Handover day: walking the owner through the building
The owner's facility manager and two of her staff arrive at 9:00 to take over a two-storey daycare. The keys are in a box with masking-tape labels, the alarm codes are in the electrician's truck, and the mechanical foreman who knows the heat pumps is on another job today.
Handover passes responsibility for a building, not just its keys. From that day the owner's staff run systems they have seen once, and what they were given, shown and told becomes the baseline for every later question about damage, missing items or warranty. An improvised walk leaves gaps in all three.
- Agree the agenda a week ahead: who attends for the owner, which trades demonstrate which systems, and how long it takes.
- Prepare a key and access register: every key, fob, code and remote, counted, tagged and signed for item by item.
- Plan the route: main electrical and mechanical rooms first, then life-safety devices, occupied spaces, the exterior and roof access.
- Demonstrate, do not describe: let the owner's staff operate each main control — thermostat schedules, the alarm panel, shut-off valves — while the trade watches.
- Record the building's state: meter readings, and dated photos of finishes and of anything already marked.
- Walk the open items list and agree a date and access arrangement for each remaining item; add anything new.
- Close with a handover record both sides sign: what was handed over and demonstrated, who attended, and the open items with dates.
Common mistakes
- Handing over keys without a signed count.
- Explaining controls instead of letting the owner's staff use them.
- Leaving the open items list verbal or unsigned.
- Fixing the date before confirming the building may be occupied.
Checklist
Bring to the handover walk
- Agenda and attendee list
- Key, fob and code register ready to sign
- The trades who will demonstrate each system
- O&M manuals and training attendance records
- Camera and meter-reading sheet
- Open items list with proposed dates
- Handover record for both signatures
Check your understanding
The owner wants to skip the walk and just collect the keys. What do you say, and why?
Show the answer
Offer a shorter walk rather than none: the key count, the main systems and the open items fit in an hour. Without it, nobody can later show what was handed over, demonstrated or already damaged, and the owner's staff learn the systems by trial and error — which tends to come back to you as warranty calls.
