Cairn Housing Association selects PIMSS as asset management partner

Scotland’s most geographically diverse social landlord, Cairn Housing Association, has implemented the PIMSS Asset Management system from PIMSS Data Systems (PIMSS) to manage its portfolio of homes.

With 3,300 homes across 24 local authorities, Cairn was formed as an independent Scottish organisation in 1990, having previously been the Scottish arm of the Royal British Legion Housing Association.

Cairn now benefits from a single view of all its housing stock from a central database which offers the ability to manage risk, compliance and audit requirements. In addition, Cairn, a registered social landlord, can ensure that properties meet current legislative requirements including the Scottish Housing Quality Standard and their own bespoke property standard.

Cairn’s team can now work seamlessly between the organisation’s Asset Management and Customer Relationship Management applications thanks to the development of an asset dashboard link by PIMSS that allows users to navigate to properties between the two systems at the click of a button. The development is extensible so that, if and when other web-based systems are implemented, links to these other systems can be deployed with minimal effort. 

Another key feature of PIMSS Asset Management is its Energy Module that allows Cairn to become more proactive with monitoring and reporting compliance with the Energy Efficiency Standard for Social Housing (EESSH). In addition, Cairn has implemented several other modules including Asbestos, Contracts, Contractor Portal, Compliance and the Agility App for mobile workforces. 

PIMSS also assisted Cairn with the processing and inputting of their asset management data to help ensure evidence based decision making was achievable from the outset.

Mark Brown, Investment Programme Manager at Cairn comments: “We now have all our asset management data in one place in a system that we trust. Having a geographically dispersed asset base means that our management challenges are sophisticated but the PIMSS system handles our requirements smoothly and it’s very intuitive to use. This is vital as we have a diverse range of users across the organisation utilising the system, from senior managers and Customer Service Advisors through to our property management team. 

Martin McDonnell, Managing Director at PIMSS Data Systems comments: “We already have a strong presence in Scotland so we understand the unique challenges that are faced by Scottish social landlords when it comes to managing their housing assets. Our PIMSS Asset Management product is tailored specifically to the needs of the Scottish market so we were able to ensure that it met the exact needs of Cairn Housing Association.”