A crack that was always there?
Two weeks after the install, the customer emails. The plaster around the bedroom window is cracked and a piece of the reveal has come away. They want it made good. Your fitters say the plaster was already loose and cracked when they took the old frame out, and they made good what they could. But nobody photographed it. It is their word against the customer's, and the easiest way to end it is to send a plasterer.
Outside, it might be a render crack, a disturbed brick or a gap in the pointing that the customer only noticed after the scaffold came down.
Why there is never a before photo
Fitters are focused on getting old frames out and new ones in. Photographing each opening from inside and out feels like a delay, and without a clear routine it gets skipped. When photos are taken, they sit on personal phones with no link to the job or the frame.
- There is no routine for photographing openings before removal.
- Photos are on fitters' phones, unlabelled and not backed up.
- Existing damage is not pointed out to the customer before work starts.
- After photos are not taken once the making good is done.
- Nobody can find the photos for a particular window weeks later.
What undocumented condition costs
Making good damage you did not cause, to keep a customer happy, costs a plasterer's visit and materials. Disputes take office time and sour the end of an otherwise good job. Holding a balance over a disputed crack is common. And fitters who are blamed for damage they did not cause lose heart in the job.
Photo capture built into the fit
- The fitter's app lists each frame on the job, from the survey, and asks for inside and outside photos of each opening before removal.
- Existing damage can be marked on the photo and shown to the customer, who acknowledges it on the phone before work starts.
- After fitting and making good, the app asks for the same views again.
- Photos are stored on the job, per frame, with date and time, in your cloud storage such as Microsoft 365 or AWS.
- A before and after sheet for any frame, or the whole job, can be produced as a PDF in seconds.
- The frame cannot be marked complete in the app without the after photos, unless the fitter records a reason.
| Photo | When | What it shows |
|---|---|---|
| Inside before | Before removal | Plaster, reveals, cill board, decor |
| Outside before | Before removal | Brickwork, render, pointing, cill |
| Marked damage | Before removal | Existing cracks shown to the customer |
| Inside and outside after | After making good | Finished opening |
What your terms say about making good, and how disputes are settled, is your decision. The photos give you an accurate record to work from.
What changes when a complaint comes in
When a customer raises damage, the office opens the job and sees that window before and after, dated. Sometimes the photo shows the damage was there, and the conversation is short. Sometimes it shows something did happen during the fit, and you can put it right promptly and without argument. Either way the discussion is about evidence.
Fitters also benefit. Pointing out existing cracks before starting sets expectations and protects them from blame, and the routine takes a minute per opening.
Is this a familiar argument?
- You have made good damage you believe was already there.
- Fitters take photos on their own phones, if at all.
- Existing damage is not shown to customers before removal.
- You cannot find photos of a particular window after the job.
- Balances have been held over plaster or render disputes.