Last month, I suggested predictive maintenance requirements be considered when an HVAC design engineer is writing the contract specification for a construction project. This would be in addition to specifying the preventive maintenance criteria that should be found in the job’s required operation and maintenance (O&M) manual being delivered to the building owner’s facility staff.
A few years back, I began to notice specification writers expanding the O&M manual requirements that were being written into contract documents and more specifically the division 1 general conditions and supplementary conditions. In these construction projects, the specification writer of division 1 may overlook coordinating these requirements with the consulting design engineers’ for the mechanical and electrical trades. As a result, I have seen Division 1 require the contractor to provide the following five O&M manuals: