The legal challenges of Proptech

New technology in the real estate sector, known as Proptech, is generating increasing interest in Poland. Proptech is becoming a hot topic on the market, with start-ups providing products and services that help with design, construction management, and commercialisation and in the end make life easier for tenants. The growing interest in Proptech is being driven both by global trends and by the domestic market, where client expectations are changing rapidly and competition is fierce. However, one of the barriers to the widespread adoption of Proptech is the relatively high cost of its implementation. Many companies still view the costs of spending on technology as being unjustifiably high in relation to the results they expect from it, or simply as not being essential to completing their projects, but this viewpoint is slowly changing.

In the long term, applying new technology in the real estate industry can bring companies a range of benefits. Proptech can simplify internal processes, optimise costs and increase service quality, which together translate into becoming more competitive. For example the use of building information modelling, or BIM, in constructing buildings, allows for multi-dimensional design, which helps with the management and development of a contruction project. By using BIM, an investor will gather all project documentation in a single place, which streamlines the construction work and helps prevent construction collisions. From an investor’s point of view, BIM decreases the risk of disputes arising during the construction work as a result of design errors or collisions. And finally, information collected in using BIM can be used to handover projects in an effective and efficient manner (taking just a few hours) and it also helps with the management of an existing building.

Of course, BIM is just one example. There are a range of other systems for collecting and processing data, including the use of artificial intelligence. The growing interest in and adoption of Proptech is creating an opportunities for IT companies to work with developers and investors.

As with all new technology, Proptech also brings with it a number of legal challenges. One particularly sensitive area is that of copyright and personal data protection. At the moment, these issues are not being discussed much, but this is mainly because Proptech remains at an early stage of development. As new technology takes root in the real estate sector, we should expect various legal issues to arise.