- Zach Cook
Platform Property Care in trials with Vericon’s remote boiler technology
A property maintenance organisation has teamed up with a building management technology company to trial a new remote boiler monitoring and management system.
Platform Property Care - a subsidiary of one of the UK’s largest social landlords, Platform Housing Group – is working with Cheltenham-based Vericon Systems for the next three months to trial the state of the art technology.
The device – which is called BCM – allows a boiler to be monitored remotely. In essence, it allows engineers to access the boiler live, pinpointing errors
or malfunctions. Importantly, it works off a cellular network and not a customer’s WiFi, meaning connectivity remains consistent. The device can report on, predict and rectify a number of common problems remotely, even before a customer is aware of them and ensures that the correct replacement parts can be ordered to fix any issues.
Matt Blackburn, Heating Operations Manager at Platform Property Care explained : “This is the first time that Platform Property Care has trialled such technology and we are looking forward to understanding the benefits for both our customers and our business. It is all part of our ambitious plans to be at the forefront of delivering exceptional maintenance and compliance activities to all our customers and joint venture partners. We look forward to analysing the technology’s functionality over the coming months.”
Liam Rodda, Director of Sales and Marketing at Vericon Systems said : “We are delighted to be partnering with Platform Property Care on this pilot project. Our BCM device incorporates remote boiler technology and has been specifically designed for housing associations. We look forward to a successful trial.”
Once installed, the device records and sends intelligent performance data to a management portal; here the information can be analysed and used to predict common failures such as low pressure, loss of gas and frozen condensate pipes. This data ensures clients – such as Platform Property Care – will be able to decide on the best course of action, minimising delays for the customer whilst increasing efficiencies for both planning and operational teams.
Other benefits of the technology include:
It is capable of operating with all major boiler brands;
Boilers can be reset remotely and heating flow temperatures can be altered;
The device has the ability to report environmental concerns such as mould and damp;
BCM:Connect can be installed in under 10 mins with an install App guiding the engineer through the commissioning process.
Platform Housing Group – which owns 46,000 homes in total – completed 1448 homes in 2019/20 (1,598 in 2018/19) at an investment of £258m (£228m in 2018/19). The Group also built more social rented homes – at a figure of 981 – during the past 2 years in England than any other provider, 523 in 2019/20, almost 33% of the total homes built. Platform Housing Group’s operating area is from Herefordshire in the West to the Lincolnshire coast in the East, and from the Derbyshire Dales in the North to the Cotswolds in the South.
Vericon systems develop technologies to remotely monitor and manage complete housing stock portfolios specifically for social housing providers . In addition to the BCM, Vericon has a range of other solutions from AutoFill, a device that stops under pressure callouts, to EmeRed that remotely manages all of your emergency light testing and compliance reporting.
For further information on Platform HG, please contact Matt Blackburn, Heating Operations Manager at Platform Property Care on 079181 60842 or email him at matthew.blackburn@platformhg.com. For further information on Vericon Systems, Liam Rodda, Sales and Marketing Director, can be contacted on 07957 951 233 or emailed at liam.rodda@vericonsystems.com.
For Media related enquiries, please contact Kabbie Langford, Media and Engagement Advisor on 07918 160841 or kabbie.langford@platformhg.com.
