When Both Perspectives Are Needed at the Same Time
As Blick approached move-in, the collaboration intensified. Monthly planning meetings for the handover process eventually became daily check-ins.
The access control system illustrates why both perspectives are needed. The project team is responsible for ensuring that the system is installed and functions technically. Property management, meanwhile, must consider what access permissions will be needed once the building is in operation.
“The work of property management starts long before residents move in. We need to get to know the building and make sure everything, from contractors and routines to technical systems, is ready for day-to-day operations,” says Wiljaiber Durango Montoya, Property Manager at ByggVesta.
Ahead of the first major move-in phase, the difference between a completed building and a functioning daily operation became clear. Construction work was still ongoing in other buildings, and access around the site remained restricted. Moving trucks needed to coexist with waste collection vehicles, material deliveries, and potential emergency services.
“Close collaboration has been essential. We need to understand that different issues have different levels of importance for different functions and help each other find solutions,” says Axel.
A Handover Without a Clear Boundary
Even after residents have moved in, it is difficult to draw a clear line between project development and property management.
“Once people start living in the apartments and using the building, it needs to be fine-tuned. That can involve everything from air quality and heating to windows that are being used in real-life conditions for the first time. We need to manage that transition phase together,” says Axel.
The word handover is therefore almost misleading. At Blick, it is less a single event and more an extended transition in which property management and the project organisation overlap and work alongside one another. Knowledge, questions, and experience move continuously in both directions.
When the Building Becomes Someone’s Home
Once residents have moved in, another important part of the work begins.
“During the first period, we need to stay close, understand residents’ needs, and maintain a good dialogue about how things are functioning. I hope they feel that we are accessible, responsive, and that they have been treated well,” says Wiljaiber.
For residents, organisational boundaries are irrelevant. Their relationship with ByggVesta may have started with an email or phone call with Frida, continued through their first meeting at key collection, and then become part of everyday life with Wiljaiber and his colleagues in property management.
Perhaps that is also the best measure of a successful handover: that the person moving in never notices that it happened at all.
