Asset Information Handover Guidelines from Planning and Construction to Operations and Maintenance (2024)
Chapter: 12 Conclusion
CHAPTER 12
Conclusion
Asset information handover is the process by which an asset owner gains the information and data required to appropriately manage and maintain constructed assets (the built environment) throughout the intended useful life of each constructed asset, system, item of equipment, or component. Asset information handover is supposed to be a part of project closeout, the time when design and construction projects come to an end, but often this handover doesn’t happen as it should, leaving asset owners without information that they need to operate and maintain newly constructed assets.
Throughout the phases of a design and construction project, numerous activities generate decisions, including scheduled or impromptu meetings, email exchanges, and phone conversations. Decision-making about a project is ongoing. Some projects (major capital projects) take years from inception to completion during which time staff, hired consultants, and contractors can change. The number of decisions made in such projects and the staff changeover make documentation of decisions imperative. Major airport projects are multimillion-dollar (if not billion-dollar) undertakings, with many moving parts. Having an airport culture that supports the asset information handover process and provides staff with the ability to enforce documented processes and procedures contributes to the success of major airport projects.
Members of the project team must work together to have a successful project and therefore a successful asset information handover process. The project team must understand what project closeout means for their airport and develop processes in support of successful project closeout. The asset information handover process, as part of project closeout, should provide the asset owner with the data and information it needs to manage, operate, and maintain a newly constructed asset.
Benefits of Asset Information Handover
Asset information handover is only one part of a project, but it is a culminating part. Successful asset information handover relies upon contractual requirements and attention to detail by the airport’s project team. With each project, there will be lessons learned that will help improve future projects, but these lessons must be documented to better enable future project teams to benefit. Ensure that a lessons-learned process becomes a part of your SOPs, and implement project delivery process improvements that address lessons learned to the benefit of your future projects.
Airports realizing any degree of successful asset information handover at project closeout will “know what they own” and operate. Those airport organizations that believe they have successful processes in place for asset information handover usually have team members responsible for overall monitoring of the design and construction phases of projects, staff members tasked with “taking ownership” of the built environment, and others tasked with ensuring that every
constructed asset remains operational. These individuals usually are more than aware of the projects currently underway or on the horizon that will impact their areas of responsibility.
Opportunities to streamline project delivery processes to include asset information handover will always arise, especially as software and technologies advance, thereby improving the productivity of those involved with airport design and construction, operations, maintenance, and management processes. Those who have had success with obtaining requested asset information at project closeout will save money overall, as there will be less staff time involved in recreating or researching newly constructed assets to document the data needed for everyday O&M activities.
Each airport design and construction project represents a small part of an airport’s overall constructed asset portfolio. Each airport has limited staff resources to see these projects through to completion, so strategically analyzing staff resources, prioritizing projects, and ensuring that standardized processes are embraced will be critical for success.
Continued Challenges for Asset Information Handover
Successful asset information turnover is not guaranteed even if an airport develops processes and procedures and Division 01 project closeout requirements and outlines how asset information handover should be approached. Airports also need to provide staff resources and train that staff for roles in support of planning, design, and construction. Placing this responsibility on existing staff can put a strain on them and, as a new responsibility, asset information handover might be less of a priority for staff than existing responsibilities.
Failure to proactively manage design and construction activities can be financially inefficient and can also create opportunities for staff discontent, especially for those project stakeholders directly affected by adverse project activities. This can affect project stakeholders’ desire to participate in project decisions. For instance, if a staff member from the maintenance group knows that a certain item of equipment requires less maintenance than another, shares this information with the project team, and is ignored, then not only has valuable information been lost, but the team may also have lost the staff member’s participation in future decisions.
To define the project closeout information that is required is no easy task either. Airports need to know what they own, but the asset information required at project closeout will be different for maintenance, operations, and project management staff. Furthermore, depending on their area of responsibility, staff members may need to know different things about the same assets. Collectively, staff member requests for asset information become the data attributes that are required in the project closeout documents. How these asset data attributes are communicated to the construction team must be specific enough such that the contractor can provide the airport with the accurate data it requires during closeout.
Historically, the project closeout process has fallen short, regardless of efforts to make it useful. Depending on your airport staff’s expectations and the specified requirements, whether that be hard-copy deliverables or software files, there are almost always insurmountable challenges or reasons why project closeout deliverables cannot be provided. Attempting to implement an asset information handover process is only one puzzle piece in project closeout. Airports may still struggle with their internal procurement and contracting groups on how documents are worded or structured, when deliverables from the construction teams are due, and in what formats. Further, staff in procurement and contracting are often not aware of the needs of those in O&M when it comes to project closeout asset information handover.
Developing an understanding of the asset information handover process and the requirements that must be included within the contract documents as part of the Division 01 project closeout will help staff across all departments and groups contribute to a successful asset information handover and thus an improved project closeout process.
In Closing
Defining your project closeout requirements, which should result in an improved asset information handover process, and then communicating the data and information to staff should be a major focus of a successful asset management program. Each airport should understand what it owns, what it manages, and how it needs to plan for the built environment. Equally important is understanding what costs are associated with operating constructed assets and future capital requirements for these assets. Every department within an airport organization should own its roles and responsibilities in supporting a successful asset management program that relies on accurate, detailed asset information. The business processes that define asset information requirements will vary based on airport projections for the future or information on assets the airport currently owns, manages, and maintains, including information on asset condition. Ensuring that the built environment supports all airport operations and thereby keeps the airport functional is the bottom line.
