Background:
A prominent overseas real estate investment management firm was to acquire the commercial portfolio of a very well-known real estate property development company based in South India, appointed Colliers to provide Technical Due Diligence Services for their numerous ventures, including workplaces and retail shopping centers, and hotels assets.
Objective & Scope:
The client appointed Colliers' experts to instruct on the viability regarding the land, assess and validate the degree of ownership of land with the developers, do a complete audit of the built property in all respects, and give valuable inputs and recommendations to assist the client in decision making. I contributed exceptionally to two ideal places in noticeable South Indian urban areas.
Scope:
The technical Due Diligence services scope included an exhaustive review of the asset and prepared a detailed report based on the audit and review of every aspect of the built asset and highlight key observations and recommendations.
The broad scope for the services includes (but is not limited to) the following:
To advise on land suitability, evaluate and validate the extent of possession of land area with the developer. To check compliance with statutory regulations, review, and advice on approvals & NoCs required from various authorities, review, and comment on the FSI potential of the land. To review the technical specifications for the building, inspection, and comment on the design and services planned, compare with the as built and statutory approval drawings, check compliance with the statutory regulations, prepare cost, and
schedule to completion.
I also had to highlight the key risks and recommendations to mitigate those, along with cost and other impacts for decision making.
Methodology:
The Technical Due Diligence team with subject matter experts of Colliers undertook a comprehensive site visit to carry out an exhaustive study, review, and re-validate all the aspects related to the projects and ascertain the true potential of the asset. The site review was broadly categorized under three major components: documentation review, visual inspection, and re-validation surveys.
Based on the site visit and in-depth review of the assets, our team prepared a comprehensive report to cover the following:
The review of all the land documents, surveys, statutory approvals & NoCs from the authorities, comment on the correctness, adequacy, and applicability of the Statutory/ Regulatory approvals. Highlight key issues that require further consideration on variations in Statutory/Regulatory documents and list down Inferences and recommendations on the different processes.
The building's Architecture and Structure were reviewed and analyzed in terms of building planning and design, structure health, durability, aesthetics, features, and finishes. We reviewed the area statements to comment on the FSI potential of the land. Also, the building survey and land documents were reviewed for critical observations and highlighting the discrepancies compared to the approved sanction drawing.
The team reviewed the brief design reports of all the services reviewed in conjunction with the GFC drawings & technical specifications to check the compliance with the norms and approvals. The inference from the DBR review targeted to highlight the sufficiency of Services design, space planning, equipment installations, etc., and highlight critical observations and recommendations. The installed equipment Test Reports, Operation and Maintenance Manuals, Maintenance Contracts, AMCs, Guarantees, warranties, and Property Management Contracts, etc., were reviewed and validated. The suggestion was provided based on Third-Party Quality and Performance audit/tests of Structure & MEP Services if necessary, during the Due Diligence.
Based on the above-mentioned in-depth review and analysis, a detailed cost analysis for completion and cost assessment for improvements of the assets were prepared and highlighted along with an exhaustive Risk Matrix, underscoring each risk's criticality and mitigation measures for better understanding and decision making.
Inference & Outcome:
The Technical Due Diligent report recorded all the deviations from the documentation that was finalized for the asset. Our in-house experts conducted detailed and in-depth calculations of the Architectural, Structural, MEP, Vertical transportation and worked out other services requirements and capacities. This helped to understand the adequateness of the design and compare it with current industry standards to give our clients the actual value of the asset. Further, our team conducted workshops with the peer review consultants and other stakeholders to highlight the deviations or possible improvements and provide the best solution as our recommendations.
The report covers an exhaustive review and analysis of all the aspects related to the projects to ascertain the true potential of the asset and related risks in transactions. It has helped the client gain further clarity on the project's future potential, costs, and Schedule and make intelligent decisions regarding the transactions.
Experience:
I am Saurabh Kumar Singh, Design Coordinator, Project Management team at Colliers. I was involved in the projects detailed above as a coordinator and single point of contact for internal review and reporting. Under the guidance of Jatin Shah (MD- Technical Due Diligence Team) and Yashoda Seshadri (Head- Technical Due Diligence team), and other in-house subject matter experts, we delivered these projects to the Clients maximum satisfaction.
