The built environment has spent two decades digitising buildings. Document management systems. BIM. CAFM platforms. Asset registers. Laser scans. Handover packs the size of small libraries. Somewhere along the way, the industry convinced itself that if it captured enough information, the answers would eventually emerge.

They didn’t.

I have spent over twenty years watching how information moves through the lifecycle of a building, from the delivery of large capital projects to the decades of operation that follow. The pattern is consistent. The people who own, operate and invest in the built environment are still making the hardest decisions about safety, capital, performance and carbon with fragmented records, stale information and a lot of hope. The information exists. It just doesn’t perform.

That is what we call the Performance Gap. It is the persistent gap between what organisations hold about their buildings and what they can confidently act on. It is not a technology problem. It is a structural one.

Three conditions

Every building in the UK sits in one of three information conditions.

• Information that was structured during construction but lost or degraded at handover, when project data fails to translate into anything operationally useful.
• Information that existed but has fragmented through years of change. Fit-out projects, equipment replacements and FM re-procurements each create their own records. Few are reconciled to what already exists.
• Information that was never created in structured form in the first place.

These are not edge cases. They are the norm across the operational estate. And they are the diagnostic. If you know which condition a building sits in, you know what has to happen next.

The consequence is the same in all three cases. Buildings cost more to run than they should. They cannot demonstrate compliance with confidence. They consume more energy than they were designed to. They fail to deliver the outcomes their owners paid for. Every year that passes without addressing these conditions makes it harder, more expensive and more risky to do so.

Why this has persisted

The problem is well understood by anyone who has managed a building or an estate. It persists for structural reasons, not for lack of awareness.

FM suppliers have little contractual incentive to maintain the quality of their client’s asset information. Clients rarely embed strong enough information requirements in FM contracts because they do not know what good looks like in practice. Confidence degrades through every procurement cycle. Further back in the chain, constructors are incentivised to complete projects, not to ensure information quality for operations. The party that creates the information is not the party that bears the cost of poor information.

The technology landscape is fragmented by phase. Each stage of a building’s life has its own systems, its own standards and its own data formats. None of them were designed to interoperate across the lifecycle.

The transition everyone talks about is construction to operations. The moment a building is handed over and project information should become operational intelligence. The reality for most projects is not a structured information model arriving ready for use. It is the minimum the contractor can pull together to be contractually compliant, often against generic requirements that nobody specified with operational use in mind. That gap is real. But it is a one-off event.

The less recognised problem is what happens afterwards. Every FM re-procurement is another transition where information degrades. The incoming provider inherits whatever the outgoing provider chose to maintain, cannot accept liability for information they did not produce, and starts again. This happens repeatedly across a building’s life.

I saw this first-hand on the single biggest engagement of my career. A major UK government estate owner needed to repatriate its information from an outgoing FM contractor back into its own system of record, and then onward to multiple incoming FM providers. The exercise ran for almost three years. It covered 21 million documents and an even larger volume of structured asset data records. The scale was extraordinary. So was what it revealed. We were not just recovering files. We were diagnosing the state of the client’s own information layer, their governance arrangements, and the gap between what they contractually held and what they could actually rely on. No piece of work has shaped how I think about this problem more.

Ownership transfer creates the same problem at a different level. When the asset owner changes, the information layer is rarely part of what transfers intact. And between these transitions, information degrades at a more granular level still. Every maintenance event, equipment replacement or building modification that should result in an information update but doesn’t. Information can go stale in days, not years. The construction handover gets the attention. The continuous operational erosion and the repeated transitions do the lasting damage.

And critically, there has been no named discipline for the problem. Without a recognised practice for sustaining trusted asset information across every transition, and connecting it to the decisions it exists to serve, the problem has no home. It falls between disciplines. Too operational for the construction technologists. Too technical for the facilities managers. Too niche for the enterprise software vendors. Every organisation is left to work it out alone, with no shared vocabulary, no maturity benchmarks and no market pressure to adopt a coherent approach.

What we mean by Asset Intelligence

At Glider, this is the conclusion we have reached after years of working across the full lifecycle, from construction delivery through decades of operation. The problem is not a lack of data. It is the absence of a discipline.

We call it Asset Intelligence.

Asset Intelligence is not a product or a platform. It is not a rebranded term for information management. It is the discipline that ensures the people responsible for buildings can find, trust and act on the information they need to keep them safe, compliant and performing.
Information management is the discipline of the asset’s record. Asset Intelligence is the discipline of the asset’s decisions.

That distinction matters. Information management, as described by ISO 19650, has established how asset information should be structured, governed and exchanged. The standard is undergoing a significant revision that expands its ambition further, explicitly covering the full lifecycle. The Information Management Initiative has raised the bar for what the industry should aspire to. We respect that work, and we build on it.

