Lots of small jobs, each with the same admin
Property managers, landlords and blocks of flats need their buildings' reinstatement cost assessed for insurance, and many want it reviewed every few years. Each instruction is a small fee. Each needs a quote, a letter of engagement, access arranged with a managing agent or caretaker, a site visit to measure and photograph, a calculation using your practice's approach and cost data, and a report.
When a portfolio of twenty blocks arrives at once, the admin swamps the surveyors. Access dates get muddled. Measurements are written on paper plans and typed up later. Reports are built by editing the last one.
Why assessments pile up
- Every job repeats the same quote, engagement and access steps by hand.
- Access is arranged by phone and email with people who are hard to reach.
- Site measurements and notes are captured on paper and retyped.
- The calculation lives in a spreadsheet that each surveyor has tweaked.
- Reports are edited from the previous one, so old details can slip through.
The cost of the admin
On small fee work, admin decides whether the job is worth doing. Surveyors spend their time on arrangements rather than assessments. Portfolio instructions queue up. Mistakes carried over from the previous report are the kind of error you least want in a document that someone's insurance relies on.
| Step | Manual | In the workflow |
|---|---|---|
| Quote and engagement | Written each time | Generated from the instruction, signed online |
| Access | Phone and email tag | Booking link sent to the site contact |
| Site capture | Paper plans and camera roll | Tablet form with measurements and photos |
| Calculation | Personal spreadsheet | Shared template fed from site data |
| Report | Edited from the last one | Drafted from this job's data |
The workflow we build
- Instructions arrive through a web form or by email and are logged, with portfolio instructions split into one job per building.
- A quote and engagement letter are generated from your fee table and terms and sent for online signature.
- The site contact receives a link to choose a visit slot from the surveyor's available times.
- On site, the surveyor records measurements, construction type, specification notes and photos on a tablet form that works without signal.
- Site data feeds your practice's calculation template, using the cost data and approach your practice has chosen.
- A report is drafted from this job's data only, in your format, for the surveyor to review, edit and sign off.
- Issued reports are filed and a review date is set, so the client can be contacted before the next assessment is due.
The assessment itself, including the approach and the figure, is the surveyor's professional work. Insurance cover decisions are for the client and their broker. The workflow handles everything around the assessment.
Assessments without the pile-up
A portfolio instruction becomes a list of jobs, each with its own status. Site contacts book their own visits. The surveyor measures once on site and does not retype. Reports start from the right building's data. Repeat work is prompted automatically, which is useful for a practice that wants the review business.
For a repeat assessment, the previous visit's measurements and photos are loaded onto the tablet, so the surveyor confirms and updates rather than starting again, and can see at a glance what has changed about the building since last time.
Is this your reinstatement work?
- Every assessment starts with the same quote and letter written by hand.
- Arranging access takes more time than the visit.
- Measurements are typed up from paper after the visit.
- Reports are built by editing the previous one.
- Nobody prompts clients when their next assessment is due.