Leeds, West Yorkshire, United Kingdom
The University of Leeds is one of the United Kingdom’s leading research-intensive universities, consistently ranked among the top institutions globally for its academic output across science, engineering, medicine and the humanities. The Exoskeleton Machine Room project represents a specialist research facilities upgrade, providing dedicated mechanical plant and machine room infrastructure to support the university’s advanced research programmes.
To support the mechanical services handover for this project, Dewick & Associates was engaged to produce the Electrical and Mechanical Services O&M Manuals on behalf of the mechanical contractor LMB Group, providing the university’s estates and facilities team with a clear, compliant record of the installed electrical and mechanical systems.
By Louise Gardner
Credit: The image has been generated by AI and depicts a conceptual exoskeleton machine room. It is not the actual location.
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The electrical & mechanical contractor LMB Group delivered the M&E services for the Exoskeleton Machine Room, working within the access constraints and programme requirements of an active university campus. University estates projects in the UK operate within the framework set by the higher education institution’s own estates standards, and the documentation requirements reflect the university’s need for clear, accurate records that support both day-to-day facilities management and the long-term stewardship of its research infrastructure. The contractor engaged Dewick & Associates to produce Electrical & Mechanical Services O&M Manuals that would close out the mechanical handover to the university’s requirements.
Mechanical and Electrical O&M Manuals for specialist research facilities must support the unique environmental requirements of highly controlled research spaces. Plant rooms, laboratory support systems and specialist equipment often rely on precise temperature, humidity and ventilation conditions to maintain operational performance and protect research outcomes. As a result, the documentation must go beyond recording installed assets and clearly define system operating parameters, maintenance requirements and performance tolerances so facilities teams can maintain critical environmental conditions over the long term.
University estates teams are also responsible for managing extensive and diverse property portfolios. This means O&M documentation must be logically structured, easy to navigate and consistent in format, enabling engineers and maintenance contractors to quickly locate relevant information and efficiently manage building services systems, even when they have had no previous involvement with the project.
Dewick & Associates’ in-house Client Coordinator and technical authors managed and produced Electrical and Mechanical Services O&M Manuals covering the full scope of the M&E installations, incorporating equipment schedules, manufacturers’ technical data, system descriptions, operating procedures and preventative maintenance schedules.
The electrical works included the provision of new, general and emergency and exit lighting, extension of the existing communications and fire alarm systems, and modifications of the existing boards.
Mechanical works provided included a new multi-head air conditioning system and associated supply air fan and heat recovery ventilator, hydraulic works and sanitary fixtures.
The documentation was structured to give the estates team a clear understanding of each system before reaching the technical data, with operating parameters and maintenance tolerances relevant to the research environment clearly identified throughout.
Dewick & Associates uploaded the manual contents to Web FM Omtrak construction management software, and managed the process of completing the client’s manual requirements on behalf of LMB.
The project resulted in clear, compliant Mechanical & Electrical Services O&M Manuals that support the efficient, reliable operation of the Exoskeleton Machine Room systems. The university’s estates team has a structured reference covering the installed plant, helping them maintain the environmental conditions that the research programmes depend on while managing their planned maintenance obligations.
For the M&E contractor, the deliverable closes out the works professionally on a specialist university research facility in Yorkshire. For a no-obligation quote on your next higher education or research facility project, contact Dewick & Associates.
The content in this case study has been informed by project documentation and client communication provided to Dewick & Associates during and following the completion of the project. Where external sources have contributed to our understanding of relevant standards or industry practice, these are listed below.
The image has been generated by AI and depicts a conceptual exoskeleton machine room. It is not the actual location.
Note: Some content in this case study draws on a combination of sources rather than direct quotation. Where this is the case, contributing sources are acknowledged above rather than cited inline.
Authoring and upload of O&M Manual sections and documents to the cloud-based software platform to enable efficient plant operation and effective maintenance for equipment longevity, including:
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