Asset Registers at Handover: Which One Does Your Project Need?

Ask a facilities team what they want from a handover pack and the answer is often the same: tell me what is in the building, where it is, and what needs doing to it. An asset register is the document that answers those three questions.

At Denaploy, an asset register is part of the handover documentation we compile, and we have been doing that since 1989. The right register depends on how the building will be managed, so here is a plain-English guide to the five options we offer and how to choose between them.

What is an asset register?

In construction, an asset register is an itemised list of a building's elements and components. It sits alongside the O&M information handed to the end client at practical completion, and it gives the facilities management (FM) team the detail they need for inspection, maintenance, cleaning and replacement.

Entries commonly include:

• An asset ID and description
• Manufacturer and model or part number
• System code
• Location
• Warranty end date
• Spares information
• Maintenance tasks and their frequency

Done well, a register helps the FM team avoid surveying a newly handed-over building from scratch, plan maintenance earlier and keep a clear record of what was installed.

The five options we offer

Increasingly, more complicated asset registers are required which can be fed directly into FM systems. A simple register is provided by default, and anything beyond that needs to be requested.

• Equipment schedule (included in the O&M). A schedule of the equipment sits within the O&M manual itself, so every manual has this as standard.
• Simple asset register. Provided by default as a standalone register, in a clear spreadsheet layout the FM team can sort and filter.
• Detailed asset register. A fuller spreadsheet that adds more fields for each asset, including a maintenance recommendation schedule.
• BIM asset register with COBie data. For projects working with building information modelling (BIM) where the client wants asset data in the COBie format.
• Bespoke or other. For clients whose FM system or internal process needs a particular structure.

What is in our simple and detailed registers?

Both are Excel registers with Denaploy branding. Each has fields for the company name, project, date and revision at the top, and filters on every column so the FM team can sort and search.

Simple asset register columns:

• Asset Tag/No (to be completed by the FM department)
• Equipment Name
• Category
• Floor Level
• Room Name
• Room Number
• Manufacturer
• Model/Serial No
• Components (items within the main asset)
• Additional Information
• Warranty Expiry Date

Detailed asset register adds more fields for each asset:

• Asset Tag/No (to be completed by the FM department)
• Equipment Name
• Category and Sub Category
• Floor Level
• Room Name and Room Number
• Description
• Manufacturer
• Model/Serial No
• Drawing reference
• Date installed
• Components (items within the main asset)
• Additional Information

It also includes a Maintenance Recommendation section with columns for daily, weekly, monthly, 3-monthly, 6-monthly and annual tasks, so the FM team can see what each asset needs and how often.

What is COBie?

COBie stands for Construction Operations Building Information Exchange. It is a non-proprietary data format for publishing a subset of the information in a building information model, focused on asset data rather than geometry. It was developed by William East of the US Army Corps of Engineers, and it can be delivered as spreadsheets or relational databases.

It organises information such as facility attributes, systems, assets, product types, warranties and maintenance requirements. COBie does not add new information requirements. It gives existing information a structure so it can be reused once the building is in service. In the UK, BS 1192-4 is the code of practice for fulfilling employer's information exchange requirements using COBie.

Why the requirement has to be agreed early

This is the part that catches projects out. An asset register is built up over the life of a project rather than assembled in the last week:

• Design stage: the intended assets, their locations and IDs are identified.
• Construction stage: as-installed data such as manufacturer details and warranty dates is added.

The client's asset information requirements (AIR) set out what information is needed to operate and maintain the asset. The asset owner or operator defines them, and they determine what the asset information model holds. If the client wants a register that feeds a particular FM system, the structure of the data needs to be agreed before the information is collected. Different systems expect different structures, and re-formatting data at the end is slower than capturing it in the right shape from the start.

That is why we say any such requirement is imperative to agree early in the project document design. Most of the information comes from subcontractors and suppliers, so the sooner they know what is needed, the easier it is to collect.

How to choose

• Is there an FM system, or will there be one? If so, ask what format it needs, and consider a detailed, COBie or bespoke register.
• Is the project BIM-based? If the client's information requirements ask for COBie, say so at the outset.
• Does the client have a specific data schema? If so, send it to us early and we can work to it.
• Do you want maintenance frequencies recorded against each asset? The detailed register includes a maintenance recommendation schedule, from daily to annual.
• Is the equipment schedule in the O&M enough? For some projects it is, and the simple register may then be all that is needed.
• Not sure? Ask the client or their FM provider what they intend to do with the register. The answer usually points to the right option.

Where Denaploy fits

We chase subcontractors and suppliers for the information that goes into the register, check what arrives is project-specific and compile it alongside the rest of the O&M. Our asset register options sit within that process, so the register and the manual stay consistent with each other. It is the same specialist approach behind more than 5,000 manuals across over £4bn of projects, with no handover date ever missed.

So what kind of asset register do you require? Tell us early on a project and we will advise on the right option.

Correct as of October 2026. This article is general information. Always check the asset information requirements set by the client for each project.

Sources: Designing Buildings, "Creating an asset register for construction projects"; Designing Buildings, "Construction Operations Building Information Exchange"; Designing Buildings, "Asset information requirements (AIR)"; BSI, BS 1192-4:2014, "Collaborative production of information. Fulfilling employer's information exchange requirements using COBie. Code of practice".