This document is one of the great unknowns among all those that are collected and delivered in a edification, in addition to being mandatory by law as we will see below.
We are going to unravel all the concepts and legal aspects that regulate it in the following sections.
Definition
The Building Book is defined as a series of documents that collect information that allows knowing the physical and technical characteristics of the building, its legal regime, what actions must be carried out for the correct use and maintenance of said building, as well as what to do in an emergency situation within it.
The building book includes the use and maintenance manuals for the building facilities among other documents of interest.
The Building Book It is not a job included in the functions of construction management. It is the promoter who has the legal obligation to prepare and sign it for its subsequent delivery to the end users of the building (article nine of the Law 38/1999 on Building Planning).
However, it is common for the technicians who have participated in the management of the work to be commissioned to collaborate in the preparation of the Building Book, as a professional action independent of the work management.
What regulations regulate it?
The Building Book is mentioned for the first time as such in Law 38/1999, of November 5, on Building Planning:
Article 7. Documentation of the executed work.
«Once the work is completed, the project, with the incorporation, where appropriate, of the duly approved modifications, will be provided to the promoter by the construction director for the formalization of the corresponding administrative procedures.
To this documentation will be attached, at least, the receipt record, the identification list of the agents who have intervened during the building process, as well as the one relating to the instructions for use and maintenance of the building and its facilities, in accordance with the regulations that apply to it.
All the documentation referred to in the previous sections, which will constitute the Building Book, will be delivered to the end users of the building.”
He Decree 218/2005, of October 11, which approves the Regulation of consumer information in the sale and rental of homes in Andalusia, establishes that, at least 3 business days prior to the signing of the purchase and sale contract in the first transmission, every purchaser housing must receive, among other documents, the building book, which, in the case of housing subject to the horizontal property regime, will be delivered to the community of owners that is established.
Later, with the appearance of Technical building Code (Royal Decree 314/2006, of March 17, which approves the Technical Building Code or CTE), its content is specified at the state level (many Autonomous Communities established legislation on the minimum documentation to be provided in said Book of the Building since its first appearance back in 2000) and is indirectly related to the ITE:
Article 8. Building conditions.
«8.1 Documentation of the executed work.
1. The content of the Building Book established in the LOE and by the competent Public Administrations will be completed with what is established, where appropriate, in the Basic Documents (DB) for compliance with the basic requirements of the CTE.
2. The documentation indicated in article 7.2 of the products, equipment and systems that are incorporated into the work will be included in the Building Book.
3. It will also contain the instructions for use and maintenance of the finished building in accordance with the provisions of this CTE and other applicable regulations, including a building maintenance plan with the planning of the operations programmed for the maintenance of the building and its facilities. facilities.
8.2 Use and conservation of the building.
1. The building and its facilities will be used appropriately in accordance with the instructions for use, refraining from use incompatible with that intended. The owners and users will inform those responsible for maintenance of any anomaly that is observed in the normal operation of the building.
2. The building must be kept in good condition through adequate maintenance. This will involve carrying out the following actions:
a) Carry out the building maintenance plan, entrusting a competent technician with the operations scheduled for the maintenance of the building and its facilities.
b) Carry out the regulatory inspections established and keep the corresponding documentation; and
c) Document throughout the useful life of the building all interventions, whether repair, renovation or rehabilitation carried out on it, recording them in the Building Book.”
Minimum building book content
It will have at least the following sections:
– The identifying list of the agents who have intervened during the building process.
– The project, with the incorporation, where appropriate, of the duly approved modifications.
– The record of reception of the works.
– The instructions for use and maintenance of the building and its facilities, including the planning of operations for said maintenance of the building and its facilities.
– The Final Work Certificate.
– Quality Control Certificates.
– Documentation of the Control of reception on site of products, equipment and installed systems.
– Energy efficiency certificate of the finished building.
– Copy of the subcontracting book.
– Construction work license and first occupancy license.
– Copy of application and supply contracts (electricity, water, telecommunications, gas, etc.)
– Copy of application and copy of authorization of industrial facilities.
– Documentation on all repair, renovation or rehabilitation interventions carried out on the building throughout its useful life.
– Technical inspections or reports building evaluation.
Help software
Nowadays, there are computer programs that help us prepare this document. Such is the case of cypedoc building book, for example, which is a CYPE Ingenieros SA brand software capable of generating the document from the technical data available in the program in other applications.
Cypedoc software interface of the CYPE Ingenieros SA building book
As we have been able to read throughout the article, the building book is an essential document that contains important aspects about the use and maintenance, among others, of the building's facilities, and which must be available to the owner of the building.
