Who We Serve
Mountain Owl works with the parties who carry the most responsibility when a new building changes hands. The situation is different for each of them. The need is the same: a structured operating program built from the building's actual documents, delivered before the first tenant arrives.
Your society has taken possession of a newly constructed building. Your board is responsible for its operation. Your staff may not have managed a building of this complexity before. The GC has left. The trades are gone. What remains is a package of O&M manuals and a building that needs to run.
The gap between what the construction team hands over and what your operator needs to do on Monday morning is significant. Warranties expire on fixed dates. Life safety systems require scheduled inspections. Capital reserves need to be funded from year one. Without a structured program, those obligations go unmet. Not because nobody cares, but because nobody translated the construction documentation into operational instructions.
For buildings funded through BC Housing, an independent Maintenance and Renewal Plan is a regulatory closeout requirement under Division 01 78 00, Section 5, not an optional engagement. The program is built to that standard, and the compliance matrix maps it clause by clause so a BC Housing reviewer can verify it without a separate index.
What we deliver
Closeout is not complete until the operating program is delivered. The O&M manuals are your submission, but the summary report, the compliance documentation, and the capital plan require dedicated FM expertise to produce. That is not in scope for your team.
The reason it matters to you is holdback. Holdback, typically 10 percent of contract value, sits unreleased until closeout is accepted. On an $8M project that is $800,000 of your cash. If the documentation is incomplete and the funder will not release, that is a problem we solve quickly. We engage at the O&M manual stage, work from your documentation, and deliver on a timeline that keeps your closeout on schedule. You do not manage the FM scope. We do.
What we deliver
You are taking possession of a new building, or taking on one you did not build. You may have a competent operations team. What you do not have is a structured program that translates what was built into what needs to be done now, next month, and over the next 30 years.
Every year without a proper handover program costs more than the program would have. Warranties expire unclaimed. Maintenance is reactive rather than scheduled. Capital reserves are underfunded because nobody planned the full horizon at possession. The cost of getting this right at handover is a fraction of the cost of getting it wrong over the life of the building.
For an operator acquiring a building or a portfolio, the same work answers a different question: what capital liability are you actually taking on? A forensic review of the existing record establishes the asset base, the warranty position, and the renewal horizon before the deal closes, not after.
What we deliver
The Building Profile
The FM Handover Program was built for new construction where systems are complex, documentation is substantial, and the operator needs a structured program from day one.
Non-profit and market-rate seniors residential. Typically 3 to 6 storeys, wood frame, all-electric systems. Operators managing a building of this scale for the first time.
Multi-unit residential funded through housing programs. Society-operated. Often the first building a society has managed at this scale.
Community centres, municipal facilities, Indigenous community infrastructure. Critical operations requirements from day one.
Multi-unit residential with commercial or amenity components. Strata or property management operators taking possession of new construction.
Office, retail, and industrial facilities where the operator needs a structured FM program from possession onward.
Any new construction where systems are complex and documentation is substantial. If the building has a mechanical room, the program applies.
When to Engage
Most clients assume FM handover work starts at substantial completion. It does not have to. Mountain Owl can engage as early as the Issued for Construction stage. With IFC drawings in hand, capital budgeting estimates are achievable, giving your finance team a planning baseline before the building is complete.
Construction drawings are issued. The building's systems and assets are defined on paper. We can engage at this stage to begin the program framework and produce capital budgeting estimates for your finance team. As the project evolves, the estimates are updated. This is the entry point for our Full Project Lifecycle engagement.
Capital budgeting estimates available at this stage.
O&M manuals are being assembled. Commissioning is underway. This is the ideal engagement point: scope confirmed, documentation available, timeline set. The program is ready at or shortly after possession.
The standard engagement trigger. O&M manuals in hand means the documentation exists to build the full program. This is the most common point at which clients engage us.
The program can be produced after handover. Every day without it is a day the building is running without a structured operational baseline. It is never too late to get it right, but the warranty clock is already running.
IFC drawings for early-stage estimates. O&M manuals, as-built drawings, and commissioning records for the full program. If the complete package is not yet available, a conversation costs nothing.
If you are taking possession of a newly completed building, or taking one on, and you do not have a structured operating program, it is the right fit. Start with a 20-minute conversation and we will tell you what the engagement looks like for your building. No commitment.
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