Back in 1998, when the internet was still finding its feet, Zutec emerged onto the scene, changing the way building information was handled. By digitising and taking building information online, we paved the way for the next iteration of construction management software.
It all started when Mike White, CTO and Co-Founder of Zutec was working a summer job at a mechanical engineering contractor where he met Brian McGuire, a Construction Project Manager. Together, they would join forces to create Zutec.
“When Brian had worked on a previous project, he'd run into a big problem when he'd had to deliver two porta cabins full of Operation & Maintenance (O&M) manuals. The process took a long time, caused delays with payments and O&Ms were delivered with missing information. He knew there had to be a better way. When we talked about creating a new technology to solve this problem, it was clear to me that it had to be brought online. So, we built the software to do it.” — Mike White, CTO and Co-Founder of Zutec.
“When we talked about creating a new technology to solve this problem, it was clear to me that it had to be brought online. So, we built the software to do it.”
Today, led by Gustave Geisendorf, CEO of Zutec, the company has grown by making strategic acquisitions to build complementary propositions across the whole building lifecycle. The combined offerings span Document Management, Quality Management, Handover Management and Asset Management.
“It is now more important than ever that all building asset data is accurate, accessible, and understandable, particularly as the Building Safety Act framework comes into full force, and new regulations and standards are rolled out. With our SaaS (Software as a Service) platform and complementary solutions, Zutec aspires to lead the way in ConTech and PropTech innovation, providing simpler paths to help our customers navigate mandatory building information and address net zero requirements.” — Gustave Geisendorf, CEO at Zutec
“It is now more important than ever that all building asset data is accurate, accessible, and understandable, particularly as the Building Safety Act framework comes into full force, and new regulations and standards are rolled out.”
The first configurable web application for the construction industry
At the time, the internet was very basic; all you could do was launch a browser and view information. Zutec’s first web application allowed users to upload their documents to a structure, but very quickly customers wanted to add various attributes to their information while having the ability to track progress.
“Nobody was building configurable web applications yet — not even for desktop — probably because they didn't have network capacity for applications back then. It was around this time when these kinds of systems were coming into existence.” — Mike White, CTO and Co-Founder of Zutec
By 2004, Zutec 1.0 was born where users could define their folder and data structures and registers, add workflows, set user permissions, and implement security measures.
The platform has evolved significantly since then, supporting sectors including housebuilders, asset owners, developers, contractors, and property managers with document, quality, handover and asset management solutions.
The iPhone made digital construction mobile
With the creation of the iPhone, Zutec was one of the first in the industry to launch a fully integrated field app on mobile. Over time, development progressed so that users were able to snap photos on-site and update building information on their phones.
“Rolling out the mobile app was more straightforward for us than many others trying the same thing due to the work we put in upfront around creating a single login. A lot of companies were creating different versions of the same software, but we knew we needed to be like Google where you log into Google and you’re already logged into YouTube or Gmail.” — Mike White, CTO and Co-Founder of Zutec.
“We knew we needed to be like Google where you log into Google and you’re already logged into YouTube or Gmail.”
When Createmaster joined Zutec
Createmaster, established more than 20 years ago by Brian Dodsworth, was also helping remove the burden of managing the O&M process for contractors, providing a digital handover service to collate, validate, and deliver asset information and building manuals for customers.
“At Createmaster and now Zutec, it's always been our mission to make the lives of our clients easier so that they’re never caught out by missing project documentation or deadlines again. If information is missing, poor quality or fails to meet contractual obligations, building handover may be postponed. We provide contractors with digital handover solutions that proactively deliver all the documents and information they need to satisfy practical completion (PC), contractual obligations, regulations, and subsequent building occupation. By doing so, contractors can focus on building quality and save time. At the same time, asset owners can benefit from consistent handover documentation no matter which contractor they use.” James Cannon, Chief Revenue Officer at Zutec.
Now with significant changes to building safety regulations brought about by the Building Safety Act, delivering accurate building information digitally has become more important than ever.
