"Plots 14 to 19 for Friday, please"
The site manager rings on Wednesday: six plots are ready for the builders' clean before the buyers' inspections next week. You send a team. Two plots are not actually ready because the decorators are still in. The team does four and comes back for the other two. A week later, the site manager says plot 16 failed the inspection because of paint on the patio doors and asks for a return clean.
At month end you invoice for six plots. The developer's commercial team says their order covered five, the return clean was a snag and not chargeable, and plot 19 was never signed off. Your records are a set of texts and photos on two phones.
Site work runs on plots, and your records don't
Builders' cleans are organised plot by plot, with dates driven by the build programme and the buyers' completion dates. Window cleaning firms often track them like residential jobs, by address and day, which does not match how the developer thinks.
- Requests come by phone and text from site managers.
- Plots are cleaned in batches, with some not ready on the day.
- Sign-off is verbal or not recorded.
- Return cleans are not categorised as snags, extras or damage by others.
- Invoices do not match the developer's order or plot list.
What is chargeable under your agreement with the developer is between you and them. We make the records show what happened.
Unpaid returns and disputed invoices
Every plot not ready on the day is a wasted trip. Return cleans that were needed because other trades made a mess after your clean are work you should be able to charge for, but without a record they get treated as your snag. Disputed invoices wait for the next valuation. And site managers remember which contractor had the clearest records.
There is also the practical waste on the day. A team that arrives at a plot with decorators still inside, or scaffolding still up, either waits or leaves. Without a record of why, the next conversation with the site manager starts from different memories of what happened.
Plot-by-plot tracking with evidence
We build a site module for your builders' clean work.
- Each site has a plot list, imported from the developer's schedule or entered once, with house types and the scope you agreed per type.
- Site managers request cleans by plot through a simple link, or you enter their calls, with the date needed.
- Your team marks each plot on their phones: cleaned, not ready (with reason and photo), or needs return.
- Before and after photos are stored per plot, including photos of any mess by other trades found on a return visit.
- Sign-off is captured on the phone by the site manager, or the plot is marked as awaiting sign-off.
- Invoices are built per site from signed-off plots and approved extras, with the developer's order number, in the format their commercial team requires.
| Site event | Recorded as |
|---|---|
| Plot cleaned | Done, with photos and time |
| Plot not ready | Wasted visit, with reason and photo |
| Return because of other trades | Extra, with photo evidence |
| Return for your own snag | Snag, not charged |
| Site manager satisfied | Signed off on the phone |
Site work that gets paid for
Plots are tracked the way the developer tracks them. Wasted visits and returns caused by others are recorded with photos, which makes them far easier to discuss. Invoices match the order and the signed-off plots, so they are paid rather than queried. And site managers see a contractor whose records make their handovers easier, which is how you get asked back on the next phase.
A normal site week then looks like this. The site manager requests plots through the link, your team sees them on their phones with the scope for each house type, and every plot ends the day as cleaned, not ready or awaiting sign-off, with photos. At month end the invoice is already built from signed-off plots and approved extras.
Is your site work tracked like this?
- Site requests arrive by phone and text.
- You have made trips to plots that were not ready.
- Return cleans are argued about at invoice time.
- Sign-off is verbal.
- Your invoices do not line up with the developer's plot list.