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At completion

Handover, and
the file that
outlives it.

A free project handover and close-out checklist: 21 checks in plain English, each with the regulation behind it. The health and safety file, the O&M manuals and the defects period.

Published · Last reviewed

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What handover
actually has to hand over.

Handover is where a well-run job quietly becomes a badly documented building. The construction phase plan dies with the project; the health and safety file outlives it and is read by whoever maintains, refurbishes or eventually demolishes the structure. CDM 2015 makes the principal designer prepare it and hand it to the client, and the client keep it available. Most disputes at close-out are about information nobody collected while it was free to collect.

The file against the plan, who holds what, and why retention is the client's problem+
The file is not the plan
Two documents, two audiences. The construction phase plan is for the people building the job and finishes when they do. The health and safety file is for whoever works on the structure afterwards. Both sit under Reg 12, and a handover that confuses them hands over the wrong one.
Who prepares it
The principal designer prepares and updates the file through the project and passes it to the client at the end. Where the PD's appointment finishes before the project does, Reg 12(7) passes the job to the principal contractor. That handover is itself commonly missed.
What goes in it
Residual hazards, key structural principles, hazardous materials left in place, services and how to isolate them, and information for safe cleaning and maintenance. It is not a dump of every document from the job.
Who keeps it
The client, available to anyone who needs it, and it must be passed on if the structure is sold. A file handed over on a USB stick that nobody can find in five years has technically been handed over and practically has not.
What this checklist covers
21 checks across three sections: 7 on the health and safety file, 8 on the technical and commercial handover, 6 on closing the job out properly.
The health and safety file

The health and safety file.

Seven checks on the document that outlives the project, and on whether it is usable rather than merely delivered.

Technical and commercial

The technical handover.

Eight checks on the information the building needs to be operated, and the money closed.

Closing the job

Closing the job out.

Six checks that stop a finished project generating work for two more years.

A starting point for your own review, not legal advice. Always check against the current regulations and HSE guidance. Put your own company in the field above and the PDF carries your name instead of ours. Ticks, notes and site details stay in your browser. Nothing is sent to us.

Download

Or use it as a printable template.

Download the blank project handover checklist as a PDF, or work through the list above on screen and save that instead, dated and carrying the site, the person who prepared it and the score out of 21. Nothing is gated: no email address to hand over, no account to create, no trial to start.

Download the blank template (PDF) PDF · 21 checks · 70 KB · free, no sign-up
A blank template
The PDF above carries all 21 checks, each with the regulation it comes from and a ruled line for the evidence, the owner and the date. Print it and fill it in on site.
Or a completed record
Work through it on screen first and Save as PDF produces a dated record of what was in place and what was not, with your evidence notes typed against each check.
Your ticks stay in your browser
Ticks, notes and site details are held on this device only. Nothing is sent to us, so you can close the tab and pick it up tomorrow on the same machine.
Your name on it, not ours
Put your company in the field above and the downloaded PDF carries your letterhead instead of Unibuild's. It is free: a sheet you hand to a client should be able to have your name on it.

Worth knowing. A checklist filled in once, the week of an audit, is a snapshot. The evidence behind it is either generated as the work runs or reconstructed under pressure, and that is the difference between a template and a record. It is also what the health and safety module is for.

By duty holder

The same handover,
read by role.

These are the same checks above, grouped by whoever normally answers for them.

Principal designer

The whole file section. Reg 12 makes it yours through the project, and where your appointment ends first it must be handed to the principal contractor deliberately, not by default.

Principal contractor

The file where it has passed to you under Reg 12(7), plus demobilisation and the waste paperwork. The last week on site is where records get lost.

Client

Receiving the file, keeping it available, and passing it on if the structure is sold. It is a duty, not a delivery, and it survives your project team.

Project manager

The technical and commercial section end to end. Most of what is missing at handover was free to collect three months earlier.

Facilities or operator

The training and the O&M information. If the people who will run the building were not in the room, the handover has not happened.

Commercial

Final account, retention dates and warranty assignment. Retention released late is the most predictable dispute in construction.

After the checklist

You shouldn't need
this checklist.

On the platform the certificates, as-builts, surveys and sign-offs accumulate against the project as the job runs, so the file is assembled rather than reconstructed.

Questions

What people ask before
they use the checklist.

The questions that come up most often around a project handover checklist, answered against the regulations rather than around them.

What is the difference between the health and safety file and the construction phase plan?+
They are two documents with two audiences. The construction phase plan is the live document for the people building the job: site rules, arrangements, significant risks and welfare. It finishes when the job does. The health and safety file is for whoever maintains, refurbishes or eventually demolishes the finished structure, and it outlives the project. Both sit under Regulation 12.
Who prepares the health and safety file?+
The principal designer, who prepares it, reviews it and updates it through the project and passes it to the client at the end. Where the principal designer's appointment finishes before the end of the project, Regulation 12(7) passes the responsibility to the principal contractor, and that handover between them is itself frequently missed.
Is a health and safety file always required?+
It is required where more than one contractor is involved in the project. On a genuinely single-contractor job there is no requirement for a file, although information about residual hazards still has to reach whoever will work on the structure later, and providing it is sensible whatever the regulations require.
What should not go in the health and safety file?+
Everything that only mattered during construction. It is not an archive of the whole job: not the construction phase plan, not the RAMS, not the pre-construction information, not contractual documents, and not every supplier brochure. Padding it makes the residual hazards harder to find, which is the opposite of its purpose.
Who keeps the file after handover?+
The client, who must keep it available for inspection by anyone who needs it to comply with their duties, and must pass it on to the new owner if the structure is sold. A file handed over on unlabelled media that nobody can locate in five years has been delivered but not handed over in any way that matters.
When should we start compiling the file?+
At the start of the project, not at the end. CDM 2015 expects the principal designer to prepare it during the pre-construction phase and update it as the work proceeds. Compiling it at handover means chasing information from subcontractors who have been paid and left, which is the most expensive way to collect anything.
Is this checklist free, and do I have to sign up?+
It is free and there is nothing to sign up for. No email address, no account, no trial. Tick it above, add evidence notes if you want them, and download the result as a PDF. Ticks, notes and site details are held in your own browser and nothing is sent to us.
Can I put my own company name on the PDF?+
Yes. There is a company field beside the site and the person completing it, and whatever you put there becomes the letterhead on the downloaded PDF instead of ours. It is a free checklist: a sheet you hand to a client should be able to carry your name.
Does Unibuild do this for me?+
No supplier makes a business compliant, and be wary of one that says its software does. What the platform does is hold the record: the check, the person, the date, the photograph and the action that followed, retrievable by site and by date with an audit trail behind it. The duty stays with the duty holder. More on the health and safety module.
Next step

On the one
finishing now.

Run this over the project closing this month and see how much of the file is still on somebody else's laptop.

Book a demo → See the H&S module
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