Building handover

Duty holders, responsible people and maintenance change. Due diligence for the most part, stays the same. The past year has meant many people who have never managed a water system before let alone a building are now responsible for new tasks. This means building handover needs to be as smooth and efficient as possible so as to continue control regimes in a safe and competent manner. Many managers are working from home which means correct building handover is not always being completed. Missed fault identification due to lack of adequate training can very easily lead to a contaminated water system, potentially costing thousands of pounds and worst case scenario fatalities which could have been avoided.

We previously discussed late last year the importance of managing a water system in ‘Winter Management’ and ‘Winter Ready’ where hot water systems were of major importance due to faults and drops in temperature. With Spring well underway, system management must not be forgotten. Highlighting the importance of training competent staff with the correct knowledge of record keeping, ensuring documentation is available on site is mandatory. With these building handovers it sometimes means risk assessments need to be reviewed or new risk assessments have to be carried out to prevent unnecessary mistakes. This also allows for the new duty holder, responsible person or maintenance to have a consultation with the risk assessor who can give accurate information and methods of proper due diligence - reassuring them in their new role.

Full water safety plans must be implemented in more complex systems. In simple systems the absolute minimum of a basic control regime must be implemented. It is always best to document any task carried in a water management logbook regardless of how simple or complex the system. Most modern logbooks will provide a simple guide or step by step instructions on how to carry out such tasks, however, training with someone experienced with a working knowledge of the current water system or a water industry professional can never be beaten.

Building handover can vary and it may be that the building has been recently constructed or refurbished and the handover is directly from site construction manager to duty holder. With even more importance on the correct information being given so as to not find an unused sink or unknown deadlegs throughout the system creating a breeding ground for bacteria potentially causing unnecessary early closure - again costing thousands of pounds which could have been avoided with the correct communication.

Not only from a commercial or industrial perspective, even in residential buildings there should be some form of adequate building hand over information given in relation to the hot and cold water systems, this could be to new tenants or new homeowners. It is an area often forgotten and brief mention of shower head/tap descaling included in the tenancy agreement.

Many buildings reopen this month and we hope you are able to utilize this article as a way to implement new control regimes or reinforce existing ones. The last thing we want is our country leaving one pandemic, entering into a mass spread of legionnaires disease. 

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