GM594 Unit 5 Handover and Transition Plan Example

Signed Two Days Before Completion: A Unit 5 Handover and Transition Plan for a 911 Center's Backup Power

[Student Name]

Purdue University Global

GM594: Project Closing, Ethics, and Professional Responsibilities

Unit 5 Handover and Transition Plan

[Instructor Name]

[Date]

The emergency communications district, its staff, its contractors and every date are composite and illustrative; the sources cited are real.

The Receiving Owner

The receiving owner is the technical services manager of the Ridgeline Emergency Communications District, who is responsible for the dispatch center's radio, power and network systems. She signed the handover agreement on November 18, two days before substantial completion, after reviewing the list of components below and the open items. Her signature means she accepts responsibility for operating and maintaining the systems from the date of acceptance, subject to the items listed as open.

The Project Management Institute describes transition as the transfer of a project's deliverables to the people who will operate and sustain them, including the knowledge they need (Project Management Institute, 2021). A handover without a named, consenting owner is the most common way a system becomes nobody's responsibility, as the district learned from an earlier project that was never closed.

What Is Transferred

Operating and maintenance manuals. For the generator, transfer switch, uninterruptible power supply and both cooling units, in paper and electronic form, filed in the equipment room and the shared drive.

As-built drawings. Electrical one-line diagrams, conduit routes and the relocated fuel tank pad, updated by the contractor and checked against the photo log.

Service contract. A quarterly generator service contract, including monthly exercise under load, an annual load bank test and fuel quality testing, matching the maintenance NFPA 110 expects of a Level 1 installation (National Fire Protection Association, 2022).

Alarm call tree. Three names in order: the on-call technician, the technical services manager and the deputy director, with phone numbers and the escalation times configured in the monitoring system.

Training records. Dated attendance for every session described below.

Spare parts. A shelf of filters, belts and fuses specified by the generator and cooling vendors.

Warranty register. Every warranty with its start date, length and contact.

Open items list. Every item not yet complete, with an owner and a due date.

The plan transfers the call tree with three names in order, because the acceptance review found that an alarm with no second contact is a failure the system itself cannot detect.

Sequence of the Handover

The handover happens in four steps rather than on one day. Before substantial completion, the receiving owner reviews and signs the component list, as she did on November 18. At substantial completion, the contractor delivers manuals, spare parts and draft as-builts, and the service contract begins its first monthly exercise. Training runs between substantial completion and acceptance, so staff learn the system while the contractor is still on site to answer questions. At acceptance, the alarm call tree goes live with its tested escalation, the warranty register is finalized and the support window starts. Splitting the handover this way means the district never operates a system that its staff have not been trained on, and the contractor never leaves before its open items are listed.

Training

Training covers 14 technical and supervisory staff and 22 dispatchers, in sessions sized to their roles. Technicians and supervisors receive four hours on generator alarms, manual transfer through the bypass, battery runtime limits and the monthly exercise procedure. Dispatchers receive one hour on what they will see and hear during a transfer, how long the power supply carries the consoles and whom to call. Each session is dated, with attendance recorded and signed by the trainer. Two dispatchers who were on leave will be trained before the end of December.

The Warranty Register and Its Dispute

The generator engine carries a five-year warranty, the cooling compressors three years and the contractor's workmanship one year. One question is unresolved. The contractor holds that warranties began at substantial completion on November 20. The district holds that they begin at acceptance on December 9, when the system first met all its criteria. The difference is 19 days. Under the general conditions of the construction contract, warranties generally begin at substantial completion unless the contract states otherwise (American Institute of Architects, 2017). The district's position rests on a clause in the specifications tying warranty start to acceptance of commissioned systems. The register records both dates and the dispute, which the projects manager will settle with the contractor before final payment.

The Support Window

The electrical contractor and the generator vendor remain on call for 30 days after acceptance, through January 8, at no additional cost. During that period any fault goes first to the on-call technician and then to the contractor, with a response time of four hours. After January 8, the service contract takes over.

Open Items at Handover

Four items are open: the as-built drawing for the alarm wiring, due December 15 from the contractor; the two dispatchers' training, due December 31; the warranty start date dispute; and the fuel delivery agreement countersignature from the supplier, due December 20. Each has an owner on the list.

Acknowledgment

The technical services manager's signature and date appear on the first page, with the projects manager's signature confirming that the listed components were delivered.

References

American Institute of Architects. (2017). AIA document A201-2017: General conditions of the contract for construction.

National Fire Protection Association. (2022). NFPA 110: Standard for emergency and standby power systems.

Project Management Institute. (2021). A guide to the project management body of knowledge (PMBOK guide) (7th ed.).