passenger, staff and operational functions. Aviation infrastructure in the Pacific operates in a unique environment where the combination of tropical climate, humidity, salt air and the continuous operational requirements of an international gateway creates demanding conditions for building services systems.
The contractor engaged Dewick & Associates to produce the mechanical services engineering, commissioning plan and O&M Manuals that would close out the mechanical handover to the standards required for Pacific aviation infrastructure and give the airport’s management team documentation they could rely on for the life of the installation.
Mechanical documentation for a Pacific international airport carries a combination of challenges. The tropical climate places continuous strain on HVAC and mechanical systems, with high humidity, heat and coastal conditions accelerating corrosion and component degradation.
This requires O&M documentation that clearly defines operating parameters and maintenance intervals suited to harsher than normal conditions. In addition, airport operations are governed by strict aviation safety regulations, commissioning verification requirements and compliance standards that must be evidenced in documentation.
Maintenance must also be carefully scheduled around continuous flight operations while remote location constraints limit access to specialist support and parts increasing reliance on accurate manuals.
Dewick & Associates’ in-house technical authors developed a structured Engineering Commissioning Plan aligned to the mechanical scope, providing a clear system-by-system framework for pre-commissioning, functional testing and performance verification. This ensured all works met aviation authority requirements and applicable construction compliance standards before handover. The plan supported coordinated testing activities that aligned with live airport operations and reduced disruption risk.
In parallel, detailed O&M Manuals were produced covering all mechanical systems, including equipment schedules, manufacturer data, operating procedures and maintenance instructions tailored to tropical conditions.
Preventative maintenance regimes were designed to reflect accelerated wear in humid coastal environments, ensuring long-term system reliability and compliance with operational and regulatory expectations.
The final deliverables provided a complete Mechanical Services Engineering & Commissioning Plan, and O&M Manual package designed to support the safe, reliable and efficient operation of mechanical systems at Honiara International Airport. The facilities management team has a structured and compliant reference for all installed systems, improving their ability to manage maintenance, meet aviation regulatory obligations and maintain continuous operations in a demanding tropical environment.
The documentation enhances long-term asset performance by ensuring maintenance activities are clearly defined and repeatable. For the mechanical contractor, the package enabled a smooth and fully compliant project close-out, demonstrating that commissioning and documentation requirements were fully satisfied and aligned with international airport operational standards.
The content in this case study has been informed by project documentation and client communication provided to Dewick & Associates during and following the completion of the project. Where external sources have contributed to our understanding of relevant standards or industry practice, these are listed below.
This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. The file Honiara Airport, Solomon Islands can be viewed on wikimedia.
Note: Some content in this case study draws on a combination of sources rather than direct quotation. Where this is the case, contributing sources are acknowledged above rather than cited inline.
A strategic document which outlines the process, schedule, and responsibilities for testing a building’s systems to ensure they operate exactly as designed, including:
Technical authoring of O&M Manuals enabling efficient plant operation and effective maintenance for equipment longevity, including:
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