Robot commissioning checklist for Canadian sites (Wi‑Fi, elevators, floors, staff training)

Short answer: A service robot can only be commissioned in a Canadian building when nine things are ready before the technician arrives: (1) a network the robot can actually join, approved by the site's IT/security team; (2) an elevator interface agreed with the building, with any controller work done by a licensed elevator contractor; (3) a decision for every door and gate on the route; (4) floors, slopes and thresholds within the robot's spec; (5) a charging spot with a suitable 120 V outlet outside exit routes; (6) a quiet mapping window; (7) signage and agreed robot-free zones; (8) named staff for training on every shift; and (9) written acceptance criteria. Miss one and the commissioning day becomes a survey day. In British Columbia the elevator item usually has the longest lead time, because alterations to an elevator go through a licensed contractor and Technical Safety BC. In Quebec, plan French-language training material and labels from the start.

KeepRobots is a robot field service company based in Vancouver. We do robot commissioning, so we are one of the providers you might use. This checklist is written so that a robot maker, a building owner or another service provider can use it as-is. Lead times marked typical or estimate are our planning estimates, not measured data from a fleet. Regulatory points link to the official source; anything we could not confirm officially is labelled. This is not legal advice.

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What "commissioning" means here, and how this differs from a deployment plan

Commissioning is the on-site work that turns a delivered, working robot into a robot that does its job in one specific building: joining the network, building the map, setting routes, zones and charging, connecting elevators and doors, testing the bad cases, training staff, and signing off. It is one stage of a larger deployment.

Our Chinese-language note 机器人在加拿大落地部署全流程清单 walks a robot maker through all seven stages, from certification and shipping to customs and hand-over. This page zooms in on the part that wastes the most time in practice: what the site must have ready before commissioning starts, who owns each item, and how long each one usually takes. It is meant to be forwarded to the building owner, the facility manager and the IT team.

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The site readiness checklist at a glance

Three parties appear in every row: the robot maker (or its distributor), the site (building owner, tenant, facility manager, IT), and the field service provider doing the on-site work. Lead times are counted back from the commissioning date.

Run a go/no-go call about 3 business days before the visit: walk down this table and move the date if items 1, 2 (for multi-floor routes), 5 or 6 in the table are not done. Rescheduling costs a phone call. A failed commissioning day costs a call-out and a day of labour, and it costs some of the customer's patience.

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1. Wi‑Fi, network and IT security approval

What must be ready: a network the robot can join and keep along the whole route, including lobbies, back corridors, elevator lobbies and inside elevator cars, plus written approval from the site's IT or security team for the robot to connect to its cloud.

• The network type matters more than the signal. Many service robots cannot get through a guest captive portal (the "accept terms" web page), and some cannot use enterprise logins (WPA2/WPA3-Enterprise with 802.1X). Find out what the robot supports before the IT meeting. Often the answer is a dedicated SSID or VLAN with a pre-shared key, MAC allow-listing, or LTE.
• Ask for the robot maker's network sheet: bands (2.4/5 GHz), outbound ports and domains, whether any inbound access is needed (it usually should not be), where the cloud servers are, and what data leaves the building. Many North American enterprise customers ask where data is stored, especially if the robot has cameras. If it does, privacy rules apply; see our delivery robot rollout steps (Chinese) for the privacy and IT review in detail.
• Walk the route with a Wi‑Fi survey before mapping. Elevator cars are steel boxes and are a common dead zone. Decide what the robot does if it loses connection mid-ride: most need to finish the trip on their own.

Typical lead time (estimate): a small restaurant can be done in a day. A hospital, university or hotel chain with a formal security review often takes several weeks. Start this first.

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2. Elevators: who approves and who touches what

A delivery or cleaning robot that cannot ride the elevator is a one-floor robot. In British Columbia, elevators are regulated by Technical Safety BC under the Elevating Devices Safety Regulation, and the code currently in effect is CSA B44-16 (adopted April 30, 2020). Contractors doing regulated work on elevating devices must be licensed by Technical Safety BC.

