CBRE Citibank

CBRE Citibank and ePermits 

CBRE is the world’s largest commercial real estate services and investment firm. It manages the offices for Citibank in London. Citibank is a partner for thousands of businesses across the globe providing trusted financial services. Their buildings in Canary Wharf cover more than two million square feet, making the job of managing them both demanding and complex.  

Managing buildings of the size and scale of Citibank’s is constantly challenging. On most days there are between 20 and 30 different planned works on site performed by a whole range of different contractors. Keeping track of who should be on site and ensuring they have the right permits is a huge task. The in-house system that was in place could cope in quieter times, but on busier days it was unable to handle the volumes going through it.  

This was creating issues on many levels. Contractors would arrive that were not excepted, lacking the correct permits and potentially compromising health and safety. The team were spending huge amounts of time manually managing the process and resolving issues, adding to their already significant workload. It was clear that a digital solution was needed. 

After exploring whether it was possible to upgrade their own system, CBRE Citibank decided they needed outside help to provide a robust, reliable and trusted solution. EcoOnline ePermits was selected as all the team had experience of using it in previous roles and found it easy to navigate, simple to learn and effective. This previous experience meant implementation was likely to be quicker than for alternative solutions. Jak Broadway was responsible for rolling the system out for CBRE Citibank. 

Work started in February 2021, while the UK was still in lockdown. Jak and his team were remotely assisted by the EcoOnline team to complete the implementation work on each site. This worked so well, that going forward most implementations will be completed virtually.  

Due to the size of the buildings which cover more than 80 floors and the fact CBRE Citibank wanted to make the system as detailed as possible, able to drill down to specific rooms, it was a sizeable task that required careful management and took several months. A test site was produced in May 2021. 

As Jak had never managed a project of this magnitude before, he wanted to make sure everything was as perfect as it could be prior to launch. He spent three months testing the system so that he was confident everything worked correctly, and it could do everything they needed. During that time, the EcoOnline team were constantly on hand to answer any questions and resolve any issues. 

ePermits went live during the final week of August 2021. The initial plan had been for a phased shift to the new system, but this proved impractical as contractors and project managers would have been confused about which process to follow. From 1 September everything had to be on ePermits. 

After a busy two weeks of showing people how to use the system, the new process began to settle down and after three months everyone was completely up to speed. 

“The new approach was a shock to the system for many people at first, but they soon grew to appreciate how much easier it was and how much time they saved. Now it’s truly embedded into our working practices, I tend not to have much input at all.” 

Jak Broadway, Shift Operations Manager Critical Services, CBRE Global Workplace Solutions 

Introducing ePermits has had many benefits, but one of the most tangible is the huge amount of time it has saved. Previously Jak would spend two to three hours a day managing permits. Now he spends as little as 10 minutes. Contractors have saved time too. It used to take 30 minutes to complete a permit application, now it is a matter of minutes. Project managers, who used to be heavily involved in the process, now just have to review and if compliant, approve the application, again vastly reducing their time commitment. 

Since ePermits has launched, 3,800 permits have been issued, illustrating just how busy the site and the team are. While the number of permits remains on par with those produced on the old system, there is far better control over who is on site. If an issued permit is not on the system, the contractor cannot work enhancing health and safety controls on site. 

Anyone can now see at any time who is on site and check their permits, creating complete transparency. Internal audits in the past had flagged up contractors had been on site without the right paperwork, leaving the organization vulnerable if an accident had occurred. 

As contractors need to add their details before being included within the permit process, CBRE Citibank now have much better contractor records which include insurance details and competencies of individuals, helping them to manage contractors more effectively. When contractors arrive on site, they know they have been approved to work, which was not always the case previously as applications would get overlooked or misplaced, improving their working experience. 

“ePermits has helped us to manage contractors far more efficiently, saving us huge amounts of time and making sure we maintain the highest possible health and safety standard. EcoOnline have proved to be knowledgeable and supportive partners. During the testing phase, I asked dozens of questions and they always came back quickly with a solution. Having a dedicated point of contact with our account manager, Sam Westwood, means everything runs incredibly smoothly and I know any future enhancements we undertake will be implemented effectively.” 

Jak Broadway, Shift Operations Manager Critical Services, CBRE Global Workplace Solutions