LHC collimation system hardware commissioning

The stored energy and intensity of the LHC beam exceed the damage level of the machine and the quench level of the magnets by far. Therefore a robust and reliable collimation system is required which prevents the quenching of the magnets during regular operation and protects the accelerator components from damage in the event of beam loss. To assure that the installed collimators will protect the machine and permit the required performance of the collider, an appropriate hardware commissioning has to be implemented. In this contribution we describe the procedures for the hardware commissioning of the LHC collimation system. These procedures will establish the required precision and reliability of collimator movements and settings before the start of beam operation.