A surveying consultancy moves on-site capture into the report
Cavendish Maxwell's surveyors are the primary users of Property Inspect — particularly during snagging and condition inspections. The platform records on-site observations, captures photographic evidence, and generates structured reports in real time.
Before Property Inspect, the snagging and condition-survey process meant recording defects on a phone or iPad, supported by annotated notes and measurements to aid report writing. Photos were uploaded to a central drive, organised into area- or room-specific folders, then compiled into Excel — every defect with an individual image, the file converted to PDF and dropped into the final report.
Volumes are steady at 8–12 snagging or condition surveys a month — and have nudged up since adoption.
Excel-based photologs didn't scale with the work
Building a photolog manually was the most time-intensive part of every report — and it grew with the property:
- 01Photolog assembly was the bottleneck. Organising photos, inserting them into Excel and drafting individual defect comments was the slowest part of every report.
- 02Time scaled with property size. Anything from 3–4 days for an apartment to 15–17 days for a whole residential building.
- 03Manual handling caused errors. When images were uploaded and organised by hand, incorrect or duplicated photos sometimes ended up in the photolog.
- 04Generic templates limited the report. The early format and borders weren’t of a standard suitable for a consultancy’s reports.
Reduce reporting time without compromising consultancy-grade output
- Capture defects directly on site rather than after returning to the office
- Eliminate manual photo sorting, inserting and PDF prep
- Reduce duplicated and misplaced images
- Adapt the output to consultancy standards — editable, well-structured, polished
- A flexible report structure that suits multiple service lines, not a one-size-fits-all template
An editable digital platform that does the photolog while the surveyor is still on site
On-site capture, automatic upload
Defects are captured photographically on site and automatically uploaded, organised and inserted into an editable document.
Editable, structured output
Add or remove defects and have content reorder automatically — no manual reflow.
Adaptable templates
Tailored to different service lines and client requirements rather than locked to a single rigid format.
Bespoke implementation support
Property Inspect’s team built a report format aligned to Cavendish Maxwell’s consultancy standards.
Default workflow for the surveying team
Now the standard workflow for every surveyor handling snagging and condition instructions — with senior management and admins as escalation users.
Roughly half the time per report — and admin already done by the time the surveyor returns
Faster report turnaround
Reports that took 2–3 days now complete in approximately 1–1.5 days.
Admin done before the office
By the time surveyors return, a substantial amount of admin is already complete — defects captured directly into the platform.
Slight volume increase
Monthly survey volumes have nudged up since adoption.
Errors and rework reduced
Duplicated and misplaced photos — common with manual handling — are now much rarer.
Excel-based photologs have been retired. The biggest day-to-day difference for surveyors is the time saved — admin happens during the inspection rather than after it.
The main value Property Inspect has delivered is a significant reduction in reporting times — particularly for snagging inspections — supported by a highly responsive team that has provided ongoing assistance and implemented bespoke changes where required.
