Handover documentation
Why this is the least loved stage
Section titled “Why this is the least loved stage”Because everyone is at the end by then, and the paperwork is the least visible part of the project. Yet it is what remains of it for the building’s remaining decades.
What it contains
Section titled “What it contains”As-built documentation
Section titled “As-built documentation”What was actually built — not what was designed. Where there was a deviation, it has to be recorded here.
Verification of the products installed
Section titled “Verification of the products installed”Declarations of performance, tied to the place of installation. An unsorted heap of PDFs is formally delivery and practically useless. How to read a declaration of performance.
Test and inspection records
Section titled “Test and inspection records”Airtightness test, electrical tests, pressure tests, commissioning records, and whatever else was produced on the project.
Fire documentation
Section titled “Fire documentation”The fire solutions, their verification, the register of the seals. On a larger building this is drawn together in the fire technical compliance manual. Fire documentation.
Operating and maintenance instructions
Section titled “Operating and maintenance instructions”What has to be done and how often. It is also a condition of enforcing warranty claims.
What matters particularly for a light gauge steel house
Section titled “What matters particularly for a light gauge steel house”Documentation of the concealed work
Section titled “Documentation of the concealed work”Photographs and entries showing the state before the lining went on. That is what tells you, at a later alteration, where you can drill, where the bracing is and where the vapour control layer runs.
An accurate description of the build-ups
Section titled “An accurate description of the build-ups”“Two layers of plasterboard” is not enough: the type and thickness matter, because the fire and acoustic performance rests on them.
The fixing points
Section titled “The fixing points”What can be hung where on the wall — the occupants’ most frequent question. What you can hang on the wall.
What happens if it is incomplete
Section titled “What happens if it is incomplete”- Warranty claims are hard to enforce.
- At a sale the buyer and the bank find a gap.
- At an alteration the designer has to survey what should have been documented.
- After an insurance event the insurer asks questions.
When to start collecting it
Section titled “When to start collecting it”On the first day of construction. Start in the week of handover and it cannot be assembled — the concealed work is concealed by then.
The point
Section titled “The point”The handover documentation is not the end of the project but the start of operating the building. What is not handed over here, somebody pays for again later.