inndox featured in The Urban Developer

Brisbane Start-Up Digitises Property Handover Management

FRI 14 MAY 21

While the law can take a long time to change, proptech can revolutionise and re-engineer a property “pain point” and in turn experience rapid and organic adoption, inndox co-founder Trish Mackie-Smith says.

After two decades running BuildingPro, Brisbane-based proptech enthusiasts Trish and Andrew Mackie-Smith combined their collective experiences in property law, building consultancy, seller disclosure, commercial development and certification to roll out inndox, a next-generation property management tool.

“During that time together we saw the same issues arising time and time again,” Trish Mackie-Smith said.

“One of the clear constraints was the availability of a building’s records—particularly at the time of sale, purchase and leasing as well as warranty claims and defects issues.

“Most people wouldn’t buy a car without a logbook detailing its history with servicing and maintenance and we questioned why that centralised experience couldn’t be replicated within a property environment.”

The solution is a single application that generates property “logbooks” for online record management of the property’s life-cycle from planning and construction to handover and transfer of ownership.

“We wanted to streamline that handover process—which up until that point had been a pain point for property developers trying to pull all this information together at the culmination of a project,” Trish Mackie-Smith said.

“Currently 90 per cent of property handovers are delivered on paper, which can be damaged or easily be misplaced and on average 50 per cent of sales are delayed due to the requisite information not being readily available at sale time because it is sitting in multiple places.

“inndox packages this all up in a single application for a new owner and not only that, it also provides warranty and maintenance alerts and delivers accurate and up-to-date trade contacts to help that owner actively manage a new property.

“Some household warranties can last as long as 25 years and some cases can be split into a multitude of parts; take a solar panel for example—the inverter, the batteries, the panel itself—so we provide owners with an accurate and real time overview of every part of their property.”
The software provides developers with a range of tools and features such as templates—to quickly checklist required compliance information for a particular property, or cloning—to generate information requirements quickly across large scale projects such as apartment buildings.

“The program is not just for mum-and-dad investors or new owners, it is very much designed for top-tier property developers wanting to have that information digitised and available rather than having to have their consultants solving it,” Andrew Mackie-Smith said.

“It's a relatively new concept, and people are a bit set in their ways as the property industry is fairly traditional, however, the emergence of proptech has created a change in attitudes and the recent health crisis has fast-tracked the uptake in our product.

“Moving forward, when people are buying a property they will be asking for the building’s inndox in order to receive all the important information in one centralised handover.”

Taking advantage of the game-changing technology has been national building inspection company Jim’s Building Inspection, which has recently onboarded and digitised its reports.

Similarly, e-conveyancing platform LawLab has also connected with the proptech provider in order to bridge its platform for a seamless “handoff experience”.

“As well as top-tier developers, insurers, and building inspectors, property agents are also beginning to think outside of the box to give themselves a fresh, competitive edge,” Andrew Mackie-Smith said.

“They see inndox as an extension of their product offering, or as one agency recently labeled it a ‘gift’ to a new homeowner at the end of the sales process.

“Agents see inndox really as that next level for after-sale service that has been very much missing after a property handover.”

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Practical Completion: How to Create a Smoother Handover Process

As a Property Developer or Builder, you would know that when it comes to practical completion, it’s important to have all your documentation in place so you can get the property signed off and handed over to the client quickly and easily. 

A quick and smooth handover ultimately means your clients are happy, projects are finalised and you get paid faster!

But, if you haven’t got all your ducks lined up ... your paperwork is not in order, then practical completion can quickly turn into a big costly headache. 

And, when you have multiple properties lining up to be signed off and handed over to the client, this can become a big issue. 

So, how can we make the practical completion and handover process a lot smoother? It’s a simple case of ensuring your internal processes are working well, your property paperwork is in order and your project timeline is not being blown out by mismanagement and missed information. 

Have Your Property Paperwork in Order

One of the key components to ensuring a quick and easy practical completion is to make sure you have all your property paperwork in order. This means compiling all the paperwork for each property in one spot ready to go when practical completion approaches. This includes all compliance certificates, such as form 15 and 16’s, inspection certificates and the like.

Sounds easy enough to do right? But in reality, it can quickly become a shambles if trades and suppliers forget to send through the forms, they get lost in the never-ending onslaught of emails or multiple people are saving the documents to multiple locations. 

One missing form 16 or inspection report is all it takes to hold up the practical completion process. And as we all know, time equals money!

The best way to handle the practical completion process is to have a clear and simple system to handle certification documents, making sure they are all accounted for and saved in one location. 

inndox is a perfect solution to this problem. It provides the space for you to have all your handover documents located all in one spot. And when it’s time for the property to undertake practical completion, the documents are available for the certifier to access quickly and easily. 

