ÖRAG Österreichische Realitäten AG

What our customer wanted to change

Lengthy reporting and difficulty assigning photos

ÖRAG manages well over 1,000 properties throughout Austria. Since the Austrian standard ÖNORM B 1300 was introduced, ÖRAG must perform subsequent inspections for each of these properties once a year. An enormous amount of time is needed to complete those manual checklists. “We have seen this problem with other inspections where we cannot assign photos of defects to their associated reports until after the inspection. For an inspection of, say, 200 flats and six staircases, it was extremely difficult to determine which photographs were taken in which flat. In addition, it took our office staff two hours to electronically record all the data for each inspection. The paperwork was a nuisance for me and all the people involved. I wanted a solution that saves time while delivering reports of higher quality,” says Christian Steinmetz, explaining why he wanted to switch to electronic checklists.

How iCL is used

Inspections according to B 1300

ÖRAG has been using Opti Q’s intelligent checklist for B-1300 inspections since January 2017. With iCL, it was possible to reproduce the highly complex ÖNORM standard in an electronic checklist using questions and answers. In addition, ÖRAG integrated other questions that are also recorded during inspections. Equipped with tablets, inspectors now complete their checklists electronically. Photos are automatically integrated into the report. Inspectors can optionally activate GPS data to add a unique tag to each photo.

Although some ÖRAG staff were sceptical at first, they quickly became very enthusiastic about the new tool. Without any training, they can immediately start recording their answers electronically during inspections. Predefined answers or options facilitate use of the software tool and ensure uniform standards throughout the reports. The report itself is created automatically as soon as an inspection has been completed and all the questions on the checklist have been answered. ÖRAG is planning to expand its use of iCL. “Currently we are using iCL on ten tablets that are passed around among the teams. By the end of the year, we want to have 70 to 80 tablets with Opti-Q’s intelligent checklist.”

How ÖRAG benefits

Higher quality in a (nearly) paperless office

The implications of switching to iCL are crystal clear to Christian Steinmetz: “We no longer need to post-edit data back at the office, so we save a lot of time on each inspection. At the same time, the quality of our records has increased now that all of the photos are assigned correctly.” Steinmetz appreciates Opti-Q’s fast response times. “They answer any questions we might have on the same day or the next working day. Every problem is solved within two to three working days at the latest. This allows us to quickly resume work – which I appreciate a lot. What is more, Opti-Q goes to great lengths to accommodate our wishes and requirements."

ÖRAG is planning to make its move-in and move-out inspection reports electronic in future too. Tenants will receive the finished report by e-mail right after the inspection is performed and they have signed the contract. Fire safety inspections, budget inspections and facility management offer further potential for using electronic checklists. By switching to iCL, ÖRAG has come one giant step closer to its vision of a paperless office.

About our customer

ÖRAG

ÖRAG has established itself as an ideal partner for all property-related services since 1871. It offers professional estate agency services, expert property management, state-of-the-art facility management, creative architectural design and responsible construction management. Its focus is on providing customers with perfect service. This enables ÖRAG to create added value for tenants and landlords and ensure continuous enhancement of value for investors and property owners.

Find out how iCL can optimise inspection processes in your company.

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