The Communicator - Volume 1, Issue 3 - (Page 11)

for roofs, painting, or many other association expenses, and demands greater vigilance and better management methods than those employed in the past. HOW GIS WORKS FOR THE ASSOCIATION Creating an association GIS starts with a little detective work (especially with older associations). What original landscape and irrigation plans (if any) are available and where are they? Sometimes they’re in the property management company’s archives, or stored in the pool pump room, or in a past board member’s closet, or loaned to the maintenance or irrigation contractor recently, or 10 years ago! And, unfortunately, many times they are gone forever. Vital plans have a way of disappearing over the years for a variety of reasons. It is, therefore, highly recommended that any plans found be scanned to pdf, jpg, or tif format and saved on CDs or DVDs or other storage devices, and copies stored at various locations. If nothing else is done toward developing an association GIS, this one step is of the most importance. Beginning the process with the original landscape or irrigation plans, either from paper copies or Computer Aided Design files (CAD) is optimal, and certainly the most costeffective, but not an absolute requirement. Almost any site plan can be used, but starting Starting with a good with a good site plan such as this, plan, showing as many details site showing as as possible, will result many details in less initial cost in as possible, developing the GIS. will require less initial cost to develop the GIS. Assuming that site, landscape or irrigation plans are available, copies of the scanned plans are then converted from their scanned image format (pdf, jpg, or tif) to CAD (dwg) file formats and become the basis for developing the association’s base layer. This base layer will be used as reference in documents for all site attributes. Now, let’s consider the “G” in Geographic Information System. The base layer, in its current state, doesn’t know where it is in the world. It may be a location in California, Washington, D.C., or England. So the next step is to “geo-reference” the association’s base layer, giving it unique real-world coordinates (frequently using latitude and longitude for each corner of the property). The georeferenced base layer is now geographically oriented and the property has, by its location, acquired unique attributes, such as proximity to earthquake faults, schools, freeways, wind patterns, seasonal weather fluctuations, and a long list of other attributes either shared or unique to the property’s physical location in the world. The power of an association Geographic Information System (the “IS” in GIS) comes in the development of ATTENTION Property Managers and Board Members Receive REAL-TIME INSURANCE QUOTES (*) for your Associations (*) Oﬀered as an on-line service to our valuable customers through AssociationQuotes.com premium indications without all the hassles. You give us some basic information about your Planned Unit Development or Condominium Associatiton(s) over the internet … and WE do the rest. www.associationquotes.com CAI Member for 18 years ASSOCIATIONQUOTES.COM A Dundas Agency Inc. Company 800-870-HOME (4663) The Communicator • 11 http://associationquotes.com/site/index.php

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of The Communicator - Volume 1, Issue 3

The Communicator - Volume 1, Issue 3 Contents President's Message Eyes in the Sky Down to the Last Drop Ask the Experts - Budget Your Water Usage 2008 Events & Educational Calendar Welcome to CAI BayCen Index to Advertisers

The Communicator - Volume 1, Issue 3

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