Technical Safety BC's directive on major and minor alterations (Revision 6, October 1, 2021) says a technical information package must be filed with a provincial safety manager before a major or minor alteration begins. For a major alteration it must carry a BC professional engineer's seal, and an acceptance inspection is required before the elevator goes back into service. Whether a particular robot interface is a major alteration, a minor alteration or neither depends on what is changed. The directive points to a separate list of alterations, and the licensed contractor makes that call, not the robot maker and not us.

• Three common interface paths: the elevator maker's cloud API, the robot maker's IoT box installed by the elevator contractor, or a dry-contact interface wired into the controller by the contractor. The first changes the least hardware; the last usually needs the most contractor work.
• Who does what: the building owner hires (or already has) the elevator maintenance contractor; the robot maker supplies the interface spec and hardware; the field service provider configures and tests the robot side. Nobody except the licensed contractor opens the controller.
• Test every floor and the bad cases: car full, door held, elevator in independent or inspection service, fire recall, power loss in the car.

More detail, including the split of work, is in our note Elevator integration for service robots in BC. Other provinces and US states have their own elevator authorities; check the local one.

Typical lead time (estimate): contractor scheduling is usually counted in weeks, not days. If an alteration filing or inspection is needed, add that. Start on the day the deal is signed. If the elevator will not be ready, commission one floor first and come back.

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3. Doors, gates and access control

List every door on every route: automatic sliding doors, swing-door operators, fire doors on hold-open magnets, card-reader doors, turnstiles. For each one, decide whether the robot opens it (door module, access-control integration), a person opens it, or the route avoids it. Fire doors held open by magnets close when the alarm sounds, and the robot must not block them. Agree this with the facility manager and the access-control vendor, not just the front desk.

Typical lead time (estimate): 3–6 weeks if the access-control vendor must add an interface; a day if the robot avoids those doors.

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4. Floors, slopes and thresholds (and Canadian winters)

Measure, don't guess. Compare each measurement with the robot maker's published spec:

• Thresholds and gaps: elevator sills, door thresholds, expansion joints, the gap between the car and the landing.
• Slopes and ramps: measure the steepest ramp on the route, not the average.
• Floor finishes: deep-pile carpet, rubber entrance mats, polished stone that is reflective or slippery when wet, and glass walls and mirrors that can confuse laser sensors.
• Narrowest point at peak hours, with chairs pushed back and carts parked.

Winter in Canada (typical, not from an official source): de-icing salt and slush are tracked into entrances for months. The result is wet, gritty floors near doors, white residue on wheels and sensors, and entrance mats that get swapped or moved, which can change thresholds. Ask the site what its winter matting plan is, keep the robot's first metres inside the door off the wettest zone if possible, and add wheel and sensor cleaning to the winter routine. For cleaning robots, ask the robot maker what its floor-scrubber chemistry and squeegee do with salt residue before promising winter results. Our robot preventive maintenance schedule covers the cleaning intervals.

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5. Charging spot and power (120 V / 15 A)

Standard outlets in Canada are 120 V, 60 Hz, usually on 15 A circuits (NEMA 5-15 style). Most service robot chargers plug into one. What to get right:

• Dedicated circuit if you can. A charger shares the circuit with whatever else is plugged in. Under the Canadian Electrical Code, continuous loads on a breaker not marked for 100% operation are generally limited to 80% of its rating. On a 15 A circuit that is 12 A. Add up the charger, the docking station and anything else on that circuit, using the charger's nameplate rating. If a new outlet is needed, it is work for a licensed electrician (in BC, electrical work falls under Technical Safety BC).
• Location: not in an exit route or in front of a fire door, with clear approach space as the robot maker specifies, away from wet floors, and where staff can see a robot that failed to dock.
• Certification marks: chargers and docks that plug into the grid in Canada generally need a Canadian-accepted certification mark (CSA, cUL, cETL and similar). A UL-only mark is a common surprise; see UL 3300 for service robots.
• Cleaning robots with an automatic water station also need a water supply and a drain, which may need the site's plumber.

