The 55,000-square-foot, 9-story building I managed had a storied past and countless unrecorded details. Built in 1928, the building had undergone modifications too numerous to count, each adding complexity. After encountering challenges with seemingly basic maintenance tasks, I realized I needed to document the building’s intricacies. This led to the creation of the “Building Handbook”—a 40-page guide capturing all essential information.

Building the Handbook: A Step-by-Step Approach

I began by cataloging the contractors previously used for the building. I reviewed their invoices and organized them by category: lighting, HVAC, general operations, elevator maintenance, plumbing, and construction. This organization helped me pinpoint where specific work had been done on each floor.

With a clear record of past repairs and construction by floor and type, I moved on to documenting policies, procedures, and unique characteristics for each floor. Some floors required two to three pages, while others needed only half a page. To make this document more useful, I began embedding images and links to clarify the descriptions.

Enhancing with Visuals and Floor Plans

As I completed work across the building, I took photographs of critical areas and added these images to the handbook, highlighting and marking up specific equipment or details important to future readers. I also included floor plans in relevant sections, adding valuable context to each area’s layout.

Making the Handbook User-Friendly

When the document grew to around 20 pages, I realized that headings and an index would improve navigation. I used Microsoft Word’s indexing function to create a table of contents and organized chapters and subsections, enabling users to quickly locate needed information.

A Dynamic Resource for Building Management

After presenting the Building Handbook to my supervisor and CEO, they were impressed by its depth and utility—and surprised that it took approximately 30 pages to capture the building’s complexity. This handbook has since become a fluid, evolving resource that I update as new work is completed.