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On New Home Owners Day (May 1), Avantix would like to congratulate AusHomes, builder of new houses and apartments, who goes above and beyond legislated requirements to bring exceptional customer service to those fortunate enough to celebrate this day in the home they chose to build.
By taking the simple, yet significant, step of digitising their build records, AusHomes gain a quinella of advantages: exceptional customer service, efficient administration, exceeding legislative requirements, protecting themselves in rare cases of dispute, and reducing business costs.
“We made the decision to start digitally scanning our build records some years ago,” says Brett Shepherd, CEO of AusHomes. “The benefits can be seen across our business.”
AusHomes is based in Queensland where regulations require builders to provide 6 or 12 month guarantee on non-structural work. For structural work, complaints can be lodged within 6 years and 6 months of the build completion date.
Understandably, in a climate where the costs of physical storage is rising rapidly, most builders only keep records for the minimum required time.
By changing to digital scanning, AusHomes is able to retain records indefinitely, meaning that not only do they far exceed legislative requirements, any future changes to legislation will be met without additional cost or change of practice.
Though complaints about AusHomes’ work are rare, disputes about alleged defective work are an inevitable part of the business of a builder. Unfortunately, not all complaints are genuine. Maintenance of thorough records are a first line of defence for builders in instances where an unscrupulous homeowner tries to incorrectly place blame at the feet of the construction company.
“When this happens, out comes the digital files,” says Shepherd. “For the protection of the company, we digitise all records including photographs of the home just before handover of the keys.”
A more joyful benefit to digital scanning of records is when satisfied customers make contact, sometimes years or even decades down the track, to find out details of their home. “Though we hand over certificates and an information pack along with the keys at the completion of the build, over time a lot of people lose them,” says Shepherd.
Questions range from the aesthetic (what paint colour was used, or the source of the roof tiles) to the practical (where the sewage outlet is located, or for copies of plans prior to renovation). It gives Shepherd great satisfaction that, thanks to all records being instantly available and highly searchable, most questions can be answered within the customer’s phone call. This is a win both for customer service (it is telling that many AusHomes customers are repeat customers) and administration efficiency, with requests for information now taking minutes rather than hours.
The flow-on effect is reduced costs. Shepherd estimates that file maintenance expenses, including the digital scanning services provided by Avantix, are now 10% of what they were prior to implementing the AusHomes digital records strategy. With adding hundreds of new home records to the archives annually, this percentage will fall further in future years.
Avantix, a leading scanning specialist, congratulates AusHomes on their forward thinking approach to their business.
“By taking this progressive step, AusHomes is in the best position to provide full support for their customers well beyond mandated timeframes,” says Duncan Lord, Avantix CEO.
Persons interested in learning more about Avantix’s professional scanning services for the building sector (including more detail about the AusHomes project) can visit the website at www.avantix.com.au/insights
Release ID: 338713