PropData: Why We Collect Building Data From Day One of Management

Aug 14, 2023

4 min read

Updated: Aug 18

Most commercial property managers inherit a property and a filing cabinet. The leases are in the cabinet. The warranties are somewhere else. The access control codes are with the departing facilities manager. The alarm history is on a system that no one has logged into since 2019. The result is a managed asset where the people responsible for it do not have a complete picture of what they are managing.

SURVPROP built PropData to solve that problem. It is our methodology for capturing building information from two distinct sources, combining it into a single operational picture, and using that picture to manage assets more precisely, control costs more effectively and support stronger valuations.

Two Sources of Building Data

PropData draws from documentary sources and physical building sources simultaneously.

Documentary data covers everything held on paper or in legal files: leases and their key dates (rent reviews, break options, expiry), title documents and boundary obligations, warranty and guarantee periods on plant and equipment, service contracts and their renewal dates, insurance schedules and policy conditions, and any planning conditions or obligations that run with the land.

Physical building data covers what the building itself tells you: alarm trigger histories, access control records and entry logs, lift and plant service records, roof and fabric inspection reports, utility meter readings and consumption data, and the physical condition and age of major building components.

In isolation, each data set is useful. Combined, they give a property manager a level of operational intelligence that reactive management simply cannot match.

BIM After Construction

Building Information Modelling is standard practice in construction. Architects, engineers and contractors use BIM throughout the design and build process to coordinate complex projects and capture detailed building data. Then, almost universally, that data is handed over to the building owner at practical completion and never used again.

The industry calls this the "handover gap" and it represents an enormous loss of value. The detailed information captured during construction, including plant specifications, system capacities, warranty schedules and maintenance requirements, should inform how a building is managed for its entire operational life. In practice, it rarely does.

SURVPROP applies BIM principles into the management phase. PropData is not a construction tool repurposed for management. It is a management-first approach to building information that draws on the same underlying logic: better data leads to better decisions.

Controlling Operating Costs and Predicting Capital Expenditure

The practical value of PropData shows up in two areas faster than any other.

Operating costs are easier to control when you know what contracts are running, when they renew, and whether they are priced competitively. A service contract that auto-renews annually without review compounds over time. A warranty that is still live but has never been registered can be the difference between a covered repair and an unbudgeted capital cost. PropData surfaces these details at the right moment rather than after the fact.

Capital expenditure prediction is where the deeper value sits. Every piece of plant in a building has a lifecycle. Lifts, roofs, boilers, fire suppression systems, access control infrastructure and external fabric all have expected replacement periods. A manager who knows the age and condition of every major component in a building can build a capital expenditure forecast that reflects reality rather than assumption. That forecast is the basis for service charge setting, reserve fund planning and acquisition due diligence.

Without that data, capital expenditure is reactive. Something fails, it gets replaced, and the cost lands without warning. With PropData, the replacement is planned, budgeted and tendered competitively rather than instructed urgently at market rates.

Strengthening Asset Valuations

The valuation implications of good building data are under-appreciated. A commercial asset with a clean, well-documented operational record, confirmed warranty positions and a credible capital expenditure forecast presents less risk to a purchaser or lender than an equivalent asset with no management history and unknown plant condition.

Risk in property valuation translates directly into yield. A higher risk perception means a higher yield applied to the income, which means a lower capital value. Reducing that risk perception through documented operational evidence has the potential to support a tighter yield and a stronger valuation conclusion.

PropData creates that evidence base systematically rather than retrospectively. Across SURVPROP's managed portfolio, the data we hold on each asset is available to support valuations, refinancing exercises and disposal processes in a format that is immediately useful to valuers, lenders and buyers.

Feeding Planned Maintenance and Agency

PropData does not sit in isolation. The building data we collect feeds directly into two other service lines.

For planned maintenance, the capital expenditure forecasts and plant condition data that PropData generates are the foundation of a proper maintenance programme. Knowing what needs replacing, when and at what cost allows maintenance to be scheduled, budgeted and tendered in advance rather than managed reactively. The result is lower average maintenance cost and fewer emergency interventions.

For agency, the lease data in PropData, particularly break dates, expiry dates and rent review triggers, is essential for managing occupier relationships proactively. A lease break that is managed six months in advance is a negotiation. A lease break that is discovered after the event is a vacancy.

What This Means for Property Owners

If you own or manage commercial property in Greater Manchester and do not have a clear picture of your building's data, you are carrying risk that is both manageable and avoidable. SURVPROP can carry out a PropData onboarding exercise for any managed asset, drawing together documentary and physical building information into a single operational record.

The cost of doing it is modest.

The cost of not having it tends to reveal itself at the worst possible moment.