Project manuals

Site specific documentation.

We work with your team or sub-contractors to gather and collate data types into a central document source.

We make sense of it

Project or Building OM manuals are usually large, complex documents containing many different data types. Yet is it essential they are easy to navigate by the end-user, especially busy engineers who need to complete a task quickly and at the first attempt.

Save downtime, increase efficiency

Maintenance engineers need to know exactly what they will find when they arrive at site, what is installed, hazards, tools required, and any access restrictions.

Our project manuals are in the field being used by engineers everyday, as a vital tool to helping them complete their work.

Tailored to your needs

We can provide high-detail, comprehensive documentation, or abbreviated, concise alternative documentation depending on your needs and budget.

Next step

We can bring this experience to projects of any size, so if you have a building or engineering project requiring documentation please get in touch.

Getting the balance right

Our aim is to satisfy your end-user by delivering documents that are clear to understand and easy to navigate. Providing the right level of detail and description, balanced with annotated images and drawing extracts to explain the project without excess text.

Operating and maintenance information, is given as stepped procedures with clear references to safety information, access, tools, equipment and consumables. This ensures maintainers are prepared for their task avoiding unnecessary delays.

Maintenance schedules and troubleshooting

We understand that the end-user will want to include this type of information into an existing or new maintenance program so we aim to keep these sections as end-user friendly as possible.

Where necessary troubleshooting information is included reducing the reliance on your customer support teams.

Typical manual types

Building OMMs, Mechanical & Electrical OMMs, Installation, Maintenance, Building Services and all types of subset (fire safety, HVAC, building fabric etc.), Facility Management, Health and Safety Files, Homeowner User Guides.

Past projects

We have a proud history of working for multi-nationals on some of the UK’s largest and most prestigious construction and engineering projects. Including major railway upgrades and new infrastructure projects, power plants, shopping centres and hotels.

Tender partners on large projects

For large projects to be successful it requires multiple teams of skilled specialists to come together and apply their skills. AST Authors have a history of bringing the technical publication expertise to projects. We are experienced in the ways that large projects need to operate, working with multiple stakeholders and with teams where time is precious and pressure constant.

If you are tendering for a project and need to deliver handover documentation, please contact us. We can assess the Scope of Work and provide guidance and an estimate to assist you in your tender process.

Rail manuals

Rail manuals are diverse and often include elements from civil and architectural and mechanical and electrical categories.

We have a long history of writing rail-related manuals, in particular for prestigious clients such as Transport for London (TfL) documenting the relocation of the existing Docklands Light Railway Pudding Mill Lane Station and the new electrical systems there-in.

London Underground documenting the area-wide lighting main cabling replacements and associated track side cable route management systems (CRMS), switchboard upgrades and track side DC power supply upgrades and concrete bases, track-side relocatable buildings (REBs) and signalling equipment rooms (SERs) and 12-car platform stopping signage.

Network Rail documentation driver only operation (DOO) platform camera systems.

And most recently Crossrail documentation platform edge door systems.

Property manuals

We work with property companies requiring building services manuals. This covers things such as the fabric and the structure of the construction, maintenance procedures and emergency equipment, written to the latest building regulation standards.

Sometimes this is residential only, other times it’s residential mixed with commercial units.

We work with property companies of any size so please contact us to see how we can help.

Homeowner guides

We also write homeowner user guides for you to give to your buyers or tenants. Informing them about their property, including what is installed, how to look after it and introducing them to the building’s facilities.

Data Centres

With the rise in Data Centres, AST are in a strong position to provide the Building OMMs for your project. We can provide both the external build manuals and the internal fit-out manuals, or either on their own depending on your needs.

We typically provide a multi-volume Operation & Maintenance manual, Building User Guide, a BREEAM Building Log Book, Health & Safety File and Asset Schedule. However, we tailor the documentation set to your contract requirements.

The number of Data Centre projects we are involved with is increasing so please contact us with your documentation requirements for a project review and a no obligation quote.

Read our Data Centre article.

Support for Principle Contractors

AST Authors support Principal Contractors with their handover documentation with authors based either on site or at our offices in Letchworth.

We begin involvement at the early stages of the project to begin structuring and developing templates, identifying the correct system SMEs, gathering and reviewing available source material and starting the template population process. Leaving the PC to focus on design and build, other key works and deliverables.

AST Authors commonly manage the O&M requirements of sub-contractors on behalf of the PC to ensure a more streamlined O&M process, all in the right template, with the right content, in the right format and delivered at the right time.