The "Building Record"

Everybody is engaged with the "Built Environment" - it is where we live, where we work, where our children learn, where we do almost anything we do as a society. You may not feel that you are part of the Construction or Property sector, but the reality is you are, and the way it functions has a direct impact on everyone.

Did you know that in Ireland, every building or piece of infrastructure, is required, by law (under health & safety regulations), to have a building record, or “safety file”, and that the building owner or client, is responsible to keep the “safety file” available for inspection, by any person who may need the information in order to fulfill their duties or to carry out work on the structure in relation to maintenance, repair or other construction work including demolition. (reminder to go and check whether you have that for the building you own or operate).

You can read about the “safety file” here: https://www.hsa.ie/eng/Your_Industry/Construction/Construction_FAQ's/Safety_File

The legislation states what the safety file should contain:

• construction drawings, specifications and bills of quantities, used and produced throughout the construction process
• the general design criteria
• details of the equipment and maintenance facilities within the structure
• maintenance procedures and requirements for the structure
• manuals, certificates, produced by specialist contractors and suppliers which outline operating and maintenance procedures and schedules for plant and equipment installed as part of the structure, typically lifts, electrical and mechanical installations and window cleaning
• details of the location and nature of utilities and services, including emergency and fire-fighting systems

Here’s the problem.

The legislation states that the “safety file” should be provided in “written” format, which most people have interpreted to mean “printed or paper format”. And we all know the problem with “printed or paper” documents:.

• They are analogue, and therefore difficult to search, query, find (compared to digital data).
• They are “static” copies, at a point in time, and difficult to maintain, or keep up-to-date (and therefore probably out-of-date).
• They are difficult to keep organised.
• They usually have “restricted access” to a limited number of people (the information isn’t generally available to all people who may find it useful for their work, especially people working remotely).

The picture above is a real example of a “safety file”, or building record. The information was delivered to the building owner in crates or boxes. It may have been well organised at some time, but over time, as people searched through boxes, for relevant information, it became disorganised, and now it would be very difficult to find anything useful there. Over the years, through transfers over building ownership, and changes in roles and responsibilities, the due-diligence and care for the “safety file” or building record was ignored or forgotten.

Even though a lot of digital technology was used to produce those printed documents (CAD, BIM, Excel, Word, Project, Estimating software etc), at the time of “exchange”, the information was “dumbed-down” to a piece of paper, or static PDF, and put into a file, folder, or box.

A lot of time and money was spent, producing all this “paper” for the building record, but it is fair to say, that in the state in which it now exists, it has very little use or “value” to anyone who has to maintain, repair, or work on or in the building, and it will have very little “value” to anyone carrying out further construction work, or decommission work.

So the question is “does this qualify as a “safety file” under the Health & Safety Regulations?”

Does the owner of this building feel they have fulfilled their duty, under the Health & Safety Regulations, to provide, and make available for inspection, the information any person may need in order to fulfill their duties or to carry out work on the structure in relation to maintenance, repair or other construction work including demolition?

In the Dame Judith Hackitt report on the Grenfell disaster in UK, entitled “Building a Safer Future”, one whole chapter was dedicated to this problem on not having accurate, accessible, searchable, information about building or infrastructure. It is well worth reading this chapter 8 “The Golden Thread of Information”, for anyone who cares about safety in the built environment. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/707785/Building_a_Safer_Future_-_web.pdf

We live in a “digital age”. I’m sure the construction and property real-estate sector can do a better job of providing and maintaining a building record, or “safety file”. In the UK, they have developed PAS1192-6 specification for sharing structured Health and Safety information. This can be accessed here, along with other useful guidance and resources for “information management”. https://ukbimframework.org/standards-guidance/