Having all the property compliance documents located in one place within inndox, can save you a lot of time and stress and keeps everyone on the same page when it comes to handling important property forms and documents. 

A Quicker Handover Process

As well as making practical completion a quick and easy process, having all the property documents in one place can create a seamless handover process between yourself and the client. Once an Occupancy Certificate has been issued and the property is ready for handover, it can be a simple case of providing digital access to your client so they can access the inndox platform and all their property paperwork. 

No more scrambling at the last minute trying to source all the necessary documents. No more excessive printing. No more costly folders that are bound to get lost during the moving process. No more lost paperwork that can be a nightmare if retrieval is required years down the track.  

With inndox, the property documents can be made available to the new homeowner digitally within minutes.

Quick, Easy, Fuss-free! 

Not only can you upload compliance certificates into inndox, but you can upload every other relevant piece of information that pertains to the property as well. This includes: 

• Compliance forms

• Builder’s warranty information

• Product warranty information 

• Product user guides

• Colour selections

• Material and finishes details

• Plans

• Contract Documents

• Contact details of suppliers

And just like form 16’s, these documents can be quickly and easily uploaded as you proceed through the building process. 

Incorporating inndox into your handover process will save you time and money. Not to mention it provides a legal record that your client has been provided with the required handover documents.

Greater Client Confidence

Any good builder and developer knows that client satisfaction can go a long way to the overall success of a project. And achieving practical completion quickly without any hold-ups can boost your client’s confidence in you, your company and the project. 

This is where having a seamless handover process can really make a difference. 

Walking your clients through the property upon completion, noting any defects and adjustments and getting those defects and adjustments seen to as a priority shows the client how important both quality control and customer service is to you. Having all defect details compiled in one spot, along with any follow up notes about any rectification work, can go a long way to develop trust with your clients. 

Utilising a program such as inndox can help you maintain good records for the property, including any defect requirements and provides a solution that elevates your professionalism and builds a high level of trust with your clients.

And the best feature about inndox… That trust can be maintained well after the property has been built and handed over. It can even be passed along to subsequent owners of the property. Because the inndox file and documentation stays with the property.  This means your details remain on record alongside all documents for the home.

So, when your original client wants to make minor adjustments 5 years down the track or the new homeowner wants to take out a wall or add on a deck, they are more likely to go back to you… The original builder. The company that knows the property inside out. 

Nothing shows confidence more than a client returning for more work. And, as all the original documents are sitting within inndox, retrieving plans, engineering reports and details about the materials and finishes you used originally, means making the changes the client requested a whole lot easier. 

You will never have to search through old filing cabinets or outdated backup drives again!

Practical Completion & inndox - A Perfect Combination

inndox provides the perfect solution when it comes to improving your practical completion and handover process. It’s a virtual logbook for the property that starts from the day the land is secured. 

Designed to make your life easier, inndox will handle your document processing with ease and provide you with the platform to keep solid records of all your properties. 

inndox allows you to track and record your documents throughout the building process identifying which documents are accounted for and which need to be followed up with.

To make the handover process even easier and streamlined, inndox allows you to share a folder with other stakeholders of the property, such as consultants or trades, who can then upload any relevant documentation for the handover pack. For example, you may have a folder for Fire Safety, which is shared with the Fire Safety Engineer who uploads relevant files such as certificates and “as built” drawings.

Sharing a folder is easy! Simply enter the name and email address of the person you’re sharing the folder with. They will receive an email inviting them to register with inndox and upload documents. This service is free for the contributor.

inndox will ultimately minimise double handling of paperwork and save you time, effort and money when it matters most … at handover time.

Speak to one of our friendly staff today about how inndox can help your business. Or book a demonstration and see the benefits first hand. 

Give us a call on 0411 723 959 or request a demo here. 

Why it is important for Builders to always have all documents onsite

Since the recent tower fires in Sydney and Melbourne caused by non-conforming and non-compliant cladding, the National Construction Code has been updated.

For Builders, this means needing to be able to show authorities and clients proof of compliance of all the building materials used in the build and approved installation methods while onsite. Builders should work with all professionals involved in the supply chain for the project with these documents, including the designers, architects, manufacturers, suppliers and trades.

If you don’t have all the information close at hand, you could have your site shut down and be subject to hefty fines, which has already happened to a few building sites in Queensland.

Ultimately, the compliance of the building will rest with the Owner, so this means it is more important than ever for Builders and Developers to provide an enduring record for the Owners at handover.

With inndox, your records are safe, secure and available for the life of the property.