Oktra, a renowned design and fit-out firm, were searching for a digital solution to help them make the snagging process more efficient. But after adopting PlanRadar they found that the platform could help them beyond simple snagging. Today, having seen a huge success in cutting condition survey time in half using PlanRadar, Oktra are planning to expand the use of the platform even further – using it on more projects, more processes and saving more time.
Why Oktra chose PlanRadar
While Oktra originally planned to only use PlanRadar for snagging, a test project with the platform soon revealed that PlanRadar could help them in other areas too, saving them a serious amount of time on each project. But before we get into how, let’s step back and take a look at where it all started.
Oktra takes innovation seriously, both in the work they do and in the digital tools they use to get the job done. And they’re stringent in only choosing the best solutions available.
So, when Alex Turner, Head of Digital Design & Construction and his team, chose PlanRadar for a trial project, they’d already looked closely at a range of platforms. It didn’t take Alex long to decide PlanRadar was the best-fit thanks to its ease of use, ability to integrate with other systems and powerful features for capturing and solving snags during the fit-out process.
Tackling condition surveys
Each year Oktra – with a team of over 200 split across four offices in the UK – takes on about 120 design and fit-out projects that range in cost from £500,000 to £13m. For each of those projects, they need to complete a condition survey (or an existing building survey).
Oktra’s condition surveys are hugely important to their fit-out projects. They need to be thorough and accurate, capturing detailed information on the condition of the building before the fit-out starts. A mixture of photographic records and written notes, these surveys not only act as a record for the building owner and tenant but also as a tool for estimating the cost of the project.
As a result, condition surveys were also very time consuming. Before PlanRadar was used, it would take Oktra an average of two days, with team members taking photos, writing up notes on pen and paper, then collating this up into a report – a process that now takes just one day with PlanRadar.
And time is very important to Oktra, and fit out companies in general. As Alex points out, “That’s a big thing – people’s time. We’re very time poor in fit out. So anything that can mitigate that is really beneficial to the business.”
Over the course of 120 projects, saving time on each condition survey would mean Oktra could achieve huge savings in time and money.
How PlanRadar transformed Oktra’s workflow
Tasked initially with using PlanRadar for snagging, the team got to work and soon found that they could identify snags quickly and efficiently communicate with subcontractors to solve them. But they took the digitisation of processes even further.
Testament to how easy the platform is to use; the team also took it upon themselves to explore the platform further and put it to use in ways other ways that they found helpful. Within the scope of the first trial project, the team using PlanRadar were already using the platform to speed up the condition survey process – without needing any extra training. And they found that by using PlanRadar to collect this data – including voice notes, images and text – they could cut the time taken on a survey from two days to one.
Since then, Oktra has used PlanRadar on over 20 projects – including two projects worth over £10m. And the platform is being utilised by two teams, with plans to expand use throughout the company and to start using more features of the app.
That’s 20 days’ work already saved, and a potential of 120 days per year in the future.
It’s fair to say that Oktra’s future with PlanRadar looks bright.
