Case Study

Construction

Site Inspection App

Salus

Explore the dynamic transformation undertaken by Salus, one of the UK’s leading Approved Site Inspection companies. Renowned for their commitment to ensures the maintenance of building compliance standards in a variety of construction projects, Salus has embarked on a journey to digitise their site inspection process, drastically reducing the timeframe from weeks or months to mere hours

The traditional journey of a Site Inspector

Historically a site inspector visits their nearest office to collect the paper job sheets for their inspections that day. They would then visit each site, clipboard, and digital camera in hand,  recording observations.

Once their inspections for the day had been completed, they’d drive back to the office to hand deliver the job sheets to an administrator. The administrator then has the unenviable tasks of writing up the inspectors’ observations and creating the client report before sending it via email to the Project Manager for approval. It is then finally sent to the client.

The problem

So, what's wrong with this process? It’s been working well for the last 10 years, why change it?

  • It takes several days if not weeks following an inspection for the client to receive their report.

  • An administrator’s time can be much more effectively utilised.

  • It can be difficult to read others handwriting when typing up.

  • Chasing emails for sign off is slow and cumbersome.

  • Auditing can be tricky as paper can get easily lost.

  • Given the compliance regulations to store all documents for 10 years, secure storage facilities are required to keep documents.

The solution we offered

We developed a bespoke Site Inspection Power App for the Inspectors to use whilst out on site. The Power App enabled Site Inspectors to dictate or type digital notes, record actions, add images and complete an inspection, all from their mobile device.

Following the submission of a completed inspection, a formatted document is automatically produced and sent to the Project Manager for approval. Following the approval, the document is sent to the client automatically through the app without any need for administrator input.

Technologies we used for the development of this project

microsoft power apps
Power Apps
microsoft power automate
Power Automate
Azure SQL

The outcome

How are Site Inspectors working now?

  • An inspector can now drive directly to their first inspection from their home and straight back home after their last.

  • Huge time and cost savings!

  • Inspectors record all observations and images using a bespoke application on their mobile device – no more loose bits of paper!

  • A custom approval system means no more out-of-office black holes leading to further delays.

  • The report can be in the client’s hands in minutes.

  • Administrators are doing more fulfilling work, with some re-training to create Power BI reports and administer the application. 

The new process for Site Inspectors

Travel from home to first job
Arrive on site ready to inspect
All inspections recorded in app
Approved digitally
by administrators
With the client within minutes

“Bright, forward thinking and absolutely dedicated.

We have used Nick and his team for about three years now.

We absolutely recognise that evolving technology is both important to us and equally challenging.

If you want quality we have learnt 
you need bright forward thinking elite people. At Nimbitech they have exactly that."

Paul Meadows

Paul Meadows

Director, