Plaquette ASM exe? GB:Plaquette ASM 1 3/04/07 18:41 Page 1

P R O P E R T Y S E R V I C E S O F F E R E D

B Y B U R E A U V E R I T A S

Plaquette ASM exe? GB:Plaquette ASM 1 3/04/07 18:41 Page 1

BUREAU VERITAS, WORLD LEADERFOR TECHNICAL INSPECTION OF BUILDINGS

Established in 1828 to inspect ships, Bureau Veritashas extended its activities into sectors as diverse asmanufacturing and process industries, aeronautics,agri-food, energy and construction to become a worldleader for technical inspection services.More than 5000 Bureau Veritas engineers and tech-nical staff provide services across the world for ourcustomers in the construction and property sectors.

UNIQUE COMBINATION OF SKILLS

Bureau Veritas operates in 140 countries with tech-nical inspection of buildings particularly developed inEurope, North America, Middle East, Russia, Far Eastand South East Asia.Our expert teams can deal in depth with any technicalquestion including structural soundness, soil mecha-nics & chemistry, operation of installations includingelectrics and air conditioning, and safety and health ofoccupants.Long-established in most locations, we can offer ourcustomers the benefit of global coverage backed bycomprehensive knowledge of local regulations andpractices.

INDEPENDENT PERSPECTIVE

Bureau Veritas does not design, build, or operatebuildings so offers a completely objective andindependent point of view. We work for organisa-tions throughout the development cycle – Investors,Contractors and Managers – with services tailored tomeet their requirements including acquisition/divestment support, operational monitoring orregulatory compliance.Our network-based structure has lead to extensiveexperience in multi-country assignments, withconsistent quality standards wherever customers’properties are situated. Bureau Veritas guaranteesevery one of our customers a high level of conscien-tiousness and integrity.

P R O P E R T Y S E R V I C E S O F F E R E D B Y B U R E A U V E R I T A S

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C O N S T R U C T I O N

Before and during construction, we helpour customers:

• Make a technical assessment of the land theyare buying.

• Check that their technical specifications are deli-vered during construction of buildings they areacquiring.

O P E R AT I O N

In the operational phase, our services helpcustomers:

• Optimise management of their property holdings –for example, to identify and plan investments requiredto maintain condition.

• Control technical, economic and Health & Safetyaspects of operation of their buildings includingongoing maintenance, energy performance andregulatory compliance.

T R A N S A C T I O N S

For transactions related to the sale or lease of land orbuildings, we conduct audits for our customers, oftenas part of technical due diligence:

• Technical land or property condition assessments.• Inspections of regulatory conformity of instal-

lations, including electrical, lifts and boilers.• Cost estimates for rehabilitation work.


PROPERTY SERVICESAT THE THREE PHASESIN THE LIFE CYCLEOF BUILDINGS

CONSTRUCTION O

PE

RA

TIO

N

TRANSACTIONS

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ACQUISITION OF LAND

Acquisition of sites particularly those planned fordevelopment may include consideration of hiddenrisks:• Geohazards, including soft, compressible soils,

unstable ground, landslips, natural cavities, shallowgroundwater.

• Environmental risks including contamination of thesoils and groundwater beneath the site. In someinstances, the owner of the site may have a statu-tory liability for cleaning-up the resulting pollution,even if he has only just acquired the site.

• Other environmental risks which may inhibit orpreclude development, such as flood risk, ecolo-gical issues, noise, inadequate roads or utilities.

DESIGN AND WORK

Successful completion of design and constructionalways requires the building owner to exerciseconstant vigilance over contractors.

Even the best contract may leave many points ofimportance for future operation less than 100% clear,particularly in complex commercial properties suchas hotels and shopping centres.As a result of our considerable experience, BureauVeritas can help owners / managers detect potentialissues in good time, facilitating timely and effectivediscussion and decisions. This is often an area wherecustomers lack in-house resources to check forthemselves.

DELIVERY OF BUILDING

Final delivery of the completed building is a keymilestone, and the first year of operation that follows,is an important, often difficult, period.Bureau Veritas examines whether the structure asdelivered conforms to specifications, providing anexpert and completely independent assessment.Through the first year, we continue this controlthrough regular inspections, in order to check thecorrection of defects detected.