But describing what should happen is not the same as making it happen. ISO 19650 increasingly describes what the industry needs to do across the entire lifecycle. It does not yet give organisations the practice they need to make it real, particularly for existing estates where structured information has never existed. Asset Intelligence is the discipline that bridges that gap.

Five functions

Asset Intelligence brings together five functions that have long existed in isolation across the building lifecycle. Together, they describe a purposeful discipline that starts with intent and ends with value.

• Requirements. Establishing what asset information the organisation needs and specifying it clearly enough for procurement and supply chains to deliver against. This is where the discipline connects to organisational strategy. An organisation that cannot articulate what information it needs cannot practise Asset Intelligence. Most never have.
• Capture. Ensuring information is produced to a usable standard, whether through construction delivery or recovery of existing estate data. This is not just handover. It is the active management of information creation across supply chains and programmes, against defined requirements.
• Governance. Applying ownership, structure and accountable change control so that information can be trusted over time. Without governance, information degrades from the moment it is created. Governance is what separates a managed information layer from a data dump.
• Delivery. Making information accessible to the people and systems that depend on it. Intelligence locked inside specialist systems, or buried in formats that only technical users can interpret, has no operational value. The discipline only succeeds when the people responsible for a building can actually use what they know about it.
• Exploitation. Turning structured information into measurable outcomes across four domains: environmental, social, safety and economic. This is what justifies “Intelligence” in the name. Without it, the discipline describes information management. With it, the discipline connects what an organisation knows about its assets to what it does about them.

No single function works in isolation. An organisation can enter at any point depending on its maturity. But it cannot practise Asset Intelligence fully without all five.

Two pathways

There are two routes into the discipline and both matter.

The Create pathway applies when a building is being designed and constructed, or when a major capital project provides the opportunity to establish structured information from the outset. Information is captured during design, governed during construction, and handed over in a form that is immediately usable for operations. This pathway addresses the handover problem.

The Recover pathway applies when a building is already in operation and structured information has never been established, or has degraded beyond trust. Recovery is a deliberate programme of work. It establishes a structured information baseline through survey, through data extraction from legacy sources, and through validation against current requirements. The starting point is not a construction project. It is the estate as it exists today, with all its gaps, inconsistencies and accumulated information debt.

The Recover pathway is where most of the market sits, and where industry understanding is weakest. The overwhelming majority of operational buildings will never go through another capital project that could establish structured information from scratch. For most estates, recovery is not the alternative pathway. It is the primary one.

Both pathways lead to the same outcome: a structured, governed, lifecycle-wide information layer. Both begin with the same starting point: determining what information the organisation actually needs. They diverge in how those requirements are fulfilled and converge at governance and delivery. One architecture, two entry points.

Progressive Confidence

Asset Intelligence recognises that organisations do not jump from poor information to perfect information in one step. Confidence is built progressively. Buildings are addressed incrementally as capability develops over time.

This is a discipline designed to work in the real world, not in ideal conditions. An organisation starting from nothing does not need to achieve perfection on day one. It needs a credible route from operating in the dark to operating with intelligence, and it needs to see value at every step along the way.

Why this matters now

Regulatory pressure is increasing. The Building Safety Act and its Golden Thread requirements mandate that building owners maintain accurate, accessible and up-to-date information throughout a building’s lifecycle. Failure to comply carries personal liability. Carbon targets require long-term evidence and repeatable performance improvement, not aspirational statements. Capital decisions are under greater scrutiny.

The standards landscape is evolving. ISO 19650 already covers delivery and operational phases separately. The current revision merges them into a single lifecycle process, and the consultation closes in June 2026. The direction of travel is clear. The industry increasingly agrees on what needs to happen. What remains missing is the organisational discipline to make it real.

At the same time, buildings are becoming more complex, more connected and more expensive to operate. Without intelligence, the cost of uncertainty compounds with every year that passes.

Organisations that adopt Asset Intelligence early will not just run safer and more efficient buildings. They will change how decisions about buildings are made and sustained over time. They will be able to act with confidence rather than caution. They will plan rather than react.

The owners and operators who adopt this discipline first won’t just run better buildings. They’ll change what it means to own one.

Glider’s role

Glider is building the platform that enables this discipline at scale.

We started with digital handover. Over more than twenty years, I have seen at close range why project handover has been such a stubborn problem. Every significant project we supported taught us something about the gap between what a construction team produces and what an operator can actually use. That experience sits inside our product and our approach.

But handover is not where the market is biggest. The bigger opportunity, and the bigger problem, is the existing estate. Over the last six years we have worked alongside one of the UK’s largest government estate owners to establish their information management platform, their processes, their procedures, their information requirements, their benefits framework and their adoption model. We began with the repatriation of tens of millions of documents and asset records across an FM transition. Since then, the work has expanded into the full operational practice of sustaining trusted information across an estate of national significance. They are not our only customer. But they are the most significant, and the work has directly shaped the Asset Intelligence Category Framework that we now apply.