Contractors are now legally required to capture an accurate digital record of what has been built, also known as a Golden Thread of information. These records must be readily available to building owners upon completion to secure Building Safety Act Gateway 3 compliance, ensuring residential buildings are safe to occupy.
Asset owners now need to submit Key Building Information and Safety Case Reports to the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) for each occupied Higher-Risk Residential Building (HRRB). This step is essential for securing building assessment certificates.
When Bond Bryan Digital joined Zutec
Updates to building regulations and best practices in the UK such as the Building Safety Act and the UK BIM Framework have put information management at the forefront of the built environment.
The acquisition of Bond Bryan Digital in 2021 meant that we could meet the demand for structured information management and better serve the full project lifecycle of our customers.
Later, the building information management leader rebranded to Createmaster Information Management under the Createmaster brand. This move provided a more holistic approach to the specification, production and management of building information for our customers.
A look back at some of our key milestones
1998: Zutec was established.
2001: Zutec was the first to launch web-based operation and maintenance (O&M) manuals.
2004: Zutec launched Release 1 of its online platform.
2006: Zutec was awarded its first major contract with Wembley Stadium.
2008: Zutec was the first to launch a fully integrated field app on mobile with full digital forms and offline mode.
2011: Zutec worked on the Shard for facade progress tracking with IFC support for BIM (Building Information Modelling).
2012: Zutec launched BIM app on desktop and mobile devices.
2016: Zutec achieved ISO 27001 Information Security certification.
2017 to 2022: Zutec begins quality progress tracking on the Big Ben refurbishment with Sir Robert Mc Alpine.
2021: Createmaster was acquired to bring expertise on digital construction handover into the group.
2021: Bond Bryan Digital was acquired to bring information management expertise into the group.
2021: Zutec was among the first to be awarded BSI BIM Kitemark.
2023: Zutec won Innovation of the Year award at the Construction Computing Awards for Part L Photographic Evidence solution.
2023: Bond Bryan Digital was renamed as Createmaster Information Management Under the Createmaster Brand.
2023: Zutec was accredited by New Homes Quality Board (NHQB) for its Quality Management Solutions.
What’s next for Zutec?
Our evolution has seen us focus on software as a service (SaaS) in areas such as regulatory change, sustainability and driving efficiencies where technology across the industry — particularly in the residential market — is no longer a nice to have.
Best practices, standards, policies, and regulations have all increased the need for information. The Building Safety Act, for example, has resulted in the need for more and more information (and data) to be produced and exchanged between stakeholders across the life of a building.
Although technology has already allowed the production of vast amounts of information, quality and consistency can be of differing standards, due to overlapping, contradicting, and duplicated data.
Additionally, data and information can be held in multiple systems in various formats, and sometimes don’t exist at all, which makes it hard to manage and deliver what is necessary to be compliant. Today we're working with 500+ customers to combat this problem by bringing all their disparate information into our platform to help them address different problems.
Embracing AI is another step for Zutec, and we’re already seeing how beneficial this technology can be for providing more context to our data and how it will change the way users find information. We’ve also been able to leverage machine learning technology for document review and analysis, adding metadata to classify construction documents.
We’ll continue to identify gaps in the marketplace and build solutions that will make it easier for customers to manage their building information project-by-project and across a building portfolio. This will result in more connected data and improved efficiency from planning to building operations and maintenance.
Our platform is always evolving and we’re continually looking for ways to collaborate with our customers to bring solutions to the market that address challenges and pain points. We’re constantly making enhancements to our user interface (UI) and user experience (UX) so that our customers can better manage the information they have in a simple-to-use environment.
Thanks to everyone for being part of the Zutec journey so far!
See how we are connecting the dots for our contractor, housebuilder, developer, and asset owner clients and how we continue to stay one step ahead in building digitisation by exploring our solution families: Document Management, Quality Management, Handover Management and Asset Management.
In a world increasingly digitising and moving towards a golden thread of information, we look forward to giving you peace of mind with better-connected and structured data.