Project Handover (PHO and FHO): Checklist, Maintenance Period and Closing the Project Books

The end of a project is often the messiest part: the work is done, but defects are still open, retention is forgotten, and the project’s profit is never worked out again. Handover happens twice: the first handover (PHO, Provisional Hand Over) when the work is 100% complete, and the final handover (FHO, Final Hand Over) after the maintenance period.

Checklist before PHO

• All work 100% complete as in the contract and addenda, with a final measurement approved by the supervisor.
• Function tests: power, clean and waste water, doors and windows, a watertight roof.
• A defects list (punch list) made with the client, fixed, then checked again.
• As-built drawings, equipment manuals and warranty cards, keys and a key list.
• The site cleaned, leftover materials and the site office removed or moved.
• Documents: inspection minutes, first handover certificate, final report, last progress bill.

Maintenance period and retention

During the maintenance period the contractor must fix any defects that appear. On Indonesian government projects, the PUPR handover procedure sets a maintenance period of at least 6 months for permanent work and 3 months for semi-permanent work. After PHO, 95% of the contract price is paid; 5% is held as retention, or paid in full if the contractor provides a maintenance guarantee. Private projects follow their contract.

Final handover (FHO)

1. Near the end of the maintenance period, ask for a joint inspection.
2. Fix every defect found and record it in minutes.
3. Sign the final handover certificate.
4. Bill the retention, or ask for the maintenance guarantee to be returned.

Closing the project books

• Record retention as a retention receivable with its expected release date, so it is not forgotten.
• Pay the last supplier and subcontractor bills, and release the retention you hold from subcontractors once their obligations are done.
• Count leftover materials and move or sell them, with records.
• Work out the project’s final profit and compare it with the RAP section by section.
• Keep the lessons for the next tender: actual coefficients and prices, the work that changed most, and the causes of delay.

A note for property developers

Handing a unit to a buyer uses a unit handover certificate, with a complaints list fixed during the warranty period. Record each complaint with the date reported and the date fixed; it is also the basis for rating the contractor who built the unit.

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Common mistakes

• Signing PHO before the defects list is really finished, so repairs drag on until the maintenance period ends.
• Retention not recorded as a receivable, so it is never billed after FHO.
• The final project profit never worked out, so the lessons for the next tender are lost.
• Handover documents not kept with the contract and addenda.