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O&M Manuals & Technical Authoring

With over 6000 building handover projects and 6 million documents converted to digital O&Ms since 1998, COGNICA are experts in the collection, structuring, digitisation and delivery of Operations & Maintenance information and BIM, CIBSE TM31, and BREEAM compliant Technical Authoring services for the UK utilities, buildings, and general construction industry.

Fully Managed Project

Our team setup your O&M project, review, chase the supply chain, collect all documents, collate and structure ready for your review and manage the delivery of your final O&M manuals, increasing your compliance at handover, tailored towards the Employer's Requirements from the start.

Reduce Administration

Relieve your team of the administrative challenges of sorting through your construction management system and let our team of experts download and collate required documents from your system (e.g. Viewpoint, Aconex, Asite, Procore etc) to prepare and deliver your O&M manuals, saving time, costs, and ensuring consistent quality.

Visibility & Reliability

Cloud-based technology with an easy user-friendly interface. Tailored to client’s requirements. 24/7 visibility to track and review all documents in one place. We do the chasing so you don't have to.

Professional Delivery

An O&M is not only about the collation but about producing a professional handover. We offer a range of delivery mechanisms including NaviDOC™, transferring to your CDE, publishing into your SharePoint, Files & Folders, PrintReadyPDF, and more to meet your bespoke requirements.

Navidoc

Operation & Maintenance Manuals (O&M)

Operation & Maintenance Manuals are required for all buildings, be they for new residential apartments, a new manufacturing plant, new multi-block commercial retail centre, refurbishment of a University Campus, office block repurposing, new warehousing, Gateway 3 compliance for high-rise buildings, we have more than likely worked on a similar project before. 

An O&M manual holds all the important information about the as-built building including descriptions of all the component sections, user guides, specifications, certificates, drawings, photographs etc. O&M manuals are a vital part of the project’s handover phase to the end owner / manager and an invaluable resource for the future maintenance of the building. Compiling an O&M manual can consume a lot of administrative time, and is sometimes seen like a burden to completing a project, rather than an essential component in the building’s safety and future maintenance programme to enhance the life of the building.

As part of our O&M service, for all types of buildings, and on authorisation from the Principal Contractor, COGNICA will provide Fire Safety content separation as its own section alongside the O&M manual, to support Reg38 sign off. The Fire Safety content must be approved by an authorised party (external to COGNICA) prior to delivery during Handover.  Contact our team to learn more about our Fire Safety content - O&M separation service. 


    What we do

    We take the stress out of project handovers with our inhouse digital O&M systems, or your CMS/CDE, using our managed services teams and technical authors delivering highly-structured content, with a fully managed service, that is digitally hosted and delivered.

    COGNICA specialise in managing O&M data and asset documentation for the utilities and construction industries. We offer a fully managed O&M service that saves time and resources for main contractors and end clients through our expert teams chasing all the supply chain, collating, and organizing handover documentation on your behalf, delivered using our highly structure digital O&M systems. COGNICA adhere to BIM, CIBSE, and BREEAM technical authoring standards and uses proprietary, in-house applications for document collation, hosting, and publication.  We also convert your legacy paper O&M manuals into a highly-structured modern digital format. 

    As well as O&M manuals we provide PPM schedules, asset registers, BREEAM user guides, CIBSE TM31 building logbooks, M&E manuals, H&S manuals, Regulation 38 Fire Safety content separation within the O&M manual, commercial and home user guides, student packs, and more. We are accredited to ISO19650 (BIM level 2) and ISO9001 (Quality), ensuring task information management and data compilation services for projects comply with BIM Level 2.

    COGNICA have the full range of experts in house to manage the digitisation of your O&M manual and Technical Authoring requirements for your handover project. Digitising your O&M Manual ensures you have 24/7/365 secure access and visibility to track and review all documents in one place helping increase compliance.

    If you require any type of Operation & Maintenance Manual, Health & Safety files, Mechanical & Electrical manuals, Building User Guides, Building Logbooks, Reality Capture Laser Surveys, we would love to talk to you.

    COGNICA - O&M Manuals & Technical Authoring

    Technical Authoring Services

    Our Technical Authoring services are wide ranging covering residential, commercial, educational, healthcare and water utility sites. Whether it’s a full Site Operating Guide, detailed M&E manuals, Build Logbooks, and more, our team of experienced Technical Authors are on hand to prepare technical documentation to support your building handover projects. Our Bronze, Silver and Gold TA service tiers enable you to select the right level of service for your project, whatever your budget.

    Some examples of our Technical Authoring Services include:

    • Building Log Books (CIBSE TM31) - Comprehensive log book for the building to TM31 standards.
    • Building User Guides (BREEAM) - Comprehensive building user guide to BREEAM standards.
    • M&E Manuals - Mechanical & Electrical manuals fully authored by our inhouse expects
    • H&S Manuals - Health & Safety manuals collated from information provided by the Principal Designer (PD) & Design Team for final approval by the PD.
    • PPM Schedules - Planned Preventative Maintenance Schedules prepared by our inhouse experts for your maintenance teams.
    • Site Operating Guides - Detailed site operating guide for your estate.
    • Site Specific Instructions - Comprehensive instruction manual for the management of your utilities site.
    • Asset Registers - Highly structured register of all your building or site assets including photography where available.
    • Home User Guides - Comprehensive resident user guides for apartment units, to suit the needs of the development.
    • Student User Guides - Comprehensive student user guide for campus services.

