Frequently Asked Questions

1. e-PIMS™ will allow OGC as well as Other Government Departments to view information about our Estate. What information will they be able to see?

Other government departments will only be able to see the property name, address, floor area, an email contact and holding description, as inputted by the Department. It is possible to prevent Other Government Departments from viewing this information by marking the record as "sensitive" and Departments may have operational reasons to do this. OGC users of e-PIMS will be able to view all records input to the system including those marked "sensitive". OGC expect Departments to review on a regular basis those records classified as "sensitive". Records that are classified as "sensitive" cannot be viewed on the Internet version.
 

2. What are the benefits of using e-PIMS?

There are number of benefits of using e-PIMS for Departments: e-PIMS is a free service that allows you to view and maintain core property records through a web-based application. Documents, notes and photographs can be uploaded to each entry on e-PIMS, and vacant space can be marketed on the system for other departments to view. Data held on e-PIMS can feeds through to the Property Benchmarking initiative, and Property Interrogator. Data can also be transferred from other property management systems. E-PIMS offers users a dedicated service desk for all queries, requests and problems. Full training and training materials are provided for all new users.

For government, e-PIMS provides a central database of all central civil estate occupations, which supports the High Performing Property initiative and supports better asset management and more efficient coordination of civil estate property. 
 

3. Why has my record gone into the Staging Area?

Incomplete records will be stored in the Staging Area. An incomplete record is one that does not meeting the core data requirements - i.e. a record must have a property element, holding element, building element and occupation element, and within these elements the mandatory and core data fields must be completed.    

4. How long will records stay in the Staging Area?

Records that are held in the Staging Area will remain there for 35 days. During this time email notifications will go out to both the user who created the record, and the SLA signatory, informing them that the record is in staging waiting to be completed and published to live e-PIMS. Three emails will be sent, every 10 days. If, after 30 days, no action is taken, an email will be sent informing the user that the record will be permanently deleted from the Staging Area in the next 5 days.  

5. Are there future developments planned for e-PIMS?

The e-PIMS database is expanding all the time, with more organisations wanting to voluntarily use the system to record their data. The e-PIMS system has recently been upgraded with new technology, giving it a cleaner look and feel. Property Benchmarking has been incorporated into e-PIMS, and there are plans for it record sustainability data.  A main focus for 08/09 will be to improve the mapping facility.  Departments may also wish to specify and fund additional modules to enhance the use within their own organisation. This could include linkages via XML to finance services or more advanced reporting and output techniques. As subscribers to e-PIMS, Departments are invited to the OGC e-PIMS User Group where suggestions for product development and enhancements to the database are part of the standing agenda. Should a consensus view emerge for additional fields to be created to e-PIMS, the cost of such development may be borne by OGC or Departments.
 

6. In addition to the core data requirements set out in the Civil Estate Co-ordination Protocol, what other information does e-PIMS hold?

e-PIMS includes a facility to attach documents, notes and photographs to individual records. It can display a 'virtual tour' of a property that can be used when marketing vacant space. It incorporates Property Benchmarking data and can also link to modules to record information relating to financial management and rates valuation. 
 

7. How can I pull off information from e-PIMS?

e-PIMS incorporates a reporting suite that holds various reports that can be run off for your data. These reports can be exported as pdfs or Excel files and saved, or printed out. Each property record has a summary page that displays all information relating to that record. This can be printed as a one-page summary report. Within the reporting suite it is also possible to print off an estate summary report, information on rents and leases, exception reports highlighting missing data, and data on all your users. 
 

8. How does the Data Protection Act 1998 apply to or impact on information held on e-PIMS?

Information held on e-PIMS about Landlords is exempt from the Data Protection Act. Where the names of individuals appear on the database, these are provided for contact purposes only. The information held on each contact name is limited to a correspondence address, telephone and fax number and e-mail address where available. Departmental contacts will be taken from the OGC Departmental contact database which individual users of OGC services should have been previously notified of the information being retained and its possible use. User accounts for e-PIMS will be managed by OGC in collaboration with the Authorised Signatory from each Department subscribing to the database. 
 

9. Is it possible to transfer information to and from e-PIMS from other computer databases?

It is possible through a data transfer process that follows the XML protocol. Please contact the OGC Service Desk for further details.  

10. Are there any security issues which e-PIMS users should be aware of?

e-PIMS is available on either the Government Secure Intranet (GSI) or a separate Internet based system. For Departments who are GSI users, e-PIMS is an approved GSI site. Internet based users are expected to fully comply with the security procedures set out by OGC which will include firewall and anti-virus protection. As with any password protected system, all e-PIMS users are expected to ensure that their passwords are not disclosed to anybody. e-PIMS Systems Managers are able to track all user visits to the database and will be able to report these to the Departmental Authorised Signatory.
 

11. What are the technical requirements to run e-PIMS

e-PIMS has been developed to run under Internet Explorer version 5.0 or above. Browsers such as Firefox or AOL are not fully supported. In addition, e-PIMS generates dynamic content based on users permissions and this is managed by "VBScript" and "Javascript". VBScript and javascript must therefore be enabled within the browser to ensure e-PIMS works correctly. To ensure the application can remember which page a user has previously visited, cookies must also be enabled those these are of a temporary basis and are automatically deleted when users close down e-PIMS. Organisations who are unsure of their browser set-up can use the following url which will check settings. The resultant page that is displayed should be e-mailed to the e-PIMS service team in OGC. http://www.e-PIMStest.ogc.gsi.gov.uk/browsertype/main.asp  

The best way to ensure compliance with these requirements is to add the e-PIMS web address as a trusted site within each browser. This should ensure full compatibility and will not compromise security. It is also recommended that display monitors have the capability and are set to at least high Colour (16 Bit) in order to view the correct colours and at least 800 x 600 pixels (best setting 1024 x 768 pixels) resolution. If the text is too small, browser settings can be adjusted. As e-PIMS runs over the GSI or a secure internet connection, the response is directly related to the user organisations available bandwidth and its usage. A minimum of 128 kbps is recommended with low contention ratio. 
 

12. Is the number of users limited within any organisation?

No. A Department with GSI access can have as many registered users as the Department requires. It is also possible to specify which records individual users have access to. The same applies to Internet users. All users will be expected to attend a one day training course. 
 

13. How many users are there expected to be and what are the benefits of e-PIMS to the existing Departmental structure?

Given the unlimited number of users that any Government Department can have when subscribing to e-PIMS, it is possible for all those who have some involvement in managing the Estate to have access. Access can also be determined by property centres, so giving teams access to e-PIMS for the buildings they have operational responsibility for. However, the Department's Authorised Signatory or their delegated authority must approve all applications. 
 

14. Who should have the ability to input to and update the information held on e-PIMS?

As defined by the relevant organisation, from a central unit to devolved to individual property centres or regions or an outsourced supplier. 
 

15. Who else can use e-PIMS?

Although e-PIMS has been devised to record land and building interests on the Government Estate, it is possible for non Departmental users such as Local Authorities and other public bodies to consider subscribing to the system so that premises currently either owned or occupied by the Police could also be included. 
 

16. The main record of any database system will be based on unique reference being allocated to each record. How is this done in e-PIMS?

When a new "property" record is created, e-PIMS will allocate the new record the unique six-digit OGC reference number. When adding records to e-PIMS users will be asked to input the Department's own unique identifier but this can be edited after the new record has been created. 
 

17. Do Departmental IT service providers have any objections to e-PIMS?

e-PIMS has been created to take into account the technical requirements of operating across the Government Secure Intranet. e-PIMS users using GSI connections are not required to install any additional software on the terminals they use. As long as the minimum specification of Browser (IE 5.5 or above) and cookies are enabled (use trusted site feature) e-PIMS should operate correctly. Reasonable bandwidth to the GSI is required to ensure optimum performance. 
 

18. What backup procedures exist for the information held on e-PIMS?

Backup procedures are maintained by out sourced supplier Corporate Document Solutions (CDS). 
 

19. Is there a "helpdesk" facility for any problems or advice that users may have?

Yes. The OGC Service Desk will deal with any enquiries from e-PIMS users. Enquiries that need to be escalated will be referred to the e-PIMS Team. There are no additional charges for the Service Desk facility, which is open between 0800 and 1800 Mondays to Fridays.   
 

20. Can users be deleted from e-PIMS when they no longer work for us?

Yes by agreement between OGC and the Department's Authorised Signatory. User lists are also revised by OGC every 12 months. 
 

25. How does OGC define "sensitive" sites?

OGC does not have a standard definition for sensitive sites when records are created for e-PIMS since this will be an operational issue for the Department using the database. OGC will regularly review with Departments those records that are classified as "sensitive". 
 

26. How does the property events function work?

Where entries to e-PIMS contain action dates recorded by users, it is possible for e-PIMS to automatically e-mail users with a reminder when the action date occurs for the property event to be dealt with. For example, it is possible to record rent review dates, break notices, lease expiries as well as maintenance review dates. 
 

29. What role does the Authorised Signatory or Delegated Authorised Signatory have on behalf of a Department subscribing to e-PIMS?

The Authorised Signatory or their delegated authority is invited to attend the OGC e-PIMS User Group. The User Group meets to discuss and consider technical and operational issues relating to the use of the system as well as identifying and agreeing any requirements for enhancements or further development to the system. The Authorised Signatory is the principal Departmental contact for the management of the subscription to e-PIMS with the OGC and will be provided with reports on Service Desk calls, user statistics as well as any possible security issues arising from users nominated by the Department.

Updated: 2 June 2008