The need for an accurate, efficient and secure document platform that reduced paper use and costs was the key driver in the creation of an electronic contracts platform for developers.
The Maddocks eContracts platform, launched in 2016, allows for the electronic exchange of contracts of sale in a system approved by leading banks.
According to the head of the national development team at Maddocks Nick Holuigue, the platform has been embraced by developers and agents looking for a better way to do contracts.
"In talking to developers, what became clear was that they were looking for a system that was safe, cost effective but more importantly created a smoother and more efficient contract exchange," Holuigue said.
"They were also keen to cut back on paper usage as a way of being more environmentally responsible and to cut costs, both of which this platform does."
Holuigue said Maddocks eContracts delivered on these goals, while also providing greater certainty in the data provided for the contracts.
"Maddocks eContracts will only allow a contract to be completed once the right information has been entered and verified, as opposed to the paper version in which errors can go unchecked, causing delays in transactions down the track."
Holuigue said that the system has been embraced quickly by leading property developers, agents and banks.
"When you have a system that does away with hundreds of paper files and replaces it with an electronic signature and a few clicks of the mouse then that is going to be well received," he said.
"At a primary level the fact that you have so much paper taken out of the sales process is a huge cost saving, especially when you extrapolate that over multiple developments, it is a huge environmental gain as well."
--Maddocks' Nick Holuigue
"At Maddocks we believe in being environmentally responsible and leaving as light a footprint as possible. It is a belief we share with our clients, who have benefitted from using Maddocks eContracts through significant savings in paper usage and associated costs of having paper files, such as courier and storage fees."
The platform has been used for several high-profile developers, including Mirvac (in its Woodlea joint venture with VIP), ID Land, and Chinese developers Poly Group and Dahua Group. The platform has also been supported by a range of agents and has been signed off by major Australian banks.
Holuigue said the backing of major banks such as ANZ and the Commonwealth Bank was significant.
"It is the only electronic contracts platform that has that bankability and the reason that it has gained that backing is because it is secure. Contracts are encrypted and cannot be altered save for agreed fields.
"The result is a safe, instantaneous and efficient contract exchange platform."
Maddocks development team partner Bettina Sheeran said the Maddocks eContracts platform was built specifically for developers and development projects.
"The eContracts platform is not an off-the-shelf product," she said.
"We spoke extensively with developers, agents and banks about what they would need to make such a platform work and we used that to develop the final product.
"This is very much a Maddocks product, one borne out of the experience we have attained over many years developing market-leading technology products.’
Sheeran said the product also fit in with what is a forward-thinking sector.
"We are seeing such exciting change in the development sector across the world, from the use of new materials and new ways to build through to the use of tools such as virtual reality to sell lots.
"We feel the Maddocks eContracts platform fits in with this desire by the development sector to find new ways to build better, faster and more cost-effectively.’
Click here to find out more about the Maddocks eContracts platform, go to maddocks.com.au/econtracts
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