Recently the discussion within the Start With Smart community that I founded in earkly September took a significant turn. Since forming the group, we’d focused on the systemic challenge I call the Project-Operations Gap—a truly wicked problem that resists simple fixes.
It was time to transition from defining the problem to collaboratively exploring solutions. That transition is captured in the article I co-wrote with Pete Swanson, Digital Tech Lead at Mott MacDonald, one of the world’s leading MEP design consultancies.
Sparking the Solution Dialogue
The fundamental issue is that the building’s operational reality is often ignored until the end of the design and construction phase. To solve this, we need more than just engineering thinking; we need a multidisciplinary approach that starts with the human need for long-term building performance.
This led to the emergence of key concepts within our group, including the Digital Soft Landings Framework and, critically, Smart Handover. Pete introduced a concept that became the catalyst for action: a framework built around four distinct data categories:
- Building structure/form data (Static)
- Asset information data (Static-but-changing)
- Performance data (Dynamic, real-time)
- Business data (Commercial and financial)
The point of presenting these categories isn’t to provide a definitive answer, but to spark the essential industry dialogue. They serve as a common language for stakeholders who often operate in silos.
The Outcome: The Minimum Viable Handover Requirement (MVHR)
We propose using this framework to define the Minimum Viable Handover Requirement (MVHR).
This is a ‘Right-to-Left’ design strategy. It flips the usual process, moving from a technology-centric push (giving ops everything) to a human-centric pull (demanding only the essential, high-value data needed for performance). The MVHR ensures operational teams receive exactly what they need, regardless of the project’s delivery methodology, guaranteeing tangible value from day one.
Read the Article and Join the Conversation
This article details how our framework provides the clarity on what data is required, when, and by whom, transforming handover from a liability into an asset.
Read the full Unifying the built environment: a framework for operational value article I co-authored with Pete Swanson for Digital Construction Plus here.
This is the kind of practical, action-oriented strategy that defines Start With Smart. If you want to contribute to solving this wicked problem and participate in the strategic debates happening in our WhatsApp Strategy Hub, you must first connect with me.
Connect with me on LinkedIn and message me directly to request an invitation to the Start With Smart group.
