Yes. On commercial work we hand over an operation and maintenance pack covering the rooflight package: a schedule of what was installed and where, the manufacturers’ own operating and cleaning instructions, control and actuator information for any opening units, the guarantee documents, and a record of the installed details. On a project with a principal designer we supply it in whatever format the health and safety file requires. On a small job it is a slimmer document, but it still exists, because the person who has to look after those units in eight years will not be the person who ordered them.
What sits in the rooflight section of the file
An O&M manual for a whole building is a large document assembled from every trade’s contribution. Ours is one section of it, and it should contain the schedule of units, the product data sheets, the manufacturer’s operating and maintenance literature, the electrical and control information for any powered units, the as-installed positions, the guarantee and warranty documents, and a short statement of the installed detailing.
That last item is the one usually missing from other people’s packs, and it is the one a future surveyor wants: what the kerb is, how high it stands, what the covering was dressed into, and what fixings were used.
The unit schedule is the part people actually use
A schedule is worth more than everything else in the pack combined, because it answers the question that comes up years later: what exactly is that, and can I get another one. It lists each unit by reference, the manufacturer and model code, the external kerb size and the daylight opening, the glass or sheet specification, the finish, the opening type if any, and the installation date.
Reference numbers should match a drawing or a numbering system marked on the roof itself, so somebody standing next to a unit can identify it without measuring. On a roof carrying units of several sizes that saves a wasted visit every time.
Actuators, controls and the electrical information
Opening units bring a second layer of documentation. The pack needs the actuator make and model, the stroke length, the voltage, the control panel details and its location, the wiring arrangement, any rain or wind sensor and where it sits, and the settings applied at commissioning. Where a unit is linked into a building management system or a fire alarm, the interface details belong in there too.
Commissioning records go alongside, showing that each unit was operated through its full travel and closed correctly. On a life safety installation those records are not optional paperwork, and the specialist commissioning them provides them. We include what we hold and identify who holds the rest.
Cleaning and maintenance instructions come from the manufacturer
Maintenance guidance for rooflights is written by the people who made them, and we pass it through rather than paraphrase it. It typically covers cleaning frequency and permitted cleaning agents, which matter because solvents attack polycarbonate and abrasives ruin coated glass. It also covers gasket and seal inspection intervals, hinge and stay lubrication on opening units, and actuator service intervals.
What we add is the access position: how the units can safely be reached, whether the route crosses any glazing, and whether the roof needs edge protection before anyone cleans them. That connects directly to the question of whether commercial rooflights can be walked on, and the answer belongs in the manual rather than in a conversation nobody remembers.
The health and safety file under CDM
On notifiable projects under the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015, the principal designer compiles a health and safety file for the client, and it is a different document from the O&M manual even though the two are often bound together. The file is about residual risk for future work: fragile surfaces, access limitations, where services run near an opening, and anything that would surprise a contractor arriving in ten years.
Our contribution is factual. Which units are non-fragile as installed and which existing ones on the same roof are not, where the safe access points sit, and what has to be isolated before an opening unit is worked on. We provide that information for the file rather than compiling the file ourselves, unless the project is small enough that we are the only contractor on it.
As-installed positions and the drawings that go with them
A marked-up roof plan showing every unit with its schedule reference is a modest piece of work with a long life. Where the client supplied drawings, we mark those up. Where there were none, which is common on older commercial buildings, a dimensioned sketch and photographs from a consistent viewpoint are perfectly adequate and better than nothing.
Photographs taken during installation are worth including as well: the opening framed, the kerb before the covering was dressed, the flashing before the final unit went on. Once a job is finished, none of that is visible again, and it is exactly what somebody planning future work needs to see.
Guarantee and warranty documents in the pack
Three separate documents belong in the file and they cover different things. The manufacturer’s product warranty for each unit, with its start date and its conditions, which often include maintenance requirements that void it if ignored. Any separate warranty on actuators or control equipment, which is usually shorter. And our own ten-year workmanship guarantee covering the installation: the kerb and upstand detailing, the flashings and laps, the fixings and the interface with the covering.
Keeping them together matters, because the first question in any future issue is which of the three applies. The wider paperwork picture is set out on our page about insurance, warranties and commercial paperwork.
Format follows whoever is compiling the file
If you are running a project with a main contractor, we supply our section in their format, to their numbering, by their deadline, digitally or in hard copy as required. If you are a building owner commissioning us directly, we supply a single indexed PDF with the schedule at the front. Either way, the requirement wants stating at order stage rather than at handover, because a manual assembled retrospectively is always thinner than one built as the work goes.
Tell us if a specific template or document management system is in play. It is easier to work to it from day one than to reformat afterwards.
On a smaller job the pack is shorter, not absent
Replacing four units on a small commercial roof does not warrant a ring binder. It warrants a two-page schedule, the manufacturer’s literature, the guarantee documents and a photograph set. That is what we issue, and it takes the same information forward without pretending to be something larger.
We install and replace rooflights only, across Oxford and twenty-five miles by road, fitting VELUX, Fakro, Keylite and Roto units, with fifteen years in the trade behind a ten-year workmanship guarantee. If you want to see the handover format before you order, ask when you enquire. Call 01865 704245 or email info@heritageskylightsoxford.co.uk.
Helpful reading on this
Costs, comparisons and the questions we are asked most.
Tell us about your roof
We start with the building, the covering and the slope. Then we tell you what will suit it, and what it will cost, as a fixed written number.
- Surveyed before it is priced
- 10-year workmanship guarantee
- Building Control notification handled
- New installations and replacements