October 2026 study
Overlapping commissioning windows
29 tracked sites state a completion target. This page counts how many of them sit in their commissioning window in the same quarter. The answer for this quarter, Q4 2026, is 7 dated sites across 6 markets, plus 6 sites that gave 2026 without a quarter. Each one hires commissioning staff from the same traveling pool.
By Czarina Tabayoyong, Founder, Critical Path Hiring. Former Amazon, AWS and Google recruiter.
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Findings
- Q4 2026 is the peak: 7 dated sites in their commissioning window at once, in Chicago, Columbus, Dallas-Fort Worth, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, San Antonio. 6 more sites gave 2026 as a target with no quarter.
- 2027 holds steady at 4 to 5 dated sites in window every quarter, with 5 year-only targets on top. Dated sites in window stay at that level until 2028.
- Four markets have two or more sites in window in the same quarter: Dallas-Fort Worth from Q3 2025 to Q1 2026 (three sites), Columbus in Q2 2026, San Antonio in Q4 2026 and Chicago in Q2 2027. In those quarters two sites in one metro need commissioning crews at the same time.
- Our employer directory lists 8 commissioning, testing and engineering firms with a live data center commissioning posting this fall, and in our pay set of 48 postings, 18 of the 21 that state a travel percentage list 50% or more.
By quarter
- Dated sites in window
- Year-only targets, shown in Q4
Dated targets only (19 of 36). The window is the target quarter and the two quarters before it. Year-only targets are shown as a separate count for each year, since they could fall in any quarter.
| Quarter | Sites in window | Markets | Two or more in one market | Year-only targets that year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 2025 | 1 | San Antonio | ||
| Q2 2025 | 1 | San Antonio | ||
| Q3 2025 | 3 | Dallas-Fort Worth | Dallas-Fort Worth | |
| Q4 2025 | 4 | Columbus, Dallas-Fort Worth | Dallas-Fort Worth | |
| Q1 2026 | 4 | Columbus, Dallas-Fort Worth | Dallas-Fort Worth | 6 |
| Q2 2026 | 4 | Columbus, Salt Lake City, San Antonio | Columbus | 6 |
| Q3 2026 | 5 | Columbus, Dallas-Fort Worth, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, San Antonio | 6 | |
| Q4 2026 | 7 | Chicago, Columbus, Dallas-Fort Worth, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, San Antonio | San Antonio | 6 |
| Q1 2027 | 5 | Chicago, Columbus, Dallas-Fort Worth, Phoenix, San Antonio | 5 | |
| Q2 2027 | 5 | Chicago, Columbus, Hillsboro, San Antonio | Chicago | 5 |
| Q3 2027 | 5 | Atlanta, Chicago, Columbus, Hillsboro, Northern Virginia | 5 | |
| Q4 2027 | 4 | Atlanta, Chicago, Hillsboro, Northern Virginia | 5 | |
| Q1 2028 | 2 | Atlanta, Northern Virginia | 3 | |
| Q2 2028 | 1 | Dallas-Fort Worth | 3 | |
| Q3 2028 | 2 | Atlanta, Dallas-Fort Worth | 3 | |
| Q4 2028 | 2 | Atlanta, Dallas-Fort Worth | 3 | |
| Q1 2029 | 1 | Atlanta | 2 |
Current quarter
| Project | Market | Stated target |
|---|---|---|
| T5 Chicago IV (Cornerstone business park) | Chicago | June 2027 |
| Cologix Lewis Center data center | Columbus | fall 2026 |
| PowerHouse and Provident Grand Prairie campus | Dallas-Fort Worth | Q1 2027 |
| Menlo Digital Ahwatukee campus | Phoenix | early 2027 |
| QTS Eagle Mountain campus (SLC1) | Salt Lake City | end of 2026 |
| CloudBurst data center campus | San Antonio | Q4 2026 |
| CyrusOne data center west of Castroville | San Antonio | June 2027 |
Each target's source, phase size and the full window are on hiring windows by market.
Hiring impact
An owner whose site reaches Level 5 testing in Q4 2026 is bidding against 6 other dated sites for the same commissioning firms, and the firms staff the project that booked them first. The firms staff the project that booked them first, so owners who sign a commissioning contract at design, a year or more before the window, have more choice than owners who sign at Level 3.
A site with its own commissioning manager and two engineers on payroll needs fewer traveling agents from the firms and can hold its test schedule when a firm reassigns people. Posted pay for owner-side commissioning roles is on the pay ranges page.
For commissioning agents and technicians, a quarter with 7 sites in window across 6 markets is when per diem and rates move. Dallas-Fort Worth, Columbus, San Antonio and Chicago each have a quarter with two sites in window, so rates there are the ones to check.
Method and limits
- Targets: the 36 stated completion, energization or occupancy targets at 29 tracked sites, as listed on hiring windows by market with sources.
- Window: the target quarter and the two before it, our rule from published commissioning durations. A site that slips moves its window with it, and most do slip.
- Only tracked projects count. Our nine trackers do not cover every data center under construction in those markets, so each quarter's true number is higher.
- Commissioning headcount per site is not published anywhere, so this page counts sites, not people.
Questions
- When will the most data centers be commissioning at the same time?
- Among the 19 dated targets in our October 2026 trackers, Q4 2026 has the most sites in their commissioning window at once: 7, across 6 markets. 6 more targets in 2026 state a year but no quarter and could land in the same window.
- Which markets have two data centers commissioning in the same quarter?
- Dallas-Fort Worth has three sites in window from Q3 2025 through Q1 2026. Columbus has two in Q2 2026, San Antonio two in Q4 2026 and Chicago two in Q2 2027, by stated targets in our October 2026 trackers.
Related
Hiring windows by market
When each market's tracked projects reach commissioning and turnover, 2026 to 2029.
Commissioning pay ranges
Posted pay for commissioning engineers, managers and agents from public job postings, updated monthly.
Who hires commissioning people
Employers with open data center commissioning roles this month.
Hiring call
Book a hiring call and we'll talk through which roles your build needs and when to bring them on.
Czarina Tabayoyong
Founder and principal recruiter, Critical Path Hiring. Czarina recruits commissioning, MEP, power and critical facilities people for data center builds. She previously recruited cloud and data center architecture talent at AWS Professional Services, and PMO and project delivery talent for hyperscale data center campuses in Texas and Virginia.