If you write survey reports, you will know that the inspection itself is only part of the job. Once the dictation is done there are still the photographs to deal with, and getting them into the report in the right places, without the headings, tables and page breaks shifting about every time another one goes in, can take a surprising amount of time, usually at the end of an already long day.
That is why we are really pleased to say that OutSec Property can now do this for you. Alongside typing up your reports from dictation, we will insert your photographs into the report in the places you tell us, working in your own template, so that what comes back to you is the finished report rather than a typed draft with the pictures still to add.
Why the photographs matter
In a property report the photographs are not there for decoration, because they are part of the evidence. In a building survey they show the client exactly what the surveyor is describing, whether that is a cracked lintel or a patch of damp in the corner of a bedroom. In a schedule of condition they record how a property looked on a particular day, and that record may be relied on years later when a lease comes to an end or a disagreement arises about the state the property was in. A party wall schedule of condition does a similar job, recording the condition of a neighbouring property before any building work starts.
A photograph in the wrong place, or one that has gone missing altogether, is therefore more than an untidy page, as it can weaken the report at exactly the point when somebody needs to rely on it.
What the service includes
When you send us a job with photographs, we will type your report from your dictation in the usual way, insert each photograph wherever you have asked for it, keep everything within your own template so that the report matches the rest of your work, and then return it to you ready to review and sign off.
It works best alongside our transcription service, because your dictation is what tells us where each photograph belongs, but if you would rather type the report yourself and send it to us with the photographs, we are happy to arrange that too.
The reports we work on
We can insert photographs into Level 2 and Level 3 building surveys, schedules of condition and dilapidations, party wall schedules and defect, valuation, building survey and expert witness reports. We work in your own templates, in RICS-format reports and with the survey platforms you already use, so there is nothing new for you to learn and nothing for your clients to notice, other than a neat, finished report.
How it works in practice
You dictate your report as you normally would, and when you reach a point where a photograph belongs, you just say so, for example “insert photograph 14 here”. You then send us your audio and photographs together, we type the report and put each photograph where you have asked for it, and you receive the finished report back to check, make any final changes and sign off.
A few small habits make the whole thing run more smoothly. It helps if your photographs are numbered or named in the order you take them, with the same references used in your dictation, and if each job’s photographs are kept in their own folder so that nothing from another property finds its way in. If there are photographs you do not want included, either leave them out of the folder or mention it in your dictation, and if your template has a particular layout for photographs, such as two to a row or a schedule of photographs at the back, let us know on your first job and we will follow it every time.
Looking after your photographs
Survey photographs often show a good deal more than the building itself, including people, personal belongings, post and car registration numbers, so we treat them with the same care as your audio and documents. The OutSec Group holds Cyber Essentials certification, and [CONFIRM: how photographs are transferred, stored and deleted].
Pricing and getting started
The cost depends on the length of your dictation and the number of photographs, so the easiest thing is to ask Sam for a quote. If you already send us your dictation, all you need to do is include your photographs with your next job, and if you are new to OutSec, Sam Stokes looks after our property and surveying clients and will be glad to talk you through how it all works. You can email Sam at sam.stokes@outsec.co.uk.
OutSec Property, built on solid ground.