Building documentation is often considered a necessity by contractors, but it can also be a job and time saver for Facilities Managers.

The Facilities Manager ideally needs his or her documentation to be accurate, robust and searchable. An FM has two priorities with regards to Building Files:

1. Firstly in a planning phase - plan the preventative maintenance and when many certifications need to be renewed of both the building and plant. To find out the information on each peace of plant his source is the building documentation files.
2. Secondly is a reactive phase - when a piece of plant or part of the building is in breakdown or fault the FM needs to understand what and why and how to repair the item. This important information needs to be readily at hand to pass on to the technicians who will carry out the repair.

Why does this information need to be readily at hand? Health and Safety is a key reason. To ensure all persons that work on the maintenance and repair of your building are aware of the procedures, process and risks involved, and so to minimise the likely impact.

Searching through arch lever files for a distribution board location or a water stop when it’s dark or water is flooding in is not an easy task. A quick search engine is needed by the FM to rapidly search and pass on the key information to the people who need it.

In these days of multi-site management, carrying all the information you need is near impossible in paper form. With access to the Internet all of your data on building documentation could be readily available via laptops, IPAQs or smartphones. 

This is where the O&M Bureau's services for existing building owners can help. We are experts in digitising building documents, and storing them in a searchable, manageable and transportable digital database, which can be on hand at all times, and save you time and money.