That combination, from construction delivery through estate-scale recovery and continuous operation, gives us a structural view of the problem that systems focused on a single phase of the lifecycle cannot provide.

Asset Intelligence depends on information flowing reliably from creation into use, reaching the people whose decisions depend on it, across every asset, for the life of every building. That is the problem Glider exists to solve.

We think of Asset Intelligence as the circulatory system of the built environment’s technology ecosystem. CAFM, CDEs, digital twins, BMS: these are the organs. Each performs an essential function. None provides the lifecycle-wide information layer that connects them. Asset Intelligence is what carries trusted information to every system that needs it.

What comes next

This is the start of a broader conversation. Over the coming months we will share more about how Asset Intelligence works in practice. How organisations assess where they stand. How they adopt the discipline progressively. And how it delivers measurable outcomes across four domains: environmental, social, safety and economic.

For now, the important step is recognising the shift. The built environment does not need more data. It needs a discipline for turning information into intelligence.

I will be speaking about this at Digital Construction Week on 3 June 2026 in London, in a session titled “Asset Intelligence: The missing discipline in the built environment.” To register for your free ticket, visit Digital Construction Week 2026.

O&M manuals may be a contractual requirement, but they rarely deliver long‑term value. Clients often inherit outdated information, FM teams spend months rebuilding asset registers, and contractors are blamed for handover failures that were unavoidable from the outset.

Digital Asset Manuals (DAM) are redefining how asset information flows from construction into operations and giving contractors a smarter, more defensible way to deliver information that clients can trust.

Why traditional O&M manuals fail

The construction phase generates vast volumes of information across design, installation, commissioning and verification. But traditional O&M manuals capture this information at a single point in time, usually in the last chaotic weeks before Practical Completion (PC).

At this stage subcontractors are still completing works, commissioning outputs are still being validated, design changes and clarifications are still landing and reconciliations and asset list checks are still underway.

Meanwhile, contractors must chase documentation to deliver a complete set of manuals – all while managing the pressure of finishing works and hitting PC.

Rapidly evolving buildings

Even when the O&M is technically “complete”, a building continues to evolve, particularly in its early‑life when changes are quick and constant. The many changes include:

• Space reconfigurations
• System tuning and optimisation
• Firmware and software updates
• Warranty replacements and early failures
• New compliance requirements
• Ongoing adjustments during DLP

With these changes, the O&M manual can be out of date within weeks – and the contractor’s name is still on the cover.

So static O&Ms don’t just fail clients. They fail contractors too.

What’s different with Digital Asset Manuals?

A Digital Asset Manual is not a document. It is a living, structured asset information model that evolves with the building during early‑life operations.

Unlike traditional manuals, DAM captures and integrates:

• Commissioning updates
• Defects and liability period changes
• Late design resolutions
• Early equipment failures and replacements
• Operational tuning and performance adjustments
• Ongoing compliance updates
• Metadata corrections
• Missing or inconsistent asset information

Where traditional O&Ms freeze information at PC, a DAM keeps it alive until the building stabilises, typically around year three.

This turns handover from a last‑minute document dump into a managed, structured transition into operations.

Why DAM benefits contractors

A DAM gives contractors a defensible, transparent, repeatable way to deliver asset information and removes the burden of maintaining a static snapshot of a building that is still changing.

1. Smoother handovers and fewer disputes
   Contractors hand over clean, structured, validated information rather than rushed PDFs. Clients receive something usable, reducing tension and rework.
2. Clear, consistent requirements across the supply chain
   When the DAM is specified early, subcontractors work to a single information structure reducing inconsistencies, duplication and late surprises.
3. Stronger alignment with ISO 19650 delivery models
   DAMs support the full information lifecycle: PIM → AIM → Living AIM → Operational Model. Contractors can finally deliver to ISO 19650 in a practical, achievable way.
4. Reduced compliance and reputation risk
   With static manuals, contractors often get blamed for issues years after leaving site. With a DAM, updates and corrections are captured meaning the handover record remains current, accurate and defensible.
5. A stronger value proposition for clients
   Contractors who deliver DAMs demonstrate that they’re thinking beyond PC, differentiating themselves as partners in lifecycle delivery, not just capital construction.

Why DAMs must be specified early

When information frameworks, asset structures and O&M requirements are defined early, ideally at RIBA Stage 2 or 3, contractors benefit from:

• Clear deliverables
• Better supply chain alignment
• Fewer late-stage reconciliation tasks
• A smoother journey from design → construction → operations

Contractors play a strategic role here. Encouraging clients to specify DAM early improves outcomes for everyone – including the contractor.