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6. Mapping window

Mapping works best in an empty building with furniture in its normal place. Book a quiet window: before opening, after closing or overnight. Ask security for after-hours access, elevator keys if needed, and someone who can open locked doors. For a single floor, plan a few hours. For multi-floor sites, plan per floor plus elevator testing. Tell the site not to rearrange furniture or seasonal displays just before or after mapping, or the map is stale on day one.

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7. Signage, robot-free zones and the safety walk-through

• Agree robot-free zones (kitchens, stairs and escalator landings, loading docks, pool decks) and slow zones (lobbies, corners, near children's areas).
• Post simple signs where robots operate and on the charging spot. In Quebec, see the French-language point below.
• Walk the route with the site's safety lead. Agree what staff do if a robot blocks a route, and where the stop buttons are.
• For industrial mobile robots in warehouses and plants, ANSI/A3 R15.08-2 sets out risk assessment and site requirements. For robotic arms, CSA Z434 applies and WorkSafeBC regulates the employer's safeguarding in BC. Our warehouse AMR and robotic arm pages cover those cases.

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8. Staff training and hand-over

Training is where most robots in service buildings succeed or fail. Staff who are not trained stop using the robot.

• Train every shift, not only the day shift, and the people who will actually use the robot: front desk, servers, janitorial crew, security, maintenance. Ask the site manager for names per shift before the visit.
• Cover: start and stop, send a task, emergency stop, what to do when the robot is stuck, how to recharge, how to read the common error codes, and who to call.
• Leave a one-page quick card at the charging spot and a short video if the robot maker has one.
• In BC, the employer's training duties still apply. WorkSafeBC's OHS Regulation (sections 3.23–3.25) requires employers to give young and new workers workplace-specific orientation and training, and to keep records of it. Robot training sessions are a good time to give the site a sign-in sheet it can keep with its records.
• Quebec: the Charter of the French language requires employers to make training documents for their staff available in French, including training manuals written by an outside supplier, according to the Office québécois de la langue française. Product inscriptions, including instructions for use and warranty documents supplied with a product, are also covered by French-language rules. If the robot will run in Quebec, plan French quick cards, training material and on-screen language from the start, and confirm details with Quebec counsel.

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9. Acceptance criteria: decide "done" before anyone travels

Without written criteria, a pilot can stay in "let's watch it a bit longer" for months. Put criteria in the contract and measure them during a short run-in period. An example set (numbers are illustrations to agree with your customer, not industry standards):

Also agree when the warranty clock starts and what counts as a fault after hand-over.

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What a commissioning visit costs: worked examples

Using KeepRobots' current published rates for the Greater Vancouver core area: $100 CAD call-out per visit and $150 CAD per hour on-site labour, before tax. (In the US the labour rate is $150 USD per hour; travel outside the core area and for US projects is quoted per project.) Hours below are assumptions for illustration; a site survey gives the real figure.

The last row is the point of this whole checklist. The cheapest way to commission a robot is to arrive at a site that is ready. Elevator contractor charges, electrician work, parts and the robot maker's own remote engineering time are separate.

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Eight pitfalls we plan around

1. Guest Wi‑Fi with a captive portal. The robot cannot click "I agree". Ask IT for a device network early.
2. Elevator work started after the robot arrived. Contractor scheduling and any filing are counted in weeks. Start at signing.
3. Charger on a shared circuit. The breaker trips at night when a vacuum or heater is plugged in, and the robot is flat in the morning.
4. Charger in an exit route. The fire inspector or the building manager moves it, and docking breaks.
5. Mapping during business hours. People and carts end up in the map as walls.
6. Only the day shift trained. The night shift switches the robot off and leaves it in a corner.
7. Winter mats and slush ignored. A new entrance mat raises a threshold, or salt residue builds up on the sensors.
8. No written acceptance criteria. The pilot never formally ends, and neither does the payment discussion.

