Forty sites, two visits a year each, one spreadsheet
You won a maintenance contract with a managing agent, and a couple of schools, and a retail landlord. Each has sites with gutters to clear and roofs to inspect at agreed intervals. The schedule is a spreadsheet with a column for each month. Someone is supposed to book visits from it.
In a busy season, repair work pushes the maintenance visits back. Then a client emails asking for the report from a visit that did not happen.
Why planned work slips
Planned maintenance is steady, useful income, but it competes for the same roofers as urgent repairs, and urgent always wins. Without something that keeps visits in front of the planner and reports flowing to clients, the contract erodes quietly.
- Visits are scheduled by someone reading a spreadsheet.
- Site access details and contacts are in old emails.
- Reports are written up after the visit, often late.
- Defects found on visits are not turned into quotes.
- Invoicing depends on someone remembering the visit happened.
What it costs
Missed visits breach the contract and damage renewals. Late reports make you look disorganised to exactly the kind of client who values organisation. The defects roofers spot on visits, which are a natural source of repair work, never become quotes. And visits done but never invoiced are simply lost income.
Clients on maintenance contracts are also the ones most likely to send you larger work, such as a re-roof on a building you already know well. Letting the maintenance side slip quietly damages the relationship that brings those bigger jobs in.
The maintenance contract system we build
- Each contract lists its sites, with address, access arrangements, contacts, what is included and visit frequency.
- Visits are generated for the year ahead and shown on the planner alongside repair work, with warnings as a visit's window closes.
- The roofer's phone shows the site notes and a report form based on your checklist for that site, with photos.
- Defects found are recorded as separate items with photos and a suggested priority from your roofer.
- The report is produced as a PDF in the client's preferred format and sent on completion, with a copy stored against the site.
- Defects can be turned into quotes for the client to approve, linked back to the site.
- Visits are invoiced per your contract terms, per visit or on a schedule, through Xero, Sage or QuickBooks.
| Item | Handled by |
|---|---|
| Visit scheduling | Generated from contract frequency |
| Access and site notes | Held against the site |
| Visit report | Phone form, sent on completion |
| Defects found | Recorded, quoted if the client wants |
| Invoicing | Raised from completed visits |
Your roofers' findings are what goes in the report. We build the scheduling and paperwork around their work.
Running contracts this way
Every site has a visit history with reports and photos. Clients get reports promptly and can see what is coming. Defects turn into repair work with a paper trail. Invoicing follows completion without anyone chasing. And when the contract comes up for renewal, you have a complete record to point to.
It also changes how the contract feels to run. Instead of a spreadsheet someone dreads opening, there is a list of this month's visits, each with its notes, and a clear record of what was found and sent.
Does your maintenance work look like this?
- Planned visits are tracked in a spreadsheet.
- Repair work regularly pushes maintenance visits back.
- Reports are typed up days after the visit.
- Defects found are not quoted.
- You are not certain every visit was invoiced.