The shift the industry has needed

Digital Asset Manuals represent a long‑overdue evolution in how we deliver asset information. They reduce risk, eliminate the inefficiencies of static O&Ms and ensure buildings begin life with accurate, reliable, operationally ready data.

For contractors, DAM is not just another compliance requirement.

It’s:

• Smarter delivery
• Better client relationships
• Clearer expectations
• Stronger handovers
• Long‑term reputational protection

It’s time to stop the manual mess and start the evolution to Digital Asset Manuals.

For more information and a demo of our handover platform, get in touch.

A materials passport is a digital record that stores detailed information about the materials and products used within a building. It typically includes data such as composition, origin, environmental performance and reuse potential. This creates complete transparency about what a building is made of and how its materials can be recovered or recycled in the future.

By turning buildings into material banks, materials passports support circular economy goals, help reduce embodied carbon and enable asset owners to make informed decisions about maintenance, refurbishment and end of life reuse.

From materials passports to building intelligence

To achieve full lifecycle transparency and long-term building performance, asset owners need more than just data on materials, they need a single source of truth for all asset information.

We believe that this should go beyond capturing the physical characteristics of a building. For complete transparency, it’s also important to view the systems, components and operational data throughout design, construction and occupation.

This is the foundation of the golden thread of information. Every data point from a product’s sustainability rating to maintenance schedules and compliance documentation is captured, structured and easily searchable.

Why asset owners need more

For building owners and operators, a materials passport alone doesn’t answer key operational questions:

• Is this material compliant with the latest fire safety regulations?
• When was this component last maintained or replaced?
• What is the embodied carbon of this system across the whole estate?

Glider’s information management platform bridges these gaps providing owners and facilities managers with the complete picture to ensure safety, compliance and long-term value.

The result

With all the asset information accessible in one platform, sustainability and circularity goals are easier to meet. Asset owners gain complete lifecycle management, with every decision backed by verified data. Sustainability and circularity goals are easier to meet with the right data for reuse and embodied carbon reporting. And with structured, connected data, your building is ready for digital twins and smart building integrations.

Get in touch with one of our materials passport experts to find out more. 

Download our free guide How to unlock the full value of your assets with a materials passport to discover how you can turn material data into actionable intelligence across your estate.

With a career that spans both construction and software, Jake Canty-Davis brings clarity and momentum to some of our most complex opportunities. His focus is on large organisations from major corporate occupiers to public bodies and universities and helping them understand how structured building information supports their long-term operational goals.

Enterprise sales is often defined as dealing with large numbers. At Glider, however, Enterprise isn’t just defined by deal size, but also by complexity. Jake works closely with senior stakeholders across real estate teams, identifying the challenges they face and demonstrating how our platform can address them at scale. These conversations require patience, curiosity and a consultative mindset, qualities that define his approach.

Jake’s focus is always on the value and business outcomes clients are trying to achieve, whether that’s improving operational efficiency, aligning project data to long-term needs, or reducing risk across large-scale estates.

Navigating a demanding industry

The built environment is one of the most intricate sectors to work in. It spans construction, FM, operations, consultancy and investment, with each organisation bringing its own set of pressures, legacy systems and expectations.

Jake sees this complexity as both a challenge and an opportunity. Because we support so many parts of the building lifecycle, no two conversations are ever the same and each engagement requires a tailored, consultative approach.

One of the realities Jake often encounters is the disconnect between project delivery and ongoing operations. Contractors, consultants and clients each have different objectives, timelines and metrics for success. Jake’s job is to align these objectives and articulate how a consistent, structured approach to information can support all parties.

This is what makes the work rewarding. It demands flexibility, industry awareness and the ability to stay strategic even when navigating diverse stakeholders.

Building on a strong delivery legacy

Many of the enterprise conversations Jake leads today are grounded in years of exceptional handover work delivered by both Glider and EDocuments.

When clients have already experienced reliable delivery, particularly on complex projects, it creates a foundation of trust that elevates the conversation from transactional documents to long-term asset strategy. Jake regularly sees this dynamic when engaging with organisations such as major educational institutions, public authorities and global corporate occupiers.

The progression from handover services to enterprise software for building operations is often a natural step for these clients, and Jake’s role is to help them see the long-term value of that transition

Industry experience that makes a difference

Before moving into software, Jake worked in the industry for an M&E contractor. This background gives him a practical understanding of the pressures on construction teams, the realities of the defects period and the operational gaps that emerge when a building becomes operational.

This perspective shapes how he approaches internal collaboration too. He can anticipate where delivery teams may face challenges, and he understands why clients ask the questions they do. It helps him bridge commercial objectives with delivery realities, ensuring we remain aligned to the real-world needs of the market.