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What KeepRobots can do

KeepRobots is a robot field service company based in Greater Vancouver, serving Canada and the United States, in English and Mandarin. We don't make or sell robots. For robot makers and the sites that buy from them, we can:

• Run the site survey and send a written readiness report against this checklist, before the robot ships
• Coordinate with the site's IT team, elevator contractor and access-control vendor; we work on the robot side, and licensed contractors work on the building side
• Do on-site commissioning: mapping, routes, charging, elevator and door testing, bad-case tests, staff training on every shift, and a hand-over pack
• Stay on for repair and preventive maintenance by the hour, and store spare parts in Vancouver

See robot deployment and commissioning services, and by robot type: delivery and serving robots and cleaning robots. If you are a robot maker deciding whether to send your own engineers, read robot field service in North America without a team and should a robot startup outsource field service.

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FAQ

What does a site need before a robot can be commissioned in Canada?

Nine things: an approved network the robot can join along the whole route; an elevator interface agreed with the building and its licensed elevator contractor (for multi-floor routes); door and access-control decisions; floors, slopes and thresholds within the robot's spec; a charging spot with a suitable 120 V outlet outside exit routes; a quiet mapping window; agreed robot-free zones and signage; named staff to train on every shift; and written acceptance criteria.

How long does robot commissioning take?

For one robot on one floor at a ready site, on-site commissioning usually fits in one day. A multi-floor site with elevator integration usually takes two days or more on site, not counting the elevator contractor's schedule. These are planning estimates. The longest part is usually getting the site ready, not the on-site work: IT approval and elevator work often take several weeks.

Who is allowed to connect a robot to an elevator in British Columbia?

Work on the elevator itself is regulated by Technical Safety BC and must be done by a licensed elevating devices contractor. Technical Safety BC requires a technical information package to be filed before a major or minor alteration begins, and an acceptance inspection for major alterations. The robot maker supplies the interface specification and the field service provider configures and tests the robot side.

What power does a service robot charger need in Canada?

Most service robot chargers plug into a standard 120 V, 60 Hz outlet, usually on a 15 A circuit. Use a dedicated circuit if possible, because under the Canadian Electrical Code continuous loads on a standard breaker are generally limited to 80% of its rating. The charger should carry a Canadian-accepted certification mark such as CSA, cUL or cETL. New outlets are work for a licensed electrician.

How much does robot commissioning cost in Vancouver?

At KeepRobots' published rates for the Greater Vancouver core area ($100 CAD call-out per visit plus $150 CAD per hour, before tax), an example single-floor, single-robot commissioning of 6 hours costs about $1,000 CAD, and an example two-robot multi-floor site with elevator over two 8-hour visits about $2,600 CAD. Hours depend on the site; a site survey gives the real figure.

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Sources

• Technical Safety BC, Elevating devices (CSA B44-16 in effect since April 30, 2020; licensed contractors): technicalsafetybc.ca
• Technical Safety BC, Directive: Major and minor alterations (D-L4 110803 5, Revision 6, October 1, 2021): technicalsafetybc.ca
• Technical Safety BC, Approved certification marks for electrical products: technicalsafetybc.ca
• WorkSafeBC OHS Regulation Part 3 (sections 3.22–3.25, young and new worker orientation and training records): worksafebc.com
• Office québécois de la langue française, obligations of businesses (language of work, training documents): oqlf.gouv.qc.ca; Charter of the French language, English regulations page: oqlf.gouv.qc.ca
• Canadian Electrical Code, Part I, Rule 8-104 (continuous loading), as summarized by the Electrical Industry guide to Section 8: electricalindustry.ca (the code text itself is sold by CSA Group)

Lead times, hours, example acceptance targets and costs on this page are our planning estimates and assumptions, not measured fleet data or industry benchmarks. KeepRobots rates are current published rates and may change; taxes, parts, contractor charges and travel outside the core area are extra. Regulatory summaries are for orientation only; confirm with the authority or qualified counsel for your site.