Record Document Strategy

Description

Record documents are required as evidence of works carried out and a deliverable as an outcome of a completed project. Construction record documents provide information to aid the Building and Maintenance Teams to safely maintain the handed over spaces and re-order items as necessary. They provide information on the works area for future renovation or construction work, and a record of the works carried out by the contractor in the event of any future enquiries. 

Reliable and complete record documents form a part of compliance to legislation such as the Building Safety Act, the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations, the Health and Safety at Work Act, Freedom of Information Act and the Limitations Act. 

Construction record documents include but are not limited to:

  • Building Fabric Manual and Health & Safety File
  • Mechanical, Electrical, Fire, Security and other specialist services manuals 
  • As-Built/As-Installed drawings
  • Fire Safety Information 
  • Asset Registers

The Principal Contractor is responsible for delivering a complete set of record documents, produced to the format and layout outlined in Imperial's Property Division Record Document Guidelines. Completion should not be granted until approved, compliant and signed off documents have been delivered to the Records & Archives Officer for acceptance and onward distribution. 

When preparing the Contractor tender documents, an initial discussion should take place between the Project Manager and Records & Archives Officer to agree upon the quantity, format and type of record documents, to ensure that contractors can price appropriately in their tender returns/quotations. 

In the majority of cases the record document deliverables will fall under the standard record document production guidelines, but exceptions may need to be agreed based on location or scope of works, specialist installations and specfic end user or legal requirements. 

In all cases, the three record document guidelines, along with the project's EIR, must be included in the tender pack. 

Record Document Strategy Meeting

At the end of RIBA Stage 4, when the Principal Contractor has been appointed and before works commence, the Project Manager should schedule the Record Document Strategy meeting. 

Attendees should include: 

  • Project Manager
  • Principal Contractor
  • Site Supervisor
  • Information Manager
  • Document Controller
  • Imperial Records & Archives Officer
  • Imperial Building Information Manager
  • Principal Designer

The following should inform specific requirements and receive a copy of the meeting minutes: 

  • Imperial Fire Officer
  • Building Manager
  • Maintenance Manager
  • Other designers as applicable to the scope of works

The Records & Archives Officer will issue a completed Record Document Strategy Checklist after the meeting to all attendees, including the document reference number and registered project number and title, to provide a record of what has been agreed. This should be forwarded to anyone in the project team involved in the collation, production or review of record documents, and will for the basis for the Contractor to appoint a Technical Author (refer to Technical Author Appointment at RIBA 5)

Engagement

  • Project Manager to discuss scope of work and record document deliverables with the Records & Archives Officer
  • Additional requirements to be agreed with the Building Information Manager, Fire Officer, Building and Maintenance Managers and End Users as applicable to the works. 
  • Principal Contractor to appoint a Technical Author from Imperial's recommended list or discuss with the Project Manager and Records & Archives Officer if they have their own Technical Author whom they would prefer to use. 

Forms & Links

Approvals & Compliance Review

Review and compliance processes to commence from RIBA Stage 5.

Repeated Subsequent RIBA Stages

RIBA Stage 5

Production of draft O&Ms should commence and be included in the project programme and handover plan.

The Principal Contractor should appoint a Technical Author from the Property Division's recommend list to produce the Building Fabric Manual, Operating & Maintenance Manual and collate the approved drawings associated with these manuals. The Technical Author should be provided with the Record Document Strategy checklist to provide the basis for their quotation. All manuals should be produced in accordance with the O&M guideline documents. 

The Principal Contractor should issue a schedule of expected drawings and BIM models to the Records & Archives Officer and Building Information Manager when the early drafts are being produced. 

The review process is outline in RM09 Record Document Process Guidelines, and the content should be thoroughly reviewed by the Principal Contractor, Design Team, Supervisors, Principal Designer and Project Manager before being issued for internal review, unless otherwise requested. 

The Principal Contractor should keep the Project Manager updated of the progress of record document drafts and reviews, providing the latest tracker document at Project Progress meetings, showing what items are pending and target dates for their resolution. 

At the end of RIBA 5, the Project Manager should schedule a pre-handover record document meeting, inviting the attendees from the initial record document strategy meeting. This meeting should run through the deliverables agreed in the record document checklist, progress, final review and delivery dates, and any post-completion works known at this stage which may impact on the final records.

RIBA Stage 6

On handover, the Principal Contractor should issue a near complete draft, which at this stage should only be pending final certificates, client direct and post-completion items and internal reviews. If compliant as-built drawings have not yet been issued, the manual should as a minimum include a schedule of expected drawings. 

The date for final delivery of complete manuals should be agreed at this stage, and the Project Manager should be kept informed, providing regular updates to the Records & Archives Officer. 

Once the final complete set of record documents (including but not limited to: manuals, drawings, BIM model, asset register) have been signed off by the Project Manager, the Records & Archives Officer will carry out a final compliance check of the manuals and send the Issue Memo. The Issue Memo notifies end-users and stakeholders of the location of the final records for their use, and confirms formal acceptance by Imperial of the complete set of as-built record documents. 

RIBA Stages 6-7

Any additional works carried out due to defects resolution or updated end-user requirements will need to be caputred in revised or new record documents. The Project Manager should schedule a meeting with the Records & Archives Officer and the Building Information Manager to discuss the scope of additional works and agree upon how the delivered records are to be updated.