On a fit-out these two documents get muddled all the time. One is handed in and the client asks where the other is. Or everything goes into one folder and comes back to be split. They are separate documents with different jobs and a different legal basis, and they're usually asked for together at handover.
The short answer
The O&M manual tells the occupier how to run, clean and maintain what you installed. The health and safety file tells anyone who works on the building in future what they need to know to do it safely.
The two overlap, and they should point to each other, but neither replaces the other.
Side by side
| Question | O&M manual | Health and safety file |
|---|---|---|
| What is it for? | How to operate, clean and maintain what was installed | What someone needs to know to work on the building safely in future |
| Where does the requirement come from? | Your contract, usually the preliminaries | The CDM Regulations 2015, on projects with more than one contractor |
| Who is responsible for it? | Whoever the contract says, usually the contractor | The principal designer. If their appointment ends before the project does, it passes to the principal contractor |
| What goes in it? | Product data, maintenance instructions, warranties, test certificates, as-built drawings | Hazards that couldn't be designed out, structural limits, where services run, hazardous materials, as-built drawings, safe access |
| Who uses it? | The occupier and their facilities team | Anyone planning maintenance, cleaning, alterations, refurbishment or demolition |
| What happens to it? | Handed to the client at completion | The client keeps it, updates it and passes it to any new owner or leaseholder |
The O&M manual
The O&M manual is an industry document rather than a legal one. Its contents and format are set by your contract, normally in the preliminaries. It covers the products and systems you installed: what they are, who supplied them, how to look after them, and the warranties and certificates that go with them.
The facilities team will use it day to day. If they can't find the cleaning instructions for a floor finish or the warranty for a door closer, they'll ring whoever handed it over.
What goes in an O&M manual? has a full checklist.
The health and safety file
The health and safety file is required by the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 on any project with more than one contractor. Subcontractors count, so most fit-outs need one.
The principal designer is responsible for preparing it. If their appointment finishes before the project does, the principal contractor takes it over. The client has to make sure it's produced, keep it up to date and make it available after completion, including to anyone who buys or leases the building later. Designers and contractors don't own the file, but they're expected to feed information into it.
The file should give enough detail for future work to be done safely. That means maintenance and cleaning, but also alterations, refurbishment and eventually demolition. Typical contents include:
- a description of the work carried out
- hazards that couldn't be designed out, and how they're dealt with
- structural limits and where services run
- hazardous materials used
- as-built drawings and safe access routes
What it shouldn't contain is routine operating information. That belongs in the O&M manual.
The file should be started as early as possible and built up as the job goes, not written at the end.
Where they overlap
As-built drawings and safety information turn up in both documents. That's the most common source of confusion, and the most common reason for one big folder that tries to be both.
The fix is to keep the two documents separate and have them refer to each other. The health and safety file can point to the O&M manual for product information, and the O&M manual can point to the file for residual risks. Neither should repeat large chunks of the other.
As-built drawings on a fit-out explains how one set of marked-up drawings can serve both.
What this means on a fit-out
A few things save a lot of back and forth at the end:
- Find out at the start who the principal designer is, and whether they expect you to compile the file or only to feed information into it.
- Keep routine operating and maintenance instructions out of the health and safety file.
- Put in the file anything a future contractor couldn't see or wouldn't expect.
- Collect information for both documents as the job goes, from the same suppliers and subcontractors, at the same time.
Frequently asked questions
Is the health and safety file the same as the O&M manual?
No. The O&M manual covers how to operate and maintain what was installed. The health and safety file covers the information needed to work on the building safely in future. They're often handed over together but they're separate documents.
Who prepares the health and safety file?
Under CDM 2015, the principal designer. If their appointment ends before the project finishes, responsibility passes to the principal contractor.
Does every project need a health and safety file?
It's required on projects with more than one contractor. Subcontractors count, so most fit-outs need one.
What you get if you hand it over
We compile a Digital O&M & H&S File, from information you supply us, with your Company branding. You will receive a complete Digital O&M Package that complies with the BSA Golden Thread, in accordance with ISO9001, Section 7.5.2.
Request a call or email david@habgoodmanualsolutions.co.uk.
Related service: Health and safety files
