Why is this step important?
Design and construction are complex processes subject to intense time and financial pressures. Specific design elements can easily be overlooked or overwhelmed, particularly "small" items that simply get lost in the rush to complete the project on time and on budget.
But very often these "small" elements have a big impact on the operation and/or maintenance of the buildings in the development. Sometimes they must even be retroactively added back into the project so that it can function as intended - a process that adds cost and time to the process.
The Operation and Maintenance Considerations Checklist was created to help a developer avoid these costly oversights. Effective use of the Checklist ensures that key design elements contributing to a development's operation and maintenance are not overlooked and are, in fact, "built in" to the project
When should this step be done?
Who should do this step?
The owner/developer together with the architect and the contractor.
What should be done?
- Go through the O&M Considerations Checklist with the design/contractor team once at the end of Schematic Design, once at the end of Design Development and once at the end of the Contract Documents phase.
- Go through the checklist at least twice during construction, once early in the process and once when construction is roughly 85% complete.
- Print the Operation and Maintenance Considerations Checklist and add it to the Project Book. Go through the Checklist at least five times (see above) over the course of the project.
How can doing this help move my project forward?
- Design doesn't exist in a vacuum. The finished product will have to be cost-effectively operated and maintained. The Checklist provides a good basic framework for reality-checking design.
- Using the Checklist will help avoid time consuming and costly "retrofits" of key design components.
- The Checklist is one of the important tools that help control construction costs and speed the overall construction process.