P R O P E R T Y AT T H EC O N S T R U C T I O N S TA G E

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PROPERTY MANAGEMENT

Optimising management of a large multi-building

property portfolio is not a straightforward task.

Success depends on having good information on

which to base effective decision taking. This requires:

• Strong technical capability and regulatory awareness.

• Regular, reliable assessment of the technical

condition of each unit.

• Experience and benchmark data to estimate lifespan

of installations.

The growing sophistication of property strategies is

increasing the challenge to owners / managers.

Bureau Veritas provides many customers with the

skills and resources they themselves lack.

MAINTENANCE AND ENERGY

Maintenance and energy concerns are crucial to

satisfactory portfolio management and represent

ever-rising budgets.

The trend is for increased use of external contractors

to manage these areas. However, many owners /

managers express concern regarding whether the

advice received is impartial.

Bureau Veritas offers its customers an independent

expert eye on their maintenance and energy manage-

ment programmes providing continuous monitoring

or specific audits.

P R O P E R T Y AT T H EO P E R AT I O N A L S TA G E



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T E C H N I C A L A U D I T S

With 32, 500 commercial sales transactions world-wide in 2005, the scale and growth in turnover of realestate is increasing in both developed and emergingcountries.

Bureau Veritas regularly performs technical duediligence services for customers buying or sellingproperty, including extensive multicountry operations.

We also provide support when rental deals are beingset up or renegotiated.

The technical range covered is broad and flexible,tailored to customers’ specific concerns. It oftenincludes regulatory conformity inspections andeconomic estimates of rehabilitation costs.

E N V I R O N M E N TA L D U E D I L I G E N C E

Property sales can also involve consideration ofpotential environmental problems.

Sales of industrial or logistics buildings, particularly ifchange of use is planned, frequently raise issues inregard to chemical pollution or air and noise qualitybut issues such as accident hazard may also requireassessment.

Our broad technical expertise ensures that we canassist customers in all these areas to achieve regula-tory compliance and avoidance of future issues inoperation.

P R O P E R T Y AT T H ET R A N S A C T I O N S TA G E


EXAMPLES

OF INTERVENTION

Offices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p 8

Hotels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p 9

Residential . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p 10

Public buildings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p 11


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C I R C U M S TA N C E S

General Electric wanted to acquire 6 office buildings(2 in Toulouse, 3 in Nice and one in Lyon) with a sur-face area of about 4 000 m2 each), with the intentionof entrusting them to an asset manager. It askedBureau Veritas to assess the technical condition ofthese buildings, specifically regarding their sound-ness and fire safety.

A S S I G N M E N T

The customer needed an audit of the properties, wor-king to a tight deadline. As soon as the inspection wascompleted, he was to have a report on their technicalcondition, accompanied by a portfolio of photographs,and an estimate of the investment needed to achievetechnical and regulatory conformity.

C U S T O M E R B E N E F I T S

General Electric obtained fully documented, techni-cally reliable dossiers delivered on time, enabling it toposition itself favourably in relation to these acquisi-tions, compared with competing investors.


O F F I C E SGE REAL ESTATE F R A N C E

Rely on substantive dossiers

in order to negotiate effectively

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Starwood Capital, an asset management company with private capitalspecialising in real estate investments, holds a portfolio of propertyassets, located in the United States, United Kingdom, mainland Europeand Japan.Starwood was keen to obtain accurate data concerning the technicalcondition of 290 hotels, located in 10 European countries and which itwas considering acquiring.

A S S I G N M E N T

• Assess the technical condition of buildings and installations withinone month.

• Assess the technical condition of the structure, and renovation workneeded on each site.

• Introduce a uniform reporting process to allow various properties tobe compared.


The reporting system developed by Bureau Veritas contributed toStarwood’s analytical and decision-making process.


H O T E L SSTARWOOD CAPITAL

GROUP GLOBAL, LLC

Decisions made easier by

a consistent, well-organised

system of reporting

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GERER SAS, whose business consists of managing nearly 300 buildingsunder joint ownership or rented to tenants, wished to obtain a clear viewof the technical condition of the buildings, potential risks affecting thesafety and health of the occupants, regulatory requirements to beapplied, and a programme to upgrade these buildings.

