The 2002 Changes to Part L of the Building Regulations introduced a requirement to produce a package of information about the building services system in a new or refurbished building.

Proposals for the 2005 edition of Part L will extend the range of refurbishment work that needs a logbook. Most of the information needed is produced in the course of a project – all the logbook does is to bring it together in a concise summary form for the benefit of the owners or occupiers.

The regulations don’t specify who should produce the logbook, only that it must be provided.

Hywel Davies, CIBSE Research Manager, said smart contractors will compile the relevant information as they go along.

“The most cost effective way to do this is to be aware at the outset and ensure that the relevant information is put aside as it is produced,” he said. “This will be much less costly than adding it to the list of things to be done to achieve practical completion, by which time the people with the information have usually gone to the next project.”

Guidance on the format and contents of logbooks is available in a publication from the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers, TM31 – Building Logbooks, which comes complete with an electronic template. See www.cibse.org for more details

Source

Construction Manager