JLL apps support flood disaster response

Challenge

JLL was awarded a contract in March 2022 to provide facilities management, transaction management and sustainability services across the NSW real estate portfolio of a government client. The client owns 740 properties in total, and leases 140.

Within a few hours of our contract commencing, NSW was subjected to some of the worst flooding the country had ever experienced. The flooding was concentrated on the far north coast, affecting 149 of our client’s properties.

This was the first time we had worked with this client, and so the disaster would be a test for the new partnership. The speed and capability of our digital property management systems would be under the spotlight, too.

Approach

To provide an appropriate response to the floods on behalf of our client, we needed to understand the extent of the damage to its properties. Our first step was to take a flood map and overlay the locations of all our client’s sites.

We then compiled a priority list of sites that needed attention. Those that needed evacuations and repairs were at the top of the list.

This audit was run through the JLL platform, Corrigo, a central help desk which can be customised to a company’s portfolio through the categorisation or naming of properties, for example.

Corrigo monitors and reports where repairs are needed and when they are undertaken. Key word searches can easily call up affected sites.

As we ran the audit, we mobilised a small team of facilities experts to assess the damage at the flood disaster site. Water levels had risen to 14 metres, engulfing the town of Lismore.

Working with our client, we navigated the emergency conditions and rounded up contractors to address the required repairs. As we used the wider JLL network of service providers, the onboarding process was quick and uncomplicated.

“We took ownership, went live quickly, and leveraged contractor networks to get to a rapid response,” says Robert Timmermans, account director in JLL’s Work Dynamics.

Result

In normal circumstances, strong partnerships with our clients are formed over time. But with the unknown factor of crisis management, this relationship was fast-tracked.

For processes that would have taken many organisations several months to set up, JLL’s technology and automation platforms set them up in just days.

“The floods started on Wednesday, the report was in on Friday, and the floods receded on Saturday,” Timmerman says.

As well as Corrigo, other applications deployed included Azara, which reports on the financial status of leases; Portfolio, a lease administration database which manages critical dates and rent repayments; LCAM, which accesses the life cycle of building equipment, fixtures and fittings, and recommends capital investment plans; Canopy, which tracks costs such as energy; and Costar, which tracks lease-critical events such as renewals and rent increases pegged to market rates or the consumer price index, for example.

By integrating these applications, our client received a consolidated picture of each property, including maintenance history, rental costs, lease expiry profiles, capital investment forecasts and overall property conditions.

This experience helped us understand the portfolio information that becomes critical in emergency scenarios. It will enable us to respond even more quickly and proactively for clients should they find themselves in similar situations in the future.