Building documentation is a key factor in cost and risk management and yet all too often property owners keep a mixture of analogue and digital systems.

Findable digitises building documentation, using AI to automatically categorise documents, provide compliance status and allowing users to locate specific information via a search function.

The software is able to analyse headlines, pictures, and drawings, and quickly conclude what the document shows and how it should be organised. It also produces a red flag report for each building which shows a building’s compliance status with items organised by what is required by law or operationally recommended. The red flag report shows what’s missing and assists users in filling these gaps.

Building documentation or the ‘instruction manual’ of a building can relate to anything from the construction history and contractor details to maintenance information on HVAC units, pipes, electricals, and fire safety. Storing this documentation safely and organising it in an easily accessible way is necessary to ensure routine facility management, inspection, and certification processes.

Poorly organised documentation results in additional costs for building owners while the physical storage of documents can frequently result in loss or damage. With Findable, documents are more secure, complete and can be mined for information. This reduces the time consuming and manual process of managing complex documents, enabling construction companies and facility managers to streamline the process of inspections and certifications.

The volume of documentation in construction is increasing which is why Findable has made it easy for building owners to interact with their buildings. To start, owners just drag and drop existing documentation and the files are automatically organised across 300+ categories all of which are searchable and accessible. Users can, for example, ask directly about the dimensions of a ventilation system and the answer references the document in which Findable found the information, so that users can manually verify the answer.

Renovating buildings and reusing building materials is key across Europe but the challenge is the lack of knowledge around how old the materials are, what they are made of, or how much longer they are safe to use.

“To reach the climate goals, we have to reuse as much of the world's materials as possible, but we need documentation in place to make it happen,” says CEO and Co-Founder of Findable, Fredrik H. Wisløff. “Then there is also an associated key safety challenge which the recent RAAC issue highlighted,” Wisløff continues. “Our system works for schools but also offices, shopping malls, warehouses so can be used by a mixture of public sector, banks and private commercial companies from large-scale problems to more day-to-day maintenance issues.”

“The UK is the obvious next step in Europe for Findable,” adds Wisløff. “With London rightly perceived as the real estate capital of Europe. And yet, our research shows that digitisation here is behind the curve. Documentation may be the boring, but essential part, of this highly regulated industry. But we also play an important role in helping building owners in the green premium/brown discount issue as it has never been more important for banks to show a green portfolio among their CRE customers. To put it simply, if you don't have your documents in order, you won't get (good) financial deals either.”

The facilities management sector in Europe is a massive market undergoing its own digital transformation. The construction industry, property developers, and facility managers all require digital solutions to meet complex regulatory and sustainability requirements. Findable’s solution provides easy access to the right building documentation, supporting workflow automation, and thereby removing a major bottleneck.