Recording commissioning, explaining operation and leaving the required system information.
Records to complete
A professional handover is more than turning the system on. Complete and leave:
- The Benchmark commissioning checklist, completed with the actual checks and results. It supports the commissioning record; warranty cover also depends on the manufacturer’s terms, registration and servicing requirements.
- The Building Regulations compliance paperwork for the work, notified through the correct route.
- Manufacturer registration of the appliance warranty.
- The water-treatment record (cleaner and inhibitor used).
- Balancing settings, commissioning measurements and the design flow temperatures and room heat losses. These let later work compare current performance with the recorded design and identify whether changed conditions require an update.
Instructing the customer
Show the user how to operate and look after the system:
- Working the programmer, thermostats and TRVs for comfort and economy.
- Reading the pressure gauge and using the installed filling arrangement to restore the specified cold pressure when appropriate.
- What the pressure relief valve discharge is and why it must stay clear.
- Frost precautions, and how to isolate or report a fault.
- Closing manual filling valves after use and disconnecting a removable hose as instructed. An integral keyed, keyless or automatic device follows its own procedure. Uncontrolled filling can conceal leakage or over-pressurise the circuit; repeated pressure loss needs investigation.
Leave the documents
Leave the manuals and completed commissioning record, and explain where later service visits are recorded. Give any compliance certificate already available and explain how the remaining notification or certificate will arrive through the applicable route. Keep the user instructions available from handover; later certification is a separate process. Follow the manufacturer’s warranty conditions and retain the service history.
A clear handover gives the occupier usable instructions and an accurate record of the work. Demonstrate the controls, explain fault reporting and keep the commissioning results with the system information; completed paperwork does not replace the checks it records.
The legal deadline and the Home User Guide
For work in England to which the Part L requirement applies, regulation 40 requires the person carrying out the work to give the owner sufficient operating and maintenance information no later than five days after completion. England’s 2021 Approved Document L describes dwelling-specific, accessible instructions and a completed commissioning sheet where relevant. This information duty is separate from building-control notices and compliance certificates; a later certificate does not justify withholding the user instructions.
For a new dwelling under England’s 2021 guidance, the operating and maintenance pack should also include a Home User Guide. It explains ventilation, heating and hot water, any on-site electricity generation, and staying cool in hot weather in language the occupier can use. It accompanies the technical records; the government template is optional. Apply the relevant nation’s rules and the project’s regulatory edition: this document is not required everywhere in the UK.