Ask for the API Documentation Before You Sign the Automation Contract
Most automation projects that overrun do so waiting for system access, not writing code. You can discover that in a week of emails, for free.
Stephen Saracco, MRICSAsset PerformanceFive questions for every core system
Is there documented REST API access? Is it read-only, or read and write? What are the rate limits? Are there webhooks, or only polling? And does our licence tier include API access, or is it an upcharge or an enterprise-tier gate?
Hospitality property management systems frequently gate API access behind a certified partner programme with fees and a six to twelve week onboarding. Your eight-week integration can be eight weeks of waiting for portal approval before anybody writes code.
The durability ladder
Best to worst: official API, then webhook, then scheduled CSV or SFTP export, then structured email parsing, then screen scraping. Anything below CSV breaks whenever the vendor changes their interface, which they do without notice.
Property management and facilities systems often offer scheduled report exports only. That is not a blocker — it is a design constraint you need to know on day one rather than in week six.
The contract lever nobody uses
Make API access and documented endpoints an explicit clause at renewal. Vendors concede this far more readily than they concede on price.
And budgeting a closed-loop automation against an API that turns out to be read-only leaves you with a human still re-keying the result — you bought a read-only dashboard.
Send one email to each core vendor: please send your API documentation and confirm whether our current licence tier includes read and write access. How long they take to reply is itself a procurement data point.
Over 20 years of international real estate and facilities strategy across the U.S. and EMEA.
Meet the team →Questions we get asked
What most often causes automation projects to run over?
Waiting for system access rather than writing code. Certified partner programmes, licence-tier gates and approval queues routinely add six to twelve weeks before development starts.
Is a nightly CSV export good enough for automation?
Usually yes. An ugly nightly export that has run for three years beats an elegant real-time integration you cannot get approved. Most of these processes are inherently batch.
Can I negotiate API access with a software vendor?
Yes, and more easily than price. Make documented API access an explicit clause at renewal — vendors concede it far more readily than they discount.
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