Soft Landings Explained: Better Handover and Aftercare
Soft Landings exists because buildings routinely fail to perform as designed once the contractor leaves — and because the FM team that inherits them is usually the last party consulted. This guide explains the framework, the aftercare commitment that distinguishes it, and what it should mean for the documentation you receive.
In short
Soft Landings is a framework, published by BSRIA, for improving the transition from construction into occupation. It keeps the design and construction team involved through handover and into an extended aftercare period, so the building's actual performance is measured against what was intended and problems are corrected rather than inherited.
Why it exists
The performance gap between design intent and operational reality is well documented, and its causes are mundane: control strategies commissioned to a specification nobody later understands, systems handed over with documentation written for the contract rather than the operator, and a maintenance team meeting the building for the first time on the day they become responsible for it.
Soft Landings addresses this by changing when people are involved rather than by adding technology. It brings the operator's requirements into the brief, keeps the design team engaged after practical completion, and makes measured in-use performance part of the project rather than something discovered afterwards. The framework is voluntary and can be adopted alongside any procurement route.
- Targets the gap between designed and actual building performance
- Brings operational requirements into the brief rather than the snagging list
- Keeps the design and construction team engaged after handover
- Voluntary, and compatible with any procurement route
The stages and the aftercare period
The framework runs across the project: inception and briefing, where operational requirements and performance targets are set with the people who will run the building; design development, where those requirements are held onto as the design evolves; pre-handover, where the operator is given time and training rather than a box of files on the last day; initial aftercare, with the team resident on site in the first weeks of occupation; and extended aftercare, typically running for up to three years with periodic review and measured performance.
The extended aftercare is the part that distinguishes Soft Landings from a well-run conventional handover. Seasonal commissioning is the clearest example: a building handed over in spring has never run its heating under load, and its control strategy has never been proved in the conditions that matter. Committing to return and prove it through a full annual cycle is what closes that gap.
- Inception and briefing — operational requirements set with future operators
- Design development — those requirements maintained as design evolves
- Pre-handover — operator training and familiarisation, not a document drop
- Initial and extended aftercare — resident support, then review typically up to three years
BS 8536 and what it means for documentation
BS 8536 is the British Standard covering design and construction for operability, effectively the standardised expression of the same idea — part 1 for building infrastructure, part 2 for linear and geographical infrastructure. Where a client wants Soft Landings principles contractually rather than as a good intention, BS 8536 is the usual vehicle, and specifying it changes what a project is obliged to deliver.
For an FM team the documentation consequence is the point. A Soft Landings project should hand over information structured for operation: systems described in terms of how they are run and what they should achieve, control strategies explained rather than merely listed, and the reasoning behind settings recorded so the next engineer does not have to reverse-engineer it. That is a different artefact from the conventional O&M pack, which is too often assembled to discharge a contractual obligation and organised by supplier rather than by how anyone will use it.
Related maintenance checklists
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Sources
The regulatory positions on this page come from the following primary sources. Where guidance and legislation differ, the legislation governs — always confirm the requirements that apply to your own site and jurisdiction.
- Soft Landings framework — BSRIA
- TM31: Building log book toolkit — CIBSE
Frequently asked questions
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