Why does writing a handover document take a week when the project has it all?
Your ETS project already knows the rooms. Your handover pack does not.
This note is about the two days you spend on documents after the job is done.
Short answer. A .knxproj file holds the building, the devices, the address
map and every device setting. You can build the handover pack from it instead of
typing it again.
What is in the file
- The building. Buildings, floors, rooms and distribution boards.
- The devices. Maker, order number, individual address, and the board and room of each.
- The address map. Which objects are linked to which address.
- The parameters. The settings inside each device: hold times, staircase timers, thresholds, scene tables, sun-protection values. On our reference house Readback reads 1,403 of them.
Settings are automation
A staircase timer runs on the actuator by itself. So does a presence off-delay, a scene table and a central off. No controller is needed. Nobody sees them unless they open the device and read the parameter.
On the reference house Readback finds 21 behaviours already running on the devices, 12 of them driven by sensors. None were written down. This is a normal project.
A list like this is useful to show a client. It also makes the next callback easy: “why does the hall light stay on for 90 seconds” has an answer with an address and a parameter name.
It can also show a problem
On the reference house, four rooms have the presence detector hold time set to 10 seconds. That is a common factory default. The detector maker recommends at least 30 seconds in rooms where people sit still. The fix takes a few minutes in ETS. Check your own projects for the same.
Your name on the pack
The handover document is made from your project and issued under your name. By default there is no Casient branding in it. You choose if we are named.
Check this now
In ETS, open a presence detector or a staircase timer and read the hold or delay parameter. Compare it with the maker’s manual. Do this for each room type before you hand over.
What Readback reports
Readback builds a handover document from the project: the building structure, the device schedule room by room, the parameters, and the behaviour already running in the installation. If you change the project later, the revision diff shows what moved between the file you handed over and the one you have now.
Run a free Readback. Readback is free to use today.
Want a second pair of eyes on your handover pack? Book 20 minutes with Ted.
Next note: Why a KNX light shows the wrong state
A handover document generated from the project — building structure, device schedule, and the device-local behaviour that appears in no documentation.