How Gaedeke Group improved tenant insurance compliance in under 6 months- Building Engine

Challenge

Gaedeke Group is a full-service operator of office buildings with a portfolio spanning roughly 3-million sq ft of Class A real estate across Arizona, Texas, Florida, New York, and Washington, D.C.

The compliance management process at Gaedeke had been manual for years. Property managers and admins at each building tracked certificates of insurance (COIs) in Microsoft Excel and stored hard copies in binders. The management team collected updated documents from tenants and vendors and attempted to conduct certificate audits.

Verifying certificate accuracy became difficult. The team checked language against lease requirements and reviewed every detail, including endorsements. The manual process made it nearly impossible to maintain accuracy at scale.

Gaedeke needed a COI management solution to address these challenges. They needed to ensure compliance across the portfolio so that every stakeholder from ownership, property management, to tenants and vendors, was insured as provided for in contractual agreements.

Solution

Gaedeke implemented Jones, a COI management software. The implementation began with tenant compliance – the Gaedeke team uploaded insurance requirements into Jones, set up co-branded emails, collected and input all certificates into Jones, and conducted the initial comparison review. Gaedeke then worked with Jones to establish a three-step implementation approach.

1. Gaedeke realized that adoption would work better if they focused on one task at a time. They decided to finish onboarding tenants before moving to vendor compliance. “We took it one bite at a time,” said Amanda Green, VP of Property Management at Gaedeke. “Rather than doing tenants and vendors at the same time, we decided to only tackle tenants at first. Once the tenants are fully onboarded, we would move on to the vendor portion. This process made a lot of sense to us because the approach for tenants vs. vendors is different.”

2. They committed to one metric. Gaedeke wanted an in-depth, accurate review of every certificate on file. They knew it would require a time investment. “At the beginning of working with Jones, we spent more time communicating back and forth making sure every tenant understood their lease requirements and what was missing on their COI,” Green said. “We knew that once we got through this initial stage of COI review, renewals would get so much easier. This is how it works—you invest in getting compliance right in the beginning, and then you reap the benefits. The company is better protected and time savings also kick in.”

3. Gaedeke maintained regular check-ins. During the first months, communication proved crucial for adoption. Gaedeke deliberately held off turning on certain features, such as the auto-renewal feature, so they could focus on guiding tenants through the process. “We made sure to take advantage of the Jones Customer Support team and attend regular check-ins with our Customer Success Manager,” said Green.

The results came quickly. In under six months, Gaedeke stored all certificates in easy-to-use software, thoroughly reviewed all documentation for compliance gaps, and gained instant visibility into compliance data.

“Before we implemented Jones, I would have no true visibility”, said Green. “Now, I can see where all our properties stand compliance-wise with just a couple of clicks and help my team manage the process better.”

I would absolutely recommend Jones to any real estate company. The ease of putting it into play, the ease of the dashboard, and the ease of use provide a path of success for us.

Amanda Green

VP of Property Management, Gaedeke Group