How do housebuilders respond to the growing digital sophistication of their buyers – and how can re-imagining BIM and construction tech help? Nigel Walley of Chimni takes a look
The average consumer is increasingly digitally literate. They expect access to and control of, data about many aspects of their life. Their homes are no different. Homeowners are already using apps and services to manage their smart systems, heating, lighting and entertainment. This growing familiarity with smart systems is increasing a consumer appetite – and expectation – for data and this is beginning to impact builders of new homes.
People buying a property in this new world are aware of how much digital information has been created about their new home. It is no longer tenable to fob them off with a pack of user manuals and some warrantees. Whereas much of this information would have previously been held in paper, PDF or unconnected IT systems, homebuilders have begun the digitisation of the traditional handover pack into a variety of digital forms including apps and developer portals.
Re-imagining how homeowners access and use information
Chimni’s recent Re-Imagining BIM project took a completely new look at how buyers of new homes are expecting to receive information, and the ways it can be delivered to them in an understandable and usable way.
Funded by Innovate UK, the study started with homeowner behaviour. We looked at the kinds of activity that homeowners get up to when running and maintaining their homes, and how better information could improve it. We also looked at what formats should information be delivered to them in to make it most useful.
An obvious area that came through the research was for homeowners to have access to layout and dimension information that they can share digitally with furnishing companies, tradesmen and other online services. Homeowners wanted interactive floorplans, dimensioned layouts and building data that they could load directly into other company’s apps.
They wanted maintenance information delivered in formats that are consistent with the way they manage the rest of their lives – with calendar invites, notifications, links to FAQs and shareable specifications.
Offering greater clarity on energy efficiency and sustainability
A new area that emerged was the data that is increasingly required by the finance and regulatory industries. In the post-Grenfell world, there is a huge emphasis on homeowners knowing what their homes are made of and being able to pass that on to finance and insurance companies. In the same vein, the growing emphasis on net zero means homeowners need to be informed on their homes’ energy performance and the nature of the materials used to build it.
Many of the datasets we identified as core to this new homeowner experience can be created simply by suppliers and providers of components of new homes. In this new world, the information has to be opened up and held in connectable, open-web formats. The role of the developer will be to find ways to pass it on in formats and in services that make sense to homeowners.
The necessity of property logbook integration was a key finding of Re-Imagining BIM
Property logbooks provide a homeowner with a home management dashboard and a secure data store. They are an evolutionary step beyond the simple developer portal and are a digital asset that grows over time to be passed to future owners on sale. Reference to a property logbook as a “related digital asset” is now included in the data schemas being developed by the conveyancing industry.
A key finding of the Re-Imagining BIM project was that it is possible to link property logbooks to construction software and developer portals, so that the creation and handover of property logbooks can be part of a digital workflow. But it requires data planning at the beginning of the construction process. As BIM gets adopted, these integrations will be simpler and the flow of data more seamless.
The first step is to recognise that data is now a core part of the “product” not an add-on or customer service feature. Housebuilders need to recognise they have responsibilities to their buyers in this world. It’s time for the humble handover pack to grow up and become the home management app that buyers will increasingly expect. Digital property logbooks not only deliver against this data requirement but add a valuable new feature to a newly constructed home.
Nigel Walley
Managing director
Chimni
