The Closeout Process: Institutions and Corporate Clients

Our clients’ success in the closeout process is very important to us. When a construction project wraps up, it is imperative that the project management team leave the project strategically and methodically so that the institution is empowered to maintain the new facility in the best, most efficient way possible. Specific steps should be taken to maintain order upon exiting.

Project Closeout Steps

  • Obtain certificate of occupancy from appropriate governing body.
  • Assure in-house teams receive necessary systems training (electrical, plumbing, HVAC, elevators, other special systems, etc.).
  • Obtain and distribute operations and maintenance manuals, keys and extra stock items. Communicate locations to all necessary parties and turnover to respective client party.
  • Collect and organize as-built drawings, validate and approve final as-builts and turnover to respective client party in the required format (electronic, paper, etc.).
  • Review and prepare final accounts/costs; assure all invoicing is complete; recommend financial closeout.
  • Closeout all change order requests/reconcile final costs.
  • Complete change order management log.
  • Assure punch list items are complete.
  • Assure any conditional permit approval/occupancy items are complete and final permit has been issued.
  • Provide square foot analysis basis (hard, soft, in-house services, etc.) on final cost to be used as historical data for future project budgeting.
  • Transition any open items to in-house staff via turnover meeting and review.

Communication is so critical during the closeout process. Your owner’s representative should make the closeout transition easy and clear. The locations of documents such as as-builts, O&M manuals, punch list, historical data, etc. should be communicated to the appropriate client parties and should be organized and easy to find and translate. The success of a project continues to be defined once it is over and if documentation is disorganized or not available, it may take a hit to the project’s success.

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