Hand over the golden thread at building completion

When building work on a higher-risk building in England is finished, the client must give the people who will run it the information they need. This is the golden thread handover. It is a legal step in the completion certificate application, not a courtesy.

Know who gives and who receives

The client is the person who must hand the information over. The principal designer and the principal contractor feed into it. The client must make the golden thread available to them on request so that they can meet their own duties, and they must supply what the client needs.

The person who receives it is called the relevant person. That is the Accountable Person for the part of the building the work relates to, and the responsible person under the Fire Safety Order if there is one. If the finished building is not a higher-risk building, only the responsible person receives it.

Know what you must hand over

You hand over two things:

• the information needed to operate and maintain the building, as the building regulations require it for the work
• a copy of the completion certificate application and every document that goes with it

The first item includes the fire safety information where the fire safety requirements apply to the work. It also covers the ventilation, energy and overheating systems where those requirements apply. The documents that go with the application are:

• the notice of the date the work was completed
• the site plan and any other plans needed to show compliance
• the construction control plan, change control plan and mandatory occurrence reporting plan
• the building regulations compliance statement and the fire and emergency file
• the change control log, updated for the whole project
• the compliance declarations signed by each principal contractor and principal designer

Hand it over in a form the recipient can use

Give the golden thread information with the filing structure you kept it in. That includes every index, key or other label that links one item to another. The format must let the recipient read, keep and update it.

The golden thread must already meet the standards for the facility you keep it in.

Before you apply for the completion certificate, update the facility with a copy of your proposed application and each document that will accompany it.

Get the timing and the sign-off right

You must hand the information over no later than the date the work is completed. If part of the building is to be occupied before the work is finished, you must apply for a partial completion certificate first. In that case the latest date is the day that part is occupied.

The handover duty does not apply to work on an existing higher-risk building that consists only of scheme work, exempt work or emergency repairs.

Do not let anyone move in early

Nobody may live in a flat in the building until the right completion certificate has been issued. If someone does, the Accountable Person responsible for that part commits an offence. A reasonable excuse is a defence.

What happens after handover

The Accountable Person becomes responsible for keeping the golden thread. They must keep it up to date and obtain anything they do not hold unless that is not practicable. If there is more than one Accountable Person, each keeps the information for its own part of the building.

The Accountable Person must give the information to the Regulator, to other Accountable Persons and to residents and owners in the cases the regulations list. They must also pass it on if their responsibility for the building ends. A client who is running a later project on the building can ask for the relevant fire safety and structural information by giving written notice.