Reducing Floor Plan Updates from Six Months to One Hour Across 200+ buildings with JCU

Overview

James Cook University is Australia’s only university established to focus on the issues facing Northern Australia and the Tropics worldwide. It operates across North Queensland, Brisbane and Singapore, alongside multiple study centres across Australia. Known for its world-class research and deep connection to tropical environments, the university also manages a large and diverse property portfolio that includes teaching spaces, laboratories, accommodation, remote research facilities and operational sites.

Supporting this geographically diverse footprint requires strong operational systems, consistent compliance processes and the ability to manage safety obligations efficiently across a large and varied estate.

With more than 200 buildings and over 1,000 staff to support, maintaining compliant, up-to-date building information and delivering consistent fire safety training at scale is a significant operational responsibility.

The university also aims to go beyond minimum requirements in key areas, taking a proactive approach to risk, preparedness and compliance across its estate.

In an environment this broad and varied, processes need to be efficient, easy to manage and able to keep pace with constant change.

“We aim to go beyond minimum requirements, so we stay ahead of the game.”

Zac Holland, WHS Support Officer (Fire & Emergency), JCU

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The challenge

Before adopting PlanStudio® and PlanSafe®, key compliance processes were more manual, slower and harder to scale.

Updating evacuation diagrams and floor plans was a lengthy process. Existing plans needed to be physically checked, marked up and sent to external providers for redrawing, followed by rounds of revisions to confirm accuracy. For a large and evolving campus environment, turnaround times could stretch to up to six months for new drawings.

This created pressure to keep plans current, aligned to building changes, and compliant with Building Fire Safety Regulation 2008 (QLD), Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (QLD) and best practice for AS 3745:2010 – Planning for emergencies in facilities (Australian Standard).

Training processes were also more manual. Fire safety inductions were historically delivered through PowerPoints, notes and in-person or virtual sessions, creating an ongoing administrative burden and making it harder to schedule training quickly for new starters. Tracking completion and demonstrating compliance relied on spreadsheets and manual reporting.

For a lean team supporting a large estate, time spent coordinating training, chasing completions and preparing reports was time taken away from higher-value safety work.

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“Previously, a lot of our compliance processes relied on spreadsheets and manual administration, which made everything more time-consuming.”

Zac Holland, WHS Support Officer (Fire & Emergency), JCU

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The solution

James Cook University introduced PlanStudio® to bring floor plan management in-house, and PlanSafe® to modernise and automate site-specific safety training compliance.

With PlanStudio®, the university can now update building diagrams directly, without relying on external drafting workflows for routine changes. Existing plans can be amended quickly, and new sites can be created far faster than before. If no structural changes are required, updates can take less than an hour. More complex additions can be completed in around a week, rather than months.

This has given the team greater control, faster turnaround times and reduced dependency on outsourced support.

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“What once took months can now be completed in a week – and simple updates can be done in under an hour. Because the system is so easy to use, we can make updates on the spot using an iPad while we’re in the building.”

Zac Holland, WHS Support Officer (Fire & Emergency), JCU

Because PlanStudio® integrates with PlanSafe®, updated plans and building information flow directly into training content, helping ensure training materials remain accurate and site-specific.

With PlanSafe®, staff complete mandatory fire safety training online through the university’s learning system, as PlanSafe® integrates. New starters can be enrolled immediately, complete training at a time that suits them, and receive automated reminders when annual refreshers are due. Reporting is available on demand through dashboards and downloadable reports.

The result is a more connected, efficient model for managing both building compliance information and workforce training.

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“It was an easier way to keep track of everything for safety training. It cuts down on time. Staff can do it solo now, and it cuts down on people's workloads. And it records everything for you, so it's a lot easier. It’s become a one-stop shop for managing our plans, training and compliance records.”

Zac Holland, WHS Support Officer (Fire & Emergency), JCU

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Outcomes

The move to PlanStudio® and PlanSafe® has delivered measurable improvements across speed, efficiency, cost control and compliance visibility.

Faster floor plan updates

Processes that previously took up to six months can now be completed in as little as one hour to one week, depending on the scope of changes. This means building information can be updated far more quickly as campuses evolve.

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Reduced external costs

For existing buildings, many updates can now be completed internally rather than outsourced, significantly reducing drawing and amendment costs over time.

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“For many existing buildings, we’ve been able to remove the need for external drafting costs altogether.”

Zac Holland, WHS Support Officer (Fire & Emergency), JCU

Streamlined training delivery

Around 20 new staff per month, plus annual refresher cohorts, can complete training online at a time that suits them, eliminating in-person sessions, scheduling complexity and repeated manual follow-up. JCU targets +90% compliance at all times.

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Reporting time cut by 83%

Compliance reporting that previously took around one hour can now be completed in approximately 10 minutes, making it easier to respond to audits, inspections and internal requests.

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Greater confidence and visibility

With dashboards, automated records and centralised reporting, the university has a clearer view of compliance status across sites and stronger confidence in audit readiness.

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“It’s saved us a significant amount of time, reduced administrative workload and made compliance much easier to manage. We no longer need to spend time coordinating group sessions or chasing people to complete training.”

Zac Holland, WHS Support Officer (Fire & Emergency), JCU

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“For any large organisation managing multiple buildings and compliance requirements, it’s a very effective solution.”

Zac Holland, WHS Support Officer (Fire & Emergency), JCU

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