Oxford, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom
City of Oxford College is one of Oxfordshire’s further education colleges, providing vocational education, training and A-level programmes to students across the Oxford region from its city centre campus. The refurbishment of the city centre campus represents a meaningful investment in the quality of the college’s educational facilities, updating the building to support modern teaching and learning environments.
To support the project’s handover, Dewick & Associates was engaged by Hi-Tech Property Services Ltd to produce the Building Handover Manual, Health and Safety File and Electrical and Mechanical Services O&M Manual.
Our focus was on producing a coordinated documentation suite that gave the college’s facilities team everything they needed at handover in one well-organised package, covering the building fabric, the M&E services installation and the CDM Health and Safety File.
By Louise Gardner
Credit: This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. The file City of Oxford College City Centre Campus can be viewed on wikimedia.
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Hi-Tech Property Services Ltd was appointed to deliver construction works at the college campus, coordinating building fabric, mechanical and electrical services, and specialist fitout activities within a live educational environment. Projects within historic university estates require careful planning to ensure new works integrate with existing buildings while meeting modern construction, operational and safety standards.
As the principal contractor, Hi-Tech Property Services was responsible for delivering a compliant handover package at project completion. Under the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 (CDM 2015), a Health and Safety File was required to provide the client with essential information for the safe operation, maintenance, future alteration and eventual demolition of the building. Alongside this, comprehensive Building Handover Manuals and Mechanical & Electrical O&M Manuals were required to document the installed systems, equipment, warranties, maintenance procedures and statutory information.
To ensure consistency across all documentation and simplify the handover process, Hi-Tech Property Services Ltd engaged Dewick & Associates to produce the complete suite as a single coordinated package.
Producing a coordinated handover documentation suite covering the building fabric, M&E services and CDM Health and Safety File simultaneously requires a structured approach to information gathering and document production that prevents gaps, duplication or inconsistencies between the three deliverables. The Health and Safety File under the CDM Regulations 2015 has specific content requirements that overlap with but are distinct from those of a standard Building Handover Manual, and the two documents need to be clearly delineated so that the college’s facilities team understands what each contains and when to refer to each. The Combined Mechanical & Electrical O&M Manual needs to cover both the electrical and mechanical disciplines coherently, in a format that serves the college’s facilities team as a practical reference for a building they will manage across an extended operational period.
Dewick & Associates used our nucleus online portal to efficiently coordinate the collection of product literature, warranties, commissioning records, compliance certificates and maintenance information from all project subcontractors. Our in-housetechnical authors produced a coordinated suite of handover documentation comprising the Building Handover Manual, Combined Electrical and Mechanical Services O&M Manuals, and Health Safety File required under the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 (CDM 2015). Each document was structured to meet its specific contractual and regulatory purpose while maintaining a consistent project record. The combined M&E O&M Manual included equipment schedules, operating procedures, manufacturer’s technical literature, commissioning information and preventative maintenance schedules, supporting efficient facilities management and long-term asset performance.
Hi-Tech Property Services Ltd achieved a compliant and professionally managed project handover with a fully integrated documentation package that satisfied both contractual requirements and CDM 2015 obligations. The coordinated Building Handover Manual, Health and Safety File and Combined Mechanical & Electrical Services O&M Manuals provide City of Oxford College with a comprehensive record of the refurbishment works, supporting safe operation, planned maintenance, future alterations and statutory compliance. The documentation enables the college’s facilities team to manage building assets more effectively, reduce operational risk and maintain accurate building records throughout the lifecycle of the refurbished campus.
For a no-obligation quote on your next education or refurbishment 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.
This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. The file City of Oxford College City Centre Campus can be viewed on wikimedia.
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.
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