A S S I G N M E N T

Bureau Veritas carried out an assessment of occupational risks, andtechnical and health hazards, helped draw up regulatory documents,and established logs to monitor HSE obligations. All reporting and otherdocuments were placed on-line, and all actions are now recorded on thetool.


Bureau Veritas provide regulatory and the technical expertise thecustomer can rely on. He holds a complete dossier for each building, allthe actions performed are traceable, with consistency of data allowingcomparison between one building and another.


R E S I D E N T I A LGÉRER SAS

BNP PARIBAS IMMOBILIER GROUP

More effective management

through introduction of

customised tools

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The Quai Branly Museum authorities decided tooutsource all the functions of the museum except forits core activity, namely the actual museum, and itseducational and research work. It was accordinglyimportant for it to ensure that the functions perfor-med by these companies should be audited regularlyand independently, using a service reference document.

A S S I G N M E N T

Bureau Veritas, which had inspected the conformity ofconstruction and technical installations, henceforthsupervises the quality of services as wide-ranging asreceiving the public, management of machines, com-puter equipment, fire safety, cleaning, heating andair-conditioning, gardens and maintenance.


The Museum relies on the numerous proficiencies ofBureau Veritas to ensure the safety of the public andthe workforce, risk prevention, the quality of cateringand food safety, the safety of technical installationsand their performance, the quality of maintenance.Reports containing performance indicators are sentto Management at agreed intervals.


P U B L I C B U I L D I N G SQUAI BRANLY MUSEUM -

PARIS

Ensure the quality of

outsourced services

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R E F E R E N C E S

Archon Group

AtisReal

Auchan

AXA Real Estate

BNP Paribas Real Estate

CB Richard Ellis

Cenor Asset Management

DTZ

GE Real Estate

Grupo Lar

IXIS AEW

Jones Lang Lasalle

La Poste

Land Securities

Legal & General

Leonard de Vinci

L'Oréal

Metrovacesa

PRUPIM (Prudential plc)

Savills

Ségécé

SNCF

Starwood Capital

Unibail


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OUR EXPERTISE

In order to provide all its services in the property

sector, Bureau Veritas possesses a very broad range

of technical and regulatory skills.

On the technical side, these skills include:

• Geotechnics and foundations

• Soil chemistry

• Structural soundness

• Leakproofing

• Fire safety

• Electricity

• Lifts, escalators

• Heating, ventilation, air-conditioning (HVAC)

• Water networks and quality

• Asbestos, lead

• Food refrigeration

• Energy management

Through its inspection activities, Bureau Veritas is

also fully conversant with the regulatory context

prevailing in many countries.


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• Romania: 4 offices

• Bulgaria : 3 offices

• Russia: 6 offices

• Turkey: 5 offices

• United States: 76 offices

• Kazakhstan: 3 offices

• Lebanon: 2 offices

• Thailand: 6 offices

• China: 17 offices

• United Arab Emirates: 2 offices

• Japan: 8 offices


• France: 146 offices

• Spain: 64 offices

• Portugal: 2 offices

• United Kingdom: 44 offices

• Germany: 14 offices

• Italy: 8 offices

• Poland: 7 offices

• Czech Rep./Slovakia: 2 offices

• Hungary: 1 offices

• Slovenia: 3 offices

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B U R E A U V E R I TA S , A N I N T E R N AT I O N A L PA R T N E R

With 429 main offices handling property services in Europe, Asia and North America, Bureau Veritas can quickly

mobilise teams of experts for its customers, anywhere in the world.



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FRANCEClaude LignonTel. +33 (0)1 42 91 55 [email protected]

GERMANYPeter MertelTel. +49 69 26 49 74 69 [email protected]

INTERNATIONALDEVELOPMENTEric ParisotTel. +33 (0)1 42 91 28 [email protected]

CONTACTS WORLDWIDE

UNITED KINGDOMPete FarrandTel. +44 (0)20 7902 [email protected]

UNITED STATESRick FehlerTel. +1 925 426 [email protected]

SPAINEnrique UsobiagaTel. +34 932 402 [email protected]

JAPANYoichi SashiharaTel. +81 (0)45 664 [email protected]

INTERNATIONALDEVELOPMENTLiem NguyenTel. +33 (0)1 42 91 52 [email protected]


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