New Tools to Track Your Roof

Commercial and industrial property managers are tasked with keeping the buildings and grounds in top shape. This means tracking a mountain of warranties, maintenance guidelines, schedules and building plans. Naturally, the roof falls under their care as well, with its own warranties, maintenance schedules and the added bonus of Mother Nature’s fury to contend with.

It used to be that property owners had rows of files cabinets just to hold all the necessary paperwork on a facility and its grounds. These folks had to practically be librarians simply to locate all the information they needed. Generating reports and keeping on top of maintenance schedules was a nightmare.

Today there is a host of software and online tools available to help make storing all the information and tracking everything much easier. The new asset management programs help property owners, managers, vendors & contractors place all the relevant information — building plans, material information, warranties, maintenance schedules, photos, inspection reports, contractors, etc. — in one place.

Information can be easily entered on a tablet even while standing on the property. Digital cameras or even cell phones can send photos that can quickly be stored in the software. The information can all be quickly integrated into the master program.

Some software can actually color code the information, allowing property managers to see at a glance what needs immediate attention.

In addition, property managers can generate all kinds of information using the software (without having to dig through all those dusty file cabinets):

• Comparison budgets on roof repair versus replacement
• Reports identifying trends or similarities among other roofs in the system
• Inspection notices and reminders
• Aging roof reports and details
• Troubleshoot problems by looking at past history
• And much more…

Best of all, the new asset management software can create high quality reports that include marked-up CAD drawings, budget estimates, external reports, and photographs. The results are easy-to-understand documents with valuable information that can be presented through email, as hard copy, or via a Web site.

Global Roofing Group currently provides a custom, online roof asset management program for our customers. Our program can be used to download current information and files you might need for your internal asset tracking, or you can simply use our program as your own - just login and start tracking your roof assets.

Should you be looking to implement your own program, one such software program is offered by Digital Facilities Corporation — more information is available at www.digital-facilities.net.