Enhanced Digital Twin

A digital twin is a 3-dimensional digital replica of a building or structure. These are typically created using a 3d scanner that measures millions of points on the external and internal visible faces of the building. These points are then stitched together to make a 3d replica of the actual building. The image above is made up of the millions of points from a job we recently completed for clients who wanted to protect their new asset. The density

Our Enhanced Digital Twin is designed specifically for providing a detailed and accurate replica of the building when it is new in order to provide an exact snapshot of the geometry and condition of the building when it was new. This is a critical step for the property owner, as it provides detailed and accurate information if the building or structure is damaged by an insurable event such as an earthquake, land slip, or flood event.

From the Enhanced Digital Twin we can extract things such as floor levels, floor flatness, wall verticality, wall flatness, racking of the superstructure, door and window frame squareness, bench levels. This is critical information if the building or structure is later damaged in an insured event such as an earthquake, land slip, or flood event.

All new buildings have construction variances, with small variations in floor levels and verticality. However, without an Enhanced Digital Twin, it is almost impossible to definitively state what the exact levelness and geometry of the building was. To prove damage, it is crucial to accurately know the exact levelness and geometry of the building prior to the damage.

The reinstatement standard of many insurance policies is to ‘when new’. Knowing the exact geometry, levelness and flatness of your building when it is new provides critical information when reinstatement to ‘when new’ is determined.

Knowing the actual geometry of the building or structure ‘when new’ can make the identification of the earthquake or natural disaster damage easier by removing the argument that ‘the building was built like that’.

Getting an Enhanced Digital Twin when the building is new captures the true, accurate and precise geometry of the building that provides lasting benefit for the owners of the building.

Our Enhanced Digital Twin is for anyone that owns a building or structure that is insured. It is specifically aimed at owners who are building a new building, or have recently constructed or purchased a new building.

This includes owners of:

• Residential dwellings, from largest architecturally designed home to the smallest flat
• Commercial and industrial buildings
• Multi-storied buildings
• Insured structures such as retaining walls and swimming pools

In our work as independent experts assessing many hundreds of damaged structures, and being involved in over 100 High Court ‘Earthquake List’ proceedings, we understand the insurance process. In our experience it is common for assessors engaged by insurance compancies to state that the ‘building was built like that’ or that the damage occurred prior to the earthquake or natural hazard event.

Having an Enhanced Digital Twin removes speculation by providing accurate, tangible and reliable information about the geometry of the building when the survey is done.

No. In insurance law, it is the property owners requirement to prove every step of their insurance claim. The owner needs to prove they have an insurance policy, what the actual damage is, what the condition of the building was ‘when new’ and also prior to the damaging event, what the reinstatement should be, and what the cost of that reinstatement is.

The owner needs to do essentially everything. By getting an Enhanced Digital Twin when the building is new, the owner is giving themselves a much better chance of proving their material damage claim in the event of an earthquake or natural disaster event.

An Enhanced Digital Twin of a new building will provide certainty of the geometry of the building or structure. This includes the floor levelness and flatness, wall verticality, door and window frame geometry.

The useful data that can be extracted from an Enhanced Digital Twin is incredible. This includes:

• floor levels and floor flatness
• superstructure geometry, including any leans, racking, twisting
• squareness and flatness of benches, joinery, windows and doors
• gradients and slopes on gutters
• the exact floor dimensions and area
• the position of the building in relation to the legal boundaries and relevant height datums.

The best time to get an Enhanced Digital Twin is when the building is brand new, and just prior to it being occupied. We need visible line of sight to as many parts of the external and internal walls, floors, fittings, window and door frames as possible. The most information is obtained prior to furniture being placed in the building.

To protect your building or structure we recommend the following:

• when the building is brand new and before it is occupied. Surveying just prior to
• a partial digital twin survey every 8-10 years to determine if any long-term building movement has occurred. This does not typically need to be a full survey, and can be completed while the building is occupied.
• updates if changes to the layout or extent of the building are carried out, such as extensions or internal fitout changes.
• a full Enhanced Digital Twin survey after a damaging event such as an earthquake or land slip. This provides the crucial comparison with the ‘when new’ condition of the building and allows for the exact amount of building movement and distortion to be calculated. When this is compared to previous surveys, the exact amount of movement, distortion and damage to the geometry of the structure can be determined.

An Enhanced Digital Twin is for any building or structure that is insured for material damage. This can include:

• residential homes
• warehouses and industrial buildings
• commercial and retail buildings
• multi-storied buildings
• retaining walls

The Enhanced Digital Twin, while primarily designed to provide certainty for the owners property insurance, can also be used for:

• calculating the area of the building or structure for insurance purposes
• accurate as-built information for an architect if renovations are planned
• Rental Area (Lease Area) surveys, where the wall layouts can be extracted to show the survey-accurate layout and areas for rental/lease areas.

We believe an Enhanced Digital Twin is useful for the insured life of the building. We have found through our work in the High Court that knowing the ‘when new’ condition of the building is a critical step in an earthquake or natural hazard insurance claim.

The cost for an Enhanced Digital Twin differs for every building depending on the number of rooms, floor area, ease of access, etc.

We are happy to provide quotes for our work if the architects plans are provided that show the layout and area of the building or structure.

The property owner. All of our information is provided to the owner in digital format.

Yes. We provide the raw and final data in multiple current industry standard formats.