It also positions him perfectly to support the evolution of our proposition, particularly around the handover-to-maintain philosophy that sits at the heart of our approach

Life outside of Glider

Outside of the sales world, Jake is navigating a new territory – first-time fatherhood. Welcoming his son earlier this year has reshaped his daily routine and brought a new balance to his work life.

Parenthood has introduced a natural shift between work and home, offering moments of grounding and perspective amid the pace of sales activity. Earlier this year, he and his family even embarked on their first trip abroad, discovering that travelling with a three-month-old is not only possible but, in some ways, surprisingly straightforward.

Looking ahead

Jake sees the next few years as pivotal for both the industry and our business. As the market consolidates and point solutions lose momentum, organisations are increasingly seeking long-term, reliable platforms with strong service heritage – an area where Glider is well-positioned.
For the sales team, he sees that the future is not about selling isolated products, but about supporting clients throughout the entire building information lifecycle.

A growing part of our future

Jake has made a significant impact at Glider in the short time he’s been here. His combination of industry experience, strategic thinking and steady, value-driven communication has strengthened our enterprise presence and helped shape how we engage with major clients.

As both the industry and our business continue to evolve, Jake’s role and his ability to navigate complexity with clarity, will remain a key part of our growth story.

Tina joined Glider six and a half years ago, when the company was still small – in fact she was employee number 10! In that time, she’s worked on some fascinating projects and seen the team grow. Before joining Glider, she worked as a Project Support Manager leading a team of document controllers and also spent time at the Olympic Stadium in facilities management. That’s where her passion for information began. We sat down with Tina to discover why she loves handover information so much.

What is your role at Glider?

I’m a Senior Handover Documentation Manager, which means I’m responsible for managing handover projects from start to finish. I work closely with client teams and contractors to make sure everything is delivered to the highest standard.

My day consists of anything from chasing documentation and managing outstanding reviews, to advising clients on the best way to structure information. It’s all about figuring out the best way to deliver a project successfully.

Walk us through a typical day…

Every day is different. Some days are full of client and subcontractor engagement, building the picture of O&M manuals for handover. Other days, I’m chasing missing documentation, checking reviews or problem-solving to keep projects on track.

The delivery part of my role is the best part. I love seeing everything come together.

What’s the most challenging part?

Definitely the juggling act. I might plan my day one way, but I’m constantly reacting to new queries and issues that come in. Balancing multiple projects while supporting both clients and the Glider team can be a challenge. But it keeps things interesting!

How does your role contribute to successful handover and long-term asset management?

At Glider, we pride ourselves on delivering a premium service. It’s what I like to call the Rolls Royce of handover. Our passion shows in the detail.

For me, it’s about making sure the documentation reflects the same quality and effort that’s gone into building the project itself. A building might cost millions to deliver, but if the information handed over doesn’t meet the same standard, it’s a disservice to the work that’s been done.

That’s why I check, double check and make sure every document matches the schedule. It’s that attention to detail and drive for excellence that gets us repeat business and great feedback from clients.

What do you enjoy most about your job?

I love what I do. Starting with a blank canvas and building up the handover documentation into something structured, smart and ready for the client is so rewarding.

Our projects are complex so the sheer volume of information can be overwhelming at times but seeing it all come together to our high standard is worth it.

What’s something people might be surprised to learn about you?

I’m a bit of a Lego nerd – especially when it comes to Harry Potter! I only got into it a couple of years ago, but I’ve built Dobby, Hogwarts, the Great Hall, Gringotts Bank (my favourite) and most recently, Diagon Alley.

Here’s a picture of some of Tina’s Lego collection:

How do you see your role changing in the future?

I don’t think the core of delivery will change. There will always be people involved in gathering information from various sources.

What’s evolving is the move towards digital. There’s more focus on 3D models and clients defining their own information requirements. That means part of my role is advising clients on what information is actually useful and valuable for them to run their buildings effectively.

If you could change one thing about how the industry handles building information today, what would it be?

I’d like to see more value placed on handover information. Too often, O&Ms are an afterthought and rushed at the end of a project.

They should be considered right from the construction stage. O&M manuals and handover documents aren’t just admin as they’re fundamental to a building’s long-term success. If the information isn’t managed and structured properly, it can lead to significant issues later on.

What we do is very niche and many of us fall into it. I’d like to see it as a career in itself and for the industry to recognise its importance.

Tina’s story shows why our people make the difference at Glider. Her passion for detail, commitment to excellence and belief in the value of information reflect everything we stand for as a company.

If you’re interested in joining Tina and the team at Glider, check out our Careers page.

Since the acquisition of EDocuments in September 2024, we’ve been working hard to bring together the strengths, expertise and cultures of two leading digital innovators in the built environment. Today, we stand as one company with one vision and one mission to drive the future of estate-wide information management innovation.

