Reducing defect costs by Over 80% with DLP Manager

Overview

In a recently completed luxury apartment development comprising 250 units, several owners reported hairline cracks – known as “crazing” – in their bathroom sinks. What initially appeared to be isolated issues raised concerns about whether the defect was systemic across the building.

The Project Management team used DLP Manager to survey residents and assess the extent of the issue. Through the platform, they were able to quickly collect responses, review defect reports, and determine that 125 sinks required replacement. The process was significantly more efficient than their previous manual methods.

A formal case study conducted by The Project Management revealed that switching to DLP Manager reduced administrative time spent managing this defect by 96%, decreasing total effort from 116 hours to just 5hours. This translated into substantial cost savings, with defect management costs reduced from $8,700 to $1,250 – an 80% reduction overall.

Reporting the Defect

Using traditional methods, building management contacted residents via email, phone calls, letter drops, and strata systems to request information about cracking sinks. This process alone took approximately 12hours.

With DLP Manager’s built-in communications feature, the same task was completed in just 3 minutes – allowing the team to instantly notify residents and centralise responses within one system.

Reviewing and Confirming Specifications

Previously, coordinating and confirming specifications foreach unit required around 20 hours of phone calls, emails, and Excel tracking.

Using DLP Manager’s Review functionality, this step was reduced to just 40 minutes, with all information stored and managed in one place.

Coordinating Access

Arranging access between owners and subcontractors was historically one of the most time-consuming components of defect management. It required 24 hours of phone calls, emails, meetings, letter drops, and document management.

With DLP Manager’s Access feature, this was reduced to just 4 minutes, streamlining scheduling and removing back-and-forth communication.

Documentation and Sign-Off

Providing completion documentation to subcontractors traditionally required 16 hours of paper-based administration. Additional time – around 12 hours – was spent conducting onsite meetings to clarify approved documentation.

Through DLP Manager, documentation was shared, tracked, and approved digitally. Completion documentation was provided in approximately 4hours, while approved documentation for clarity was delivered in just 4minutes.

Coordinating Onsite Works

Programming onsite works previously required around 8 hours using meetings, paper diaries, and daily email schedules.

Using the DLP Calendar feature, scheduling was completed in just 4 minutes.

Photo Documentation

Capturing and compiling photo evidence of completed works was another major time drain under traditional methods. Scanning, copying, emailing, and updating Excel spreadsheets took approximately 24 hours.

With DLP Manager, full photographic documentation for each unit was uploaded and organised in just 4 minutes.

The Overall Impact

By consolidating communications, scheduling, documentation, and reporting into one integrated system, DLP Manager reduced the total administrative time required to manage this defect from 116 hours to just 5 hours – a 96% improvement in efficiency.

Financially, this resulted in a reduction in costs from $8,700 to $1,250, delivering more than 80% in cost savings.

For large-scale residential projects, the case demonstrate show digitising defect management can significantly reduce administrative burden, accelerate resolution timelines, and improve coordination between stakeholders.