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    CDE / CMS Collaboration for O&M Projects

    COGNICA have existing workflows to support O&M projects with a wide variety of 3rd party Common Data Environments (CDE) / Construction Management Systems (CMS) including ViewPoint, Aconex, Procore, Asite, Dalux and more.  Our experienced team work with you to ensure our O&M project structure matches your requirements, then we'll extract all the relevant documentation and data from your CMS, structure it into our O&M management system for your final review ahead of publication into the agreed format and target destination (Into your CMS, NaviDoc, NaviGo, Files & Folders, Digital Cloud Delivery, SharePoint, and more).

    We have extensive experience of working with external systems and our CDE/CMS collaboration service eases your administration, saving you time, cost and supporting your compliance for a hassle free project handover at practical completion.

    COGNICA - O&M Manuals & Technical Authoring

    Your O&Ms in SharePoint

    O&Ms can also be delivered directly into your SharePoint tenant.  Our systems will collate and structure your O&M documentation and can publish directly into your own SharePoint tenant, providing you with a highly structured, updatable, easily navigable O&M library for your teams, in your own IT estate.  Our experts are on hand to provide full training and manage the process in full with you.

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    Paper O&Ms to Digital Conversion

    Fully managed conversion of legacy paper to digital O&Ms, no project too big or too small.  Do you have boxes of paper O&M manuals for your existing buildings and estates?  We can help.  Our team will sort through our boxes, cataloging, digitally scanning, and converting into a highly structured digital O&M manual ready to publish into NaviDoc, SharePoint, Files & Folders, or into your own CDE/CMS system.

    Reality Capture Laser Scanning – Insite360

    Reality capture digital twins of your buildings, utilities, and external sites with Insite360 & NavVis VLX rapid mobile laser scanning.  We can scan your existing site up to 10x faster than traditional laser scanners, with your site available next day in our cloud application Insite360.

    COGNICA - O&M Manuals & Technical Authoring

    Gateway 3 for High-Rise Buildings

    From October 2023, the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) will function as the Building Control Authority (BCA) specifically for High-Rise Buildings (HRBs). It will evaluate applications for HRBs, granting permission to commence construction once all necessary requirements are met.

    HRBs categorized as 'higher-risk' under the Buillding Safety Act 2022 (BSA) are those with a height of at least 18 meters or seven storeys and containing at least two residential units, or hospitals/care homes meeting the specified height criteria.

    HRBs will undergo a stringent building control approval process, navigating through three gateway points during the planning, building control approval, and completion stages. Gateways 2 and 3 will serve as checkpoints, ensuring that safety considerations are integrated at each phase of the building control process.

    Gateway 3 marks the introduction of a 'hold point' upon project completion, serving as a safety checkpoint before occupation can commence. This emphasis on prioritising the safety of future occupants during the concluding stages of construction is a crucial element within the new regulatory framework. It ensures that BSR has the necessary information to issue a completion certificate.

    During Gateway 3, BSRs conduct statutory consultations with the fire and rescue service, carefully reviewing the submitted information integral to the application. The completion certificate application, endorsed by the client, principal designer, and principal contractor, attests, to the best of their knowledge, that the as-built structure complies with all pertinent building regulations.

    Approval of the completion certificate hinges on presenting sufficient evidence that the constructed building aligns with approved plans and meets all regulatory requirements. Registration of the new building with BSR is contingent upon successfully passing Gateway 3. Occupation is only permitted following the completion of the registration process.

    The preparation for Gateway 3 commences at the outset of the building control process, ensuring the establishment of a comprehensive program for collecting all essential information from the project's inception. This aspect is referred to as the 'Golden Thread' of building information. Coordination of commissioning and certification with the submission of the completion certificate application is imperative and requires advanced scheduling.

    COGNICA’s digital O&M platform is a key component in demonstrating compliance with Gateway 3. Acting as one source of the truth to collect, collate, organise, and approve documents involved in the building compliance and handover stage, structuring the O&M manual into the required sections for simple navigation, approval, and delivery to the building owner.

    Interested in this solution?

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    Information processing was very quick and everything was laid out clearly. good communication with the team and subcontractors, a lot of the time response time, was immediate. Client feedback has been good

    Design Manager, Plympton Street, Places for People

    Providing clients with complete confidence

    COGNICA’s quality management systems provide our clients with complete confidence in the reliability of our products and solutions and is a registered member of the ICO for Data Protection under reference ZA751681.

     

    COGNICA hold a number of active quality certifications including ISO 9001 certification for collation and delivery of information (DNV), ISO 14001 for its Environmental Management System (DNV), ISO 45001 Occupational Health and Safety System (DNV), ISO 19650-2 for BIM Level 2 delivery (BSI). In addition, COGNICA hold further accreditations in Builder’s Profile Premium, Constructionline Gold, Achilles UVDB Silver, Acclaim (SSIP scheme), IHEEM affiliate and CSCS cards for construction site safety.

    Our projects

    High quality project management.

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    Glass Futures, Bowmer & Kirkland - O&M Documentation Management

    Glass Futures, Bowmer & Kirkland

    O&M Documentation Management

    Bowmer & Kirkland were having delivery issues with their current provider and reached out to COGNICA to help.

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    The Cheng Yu Tung Building, BAM - O&M Documentation Management​

    The Cheng Yu Tung Building, BAM

    O&M Documentation Management

    COGNICA facilitate and supervise the compilation and creation of the Operations and Maintenance Manual

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    Prince Charles Hospital, Tilbury Douglas - O&M Documentation Management

    Prince Charles Hospital, Tilbury Douglas

    O&M Documentation Management

    This project consisted of upgrading and extending the facilities over several phases. This was a BIM Level 2 Scheme.

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    O&M Quotation Enquiry

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