One proposition for the market

From the outset, our goal was to combine Glider’s expertise in asset information management with EDocuments’ renowned digital handover solutions. Together, we now deliver a single, stronger proposition for the market, helping owners, operators and contractors achieve compliant, structured and future-ready building information.

Growing through acquisition

This year also marked another important milestone: the acquisition of Sitedesk, an innovative software tool for digitally capturing and managing real-world assets with intuitive 3D visualisation. With Sitedesk now part of the Glider family, we’re extending the possibilities of how building information can be managed, visualised and utilised across the full asset lifecycle.

A new leadership team

To support this exciting phase of growth, we welcomed a new CEO and CRO, alongside a refreshed leadership team. Jayne Archbold and Richard Farnworth bring the experience, vision and energy to lead Glider into its next chapter. Together they are ensuring our solutions and services continue to deliver maximum value for our clients and partners.

One vision, one mission

We’ve harmonised our systems and processes, so we are now fully aligned and operating on a single IT platform. Our next step is to deliver one unified offering for better estate-wide information management. This will empower clients to transform fragmented asset data into actionable intelligence, enabling smarter decisions, regulatory confidence and sustainable operations for every property, old or new.

Our people, our passion

None of this would be possible without our people. Our 80-strong team has embraced the challenge of change, pulling together with a shared passion for digitising the built environment. From software developers to Information managers, every individual plays a vital role in shaping the future of our industry.

Looking ahead

The past year has been about integration, alignment and growth. The year ahead is about innovation and delivery to bring our unified vision to life and set a new benchmark for estate-wide information management in the built environment.

Together, as one company with one vision, we’re ready for the next phase.

In the UK, an estimated 80% of buildings that exist today will still be occupied in 2050. Yet, for asset owners and facilities managers, accessing accurate, structured and reliable building information remains a major challenge. Legacy documents are often locked away in unsearchable PDFs, making it difficult to locate critical information for maintenance, safety, compliance and strategic planning.

Even with the adoption of digital platforms, much of this information remains fragmented and difficult to interrogate. This leads to costly inefficiencies from unnecessary site visits and repeated surveys to missed compliance deadlines and manual audits. But what if Artificial Intelligence (AI) could change that?

A new era of building intelligence

The real issue isn’t that legacy asset data is digital, it’s more that it’s disorganised. With documents buried under generic file names or saved in the wrong places, facilities teams are stuck sifting through endless folders to find answers.

That’s where AI comes in!

Glider’s new AI-powered capabilities allow organisations to migrate, structure and search their building information faster and smarter than ever before. Using machine learning, natural language processing and intelligent data models, AI can now transform outdated document archives into a single, searchable source of truth.

Organise, search and act instantly

This isn’t just another document management tool. It’s a significant step forward in how asset owners can interact with their building information.

With AI-powered document migration and deep search working together, Glider enables you to:

• Rename documents intelligently
  AI applies your naming conventions while retaining original names for audit trails.
• Organise data automatically
  Files are moved to their correct locations and linked to the right assets.
• Extract key information
  The system scans documents for asset metadata, dates, hand-written notes and more to make them more searchable
• Deliver confidence scores
  Know how accurate the extracted information is before acting on it.
• Find instant answers in one click
  Ask plain-language questions like “Where is my latest fire safety report?” or “Which boilers were last serviced?” and receive one clear answer, complete with citations.

From searching to knowing

Compliance isn’t just about having documents, it’s about being able to prove that you’ve got the right information and that it’s up to date. With AI-powered search, estate teams no longer have to guess where to look. They can ask a simple question and get the information they need in seconds.

Whether you need to prepare a Building Safety Case or identify fire risks across your estate, AI search makes it faster and easier to get the facts and also uncover what might be missing.

Saving time, money and reputation

For asset owners managing large estates, these new AI capabilities provide a step change in performance.

Rather than dedicating months (or even years) to manually sorting or second-guessing compliance risks, teams can now:

• Find the right document instantly
• Validate the latest version
• Identify missing or outdated files
• Answer audit questions on demand
• Support strategic decisions with better data

All without the cost or complexity of manual data migration.

Digital transformation for the whole estate

True digital transformation in the built environment must include the millions of existing buildings that are still in use today. Glider’s AI capabilities are designed to help asset owners structure legacy data and make it searchable. This isn’t just for convenience, but for safety, compliance and sustainability.

With regulatory pressure increasing, from the Building Safety Act to net zero goals, the cost of not knowing is simply too high.

What’s next?

Glider’s AI-powered building information management is coming soon! Whether you’re starting with legacy data or looking to enhance your current digital estate, this technology makes it possible to manage your building information with confidence, speed and insight.

If you want to stop searching and start finding, get in touch today to see it in action for yourself.

A naming convention is a structured and consistent way of labelling files, documents and datasets to ensure they are easy to identify, retrieve and manage. It typically follows a predefined format that includes key details such as project codes, document types and version numbers.

In the built environment, naming conventions are especially important for organising vast amounts of information across the lifecycle of an asset. By following a standardised system, teams can reduce confusion, improve collaboration and ensure compliance with industry standards like ISO 19650.

Why do naming conventions matter?

We’ve all encountered files with cryptic names that once made sense but now offer no clues about their contents. The only way to identify them is by opening each one, then, if you remember, renaming it for clarity.

A well-defined naming convention provides a standardised approach to structuring information. This helps to reduce ambiguity and improve collaboration between stakeholders. Having a consistent naming system allows teams to:

• Find information quickly and prevent wasted hours searching for files.
• Ensure compliance as many regulatory frameworks require structured information management.
• Provide a common language across teams and disciplines to improve collaboration.
• Reduce errors which can lead to costly mistakes.
• Future-proof asset information by standardising data so it remains useful and relevant over time.

Common naming conventions in the built environment

The built environment typically follows industry-recognised naming structures. These include:

• ISO 19650-compliant file naming – A framework for structuring information throughout the lifecycle of a building or infrastructure asset.
• Company-specific standards – Some organisations prefer to develop their own naming frameworks tailored to their internal workflows and project needs.

The challenges of managing naming conventions

Despite the benefits of using a naming convention, enforcing it can be challenging. Teams often work across multiple systems, each with its own requirements. Human error, legacy data and inconsistent adherence to standards can lead to an unstructured and difficult-to-navigate information landscape.

New information collected during a capital project can be easier to structure, thanks to built-in workflows and pre-defined information requirements. The real challenge comes during the operational phase and digitising the vast amount of information that exists for complex buildings and large estates.

Where to start

When starting the journey of digitising building information, establishing a clear naming convention is a crucial first step. Before migrating documents and data into a digital system, there needs to be a defined, structured approach to file naming that aligns with industry standards like ISO 19650. This ensures consistency, making it easier to organise, retrieve and manage critical information throughout the asset’s lifecycle.

Alongside naming conventions, teams should also assess their existing data, identify gaps, and implement a centralised Common Data Environment (CDE) to store and maintain accurate records. By getting these fundamentals right from the outset, organisations can future-proof their asset information and lay the foundation for smarter, more efficient building management.

Making it easier

Watch out for future updates on how we’re making it easier to digitise building information! We have exciting news coming very soon guaranteed to help you save time, reduce costs and streamline asset management.

Over two packed days at this year’s Digital Construction Week, the Glider team took to the stage, led discussions, shared knowledge and reconnected with our peers across the sector.

Day 1

First up for Glider on the Digital Operations stage was Lucas Cusack who chaired a panel on Digital Soft Landings. This approach to closing the gap between construction and operations ensures information isn’t just collected but it’s contextual, structured and usable.

The panel, featured:

• Alan Williamson, Senior Services Manager, Multiplex
• Edward Riby, Real Estate Director, JLL
• Andrew Victory, Global Digital Transformation Leader, Arcadis
• Steven Boyd MBE, former Chief Executive of Government Property Agency

This session delivered an honest and forward-looking discussion on how to make handover processes smarter and more effective. One of the standout quotes came from Ed Riby: “You can have all the data in the world but if you don’t understand it, it’s pointless.”

This was shortly followed by a session on the RIBA Smart Buildings Overlay Version 2.0. Chaired by Executive Officer of the Digital Buildings Council (DBC), Justin Kirby, and with Glider’s John Adams, the discussion explored how the next version of the overlay can support better integration of smart technology across the full asset lifecycle

Cheers to collaboration

We finished day 1 with post-show drinks at Canary Wharf. Hosted in partnership with the DBC, it was a fantastic evening catching up with familiar faces and meeting new ones – all in the spirit of collaboration and shared ambition for smarter, better-connected buildings.

Day 2

First up on the second day on the Digital Operations stage Steven Boyd MBE delivered an insightful talk on the pressing need for better, more consistent use of data across the built environment. Drawing on his vast experience, Steven challenged attendees to think differently about how information is managed, structured and applied. His message was clear: data should inform strategy, investment and procurement not sit idle in a forgotten folder.

Next up was a session on the Information Management stage where John Adams returned with a session focused on AI, machine learning and their role in regulatory compliance under the UK Building Safety Act. With compliance risks growing for asset owners, John explored how digital tools can not only ensure safety and compliance but also unlock efficiency and long-term value.

Then we saw Glider’s CTO, Dr Jamie Dupée, deliver a talk on how Glider’s technology can act as a search engine for your building or estate. Forget trawling through documents, with structured data, you can simply ask your building questions and get instant, intelligent responses. This wasn’t blue-sky thinking. It highlighted real-world use cases, challenges, and the exciting potential of AI-powered data interrogation in operational environments.

Throughout both days, our team was busy at the Glider stand meeting both new and familiar faces, answering questions and sharing how we help clients future-proof their asset information. Thank you to everyone who stopped by!

Until next year!

DCW 2025 was a brilliant reminder of the momentum building around better information management, smarter buildings and connected digital processes. Until next year, let’s keep pushing for clarity, consistency and smarter outcomes in the built environment.

In the built environment, a digital twin is an accurate digital representation of a physical component, system or process. How sophisticated it is can vary. It can be as simple as a mechanical component for which its performance can be seen, analysed and controlled virtually. Or it could be of a whole system, or system of systems within a building.

However, the foundation of a digital twin lies in the building’s information. The goal is to create a single system of record where all the data related to the asset is easily accessible, consistent and updated throughout its lifecycle – from design and construction to operation and maintenance.

Why do we need Digital Twins?

• Optimising building performance
  A digital twin provides real-time, actionable data on how a building is performing. Whether it’s monitoring temperature, air quality or energy consumption, this live data helps facility managers make informed decisions to optimise the building’s efficiency. For example, integrating a digital twin with a Building Management System (BMS) allows operators to visualise occupancy patterns, lighting needs and energy consumption, making it easier to reduce waste and streamline operations.

  By offering insights into how a building functions under different conditions, asset owners benefit from cost savings and improved asset value. This can be achieved by using the insights to enhance performance, reduce energy consumption and improve sustainability.

• Decarbonising the built environment
  Buildings are responsible for nearly 40% of global carbon emissions. Reducing this footprint requires smarter, more energy-efficient buildings. Digital twins enable asset owners to simulate and test various energy performance scenarios during design and construction. By creating a “sandbox” environment, they can test the impact of changes in energy consumption, lighting and thermal performance.

  Once the building is operational, the digital twin provides real-time feedback. By tracking and optimising energy usage, operators can make more sustainable decisions. This data-driven approach directly contributes to decarbonising the built environment and aligning with sustainability goals.

• Predictive maintenance
  One of the most valuable aspects of a digital twin is its ability to provide predictive maintenance insights. By analysing real-time data on the performance of building systems, digital twins can detect potential issues before they lead to costly failures. This enables asset owners to schedule maintenance proactively, which helps to avoid unplanned downtime and extends the lifespan of key systems.

  Predictive maintenance helps to reduce operating costs and also enhances the reliability of a building’s infrastructure.

• Enhancing environments
  Digital twins can also enhance the environment for occupiers and building users. They help to improve comfort, air quality and overall wellbeing. By monitoring systems like HVAC, lighting and ventilation, digital twins help ensure that conditions are maintained at optimal levels. This leads to healthier, more comfortable indoor environments. Predictive maintenance can also lead to reduced downtime caused by equipment failures, ensuring facilities run smoothly and minimising disruptions for occupants.
• Improving collaboration and productivity
  Digital twins centralise all asset information in a single platform. This makes it more accessible to key stakeholders during the building’s lifecycle. Design documents, material specifications, maintenance schedules and performance data can be easily shared and accessed in real time. This improves collaboration between architects, engineers, contractors and facility managers. In turn this reduces the risk of any miscommunication and errors. Everyone benefits from smoother project execution and better long-term management.
• Whole-life value and ROI
  The return on investment (ROI) for digital twins stems from the long-term savings and efficiencies gained through better data management, decision-making and maintenance. By predicting maintenance needs, optimising energy usage and improving overall asset performance, digital twins help asset owners reduce operational costs and maximise the lifetime value of their buildings.

  When asset owners are able to accurately demonstrate the current condition of the building, and its previous history, it can increase the value of the asset significantly. Additionally, the insights gained from digital twins can help improve future designs and construction projects.

The future of Digital Twins: AI and machine learning

As AI and machine learning technologies continue to advance, future digital twins will be capable of even more sophisticated analysis. These systems could learn from historical data and operational patterns, automatically adjusting building controls to optimise energy efficiency, comfort and safety without any or very little human intervention.

This shift towards autonomous buildings will revolutionise facilities management. Not only will it help to drive down costs, it will also ensure buildings meet the highest standards of sustainability and performance.

Transforming the future of buildings

Digital twins are more than just digital representations of physical buildings. They can be used to help asset owners manage, optimise and future-proof their buildings. By providing real-time data, enabling predictive maintenance and improving energy efficiency, digital twins help asset owners stay ahead of the curve. As the built environment faces increasing pressure to decarbonise and operate more sustainably, the adoption of digital twins will only continue to grow and become an essential part of modern asset management.

To find out more about how Glider helps to enable digital twins, get in touch.