Property logbooks according to "Designing Buildings Wiki - UK"
Introduction
The term digital 'Property Logbook' and similar terms, e.g. building passport, has become popular amongst buildings and property professionals, with many different interpretations being offered for what they might be and which industry sectors might benefit from their use.
All the terms listed below refer to some form of digitally hosted building record that includes live, updated links to open sources, static data held in digital form, documentation and imagery:
Building Logbook
Digital Property Logbook
Renovation Passport
The Definition of a Digital Property Logbook
A digital property logbook is a common repository for all relevant building data. A well maintained logbook should represent a record of major events during a building’s lifetime, such as change of ownership, tenure or use, maintenance, refurbishment and other interventions in the fabric of the building. The logbook should contain copies of significant documentation and certification relating to these events and include links to where information is held on those events on public and/or government repositories.
Documentation could include administrative documents, plans, description of the land, the building and its surrounding, technical systems, traceability and characteristics of construction materials, performance data such as operational energy use, indoor environmental quality, smart building potential and lifecycle emissions, as well as links to building ratings and certificates.
The Role or Purpose of A Property Logbook
A property logbook should be a dynamic tool that allows a variety of data, information and documents to be recorded, accessed, enriched and organised under specific categories. As such, a property logbook can serve a variety of purposes within a building's lifetime. These may include:
Facilitating transparency, trust, informed decision making and information sharing.
Enabling quicker, more transparent transactions and change of ownership, linking financial institutions to land registries and certification bodies.
Connecting building owners with commercial service providers and public authorities for more efficient running and maintenance of a property.
Providing a platform to co-ordinate and record retrofit programmes against targets and frameworks such as the net zero/energy neutral obligations of the Paris Accord.
Allowing public bodies to monitor the health and development status of the buildings within their areas of interest.
Enabling circularity in the built environment from design through to demolition.
Data may be stored within the logbook and/or hosted in a different location to which the logbook acts as a gateway. Some types of data stored in the logbook have a more static nature while others, such as data coming from smart meters and intelligent devices, are dynamic and need to be automatically and regularly updated.
A digital building logbook is a safe instrument giving control to users of their data and the access of third parties, respecting the fundamental right to protection of personal data.
Work on Property Logbooks Around The World
In the UK, the Ministry of Housing, Community and Local Government (MHCLG) have established a Property Logbook Workgroup within their wider efforts to digitise the residential property market. This workgroup has led to the establishment of a Trade Association for UK providers of digital property logbooks - the Residential Logbook Association (RLBA).
Several EU countries have developed and implemented digital property logbook initiatives, including, for example, the Woningpas in Flanders (BE), the private initiative BASTA in Sweden and the PTNB in France.
All these initiatives share a common objective: to increase data availability and transparency to a broad range of market players. The initiatives are intended to establish whether property logbooks can contribute to EU initiatives and strategies, such as “A Europe fit for the digital age”, the “European Green Deal’’ and its Renovation Wave, the new Circular Economy Action Plan, and the dedicated Strategy for a Sustainable Built Environment.
Property Logbook Initiatives Around The World
National Deeds Depository – logbooks for transaction documentation
Home Information Pack (England & Wales - discontinued)
Dossier d'Intervention Ultérieure – Belgium
Woningpas – Belgium
Bedrebolig – Denmark
Eigenheim Manager - Germany
Gëbaudepass - Germany
Hausakte - Germany
ImmoPass - Germany
QDF Hausakte - Germany
Electronic building ID - Greece
Fascicolo del Fabbricato - Italy
Homebook - France
Le Carnet Numérique du Logement - France
Mon Carnet Logement - France
Wikihabitat - France
Passeport Efficacité Énergétique - France
Libro del Edificio - Spain
PAS-E – Spain
Livro de obra - Portugal
Klimatdeklaration – Sweden
Min Villa – Sweden
Produktkollen – Sweden
BASTA Loggbok – Sweden
Madaster – The Netherlands
Opleverdossier – The Netherlands
Platform CB'23 – The Netherlands
Australia
Finland
Real estate service manual – Finland
Ilmastoviisaat Taloyhtiöt – Finland
Building Passport GBC – Finland
Iceland
Property Register
Switzerland
Federal Register
USA
Arc Platform
HomeZada – digital property logbooks
Global
Global ABC Building Passport Project
Related articles on Designing Buildings Wiki
BIM.
External references
The Residential Logbook Association (RLBA) - www.rlba.org.uk
The EU Digital Building Logbook (DBL) Project - Report
News Report on the EU DBL Project - News coverage
ChimniWiki - PropertyLogbooksArticle
Twindig - Digital Property Logbook article
