How to Reduce Facility Handover Problems After Construction

Construction handover or turnover occurs when a construction project ends. Simultaneously, it is the beginning of asset maintenance and continuing operations takeover. Advanced planning is required to prevent problems. Conventional methods may lead to issues for building operators, building owners or facilities teams. Below are some solutions to handover problems you may experience.

Information to Request

It is possible for a building owner to request excessive or insufficient information from the construction contractor. Each request will have its own set of issues e.g., excessive requests for unnecessary data or insufficient data which may exclude essential data, can both lead to errors or the contractor being able to ascertain what is needed.
It is your duty to stipulate the information required, as the contractor may be unacquainted with your building specifications.

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You should request whatever is needed to manage your building competently. This means engaging with your facilities manager and involving them in discussions about essential information. Remember they know everything about your building.

Your current facilities management (FM) software will need to be researched so relevant information can be included. You should consider acquiring a FM software if you have not own one, as it can kick-start your project.

You and your facilities manager must consider all systems and facilities needed during stages of development from blueprint, building and contracting.

You must always ask the following questions before requesting information. “Why do I want this information?” and “Is it necessary?”

By taking time and ensuring only relevant questions and information is collected, will make it unproblematic for your construction contractor to collate all the data and produce a practical report.
Failure to Include Handover Requirements in the Contract
It is your responsibility to ensure all the information you require is included in the contract. You should communicate your requirements effectively with your construction team, once all your information has been collated. If handover requirements are not included in the contract, they can affect your planning and hard work negatively; plus, lead to problems which could have been avoided.

Universal Naming Convention

A universal naming convention is necessary to prevent confusion or conflict between your construction team, facilities team and yourself. Complications can occur if you all have different names for your project. So, the best way forward is to all agree on a standardized naming convention which you will all use for your project from blueprint to the end.

Protracted Handover Process

Many handover processes have taken months or years to complete. It involves many days of work to collate and consolidate documents, information, illustrations and pictures to be evaluated by the building owner.

By having extended handover processes this can lead to a reduction in the productivity of your building processes. Your facilities team may not possess the essential handover documents needed to achieve your goal and therefore cannot work efficiently.

A resourceful method to reduce the timescale of the handover process is to be confident about the data you require, its presentation and confirm it when your project begins. This will assist your construction contractor in delivering a persuasive, timely handover.

Problems with Data Handover

Hurrah! At long last you have received your data handover. What do you do now? How do you interpret the information? Have your questions been answered? Can the data be accessed by your facilities team? Do your operations system and project management software communicate with each other? Is your data transmission “operationalized?”

These are some of the possible problems which must be addressed.

Updating Handover Data

When handover occurs, your data must be “live” to develop with your facility. Fixed data received at handover remains correct short-term and will swiftly become obsolete as your building undergoes adjustments. You may have difficulties renewing the static data as building objects are restored and preserved. Ultimately, you will need to complete a facility condition assessment to ascertain the efficiency of your building and your handover data will be outdated.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology state that in the United States, operations and maintenance companies pay up around $4.8 billion annually, to guarantee their facilities present circumstances are correctly documented. A further $613 million is paid out ensuring the data is in a functional design.

This presents a gap in expertise and comprehension for your facilities manager, as they may lack the data necessary for future planning and costings.

By ensuring your handover data is updated regularly, it will enhance profit and provide a starting position for your facility.

Visit our website for more information on our CloudApper facilities and how it can streamline your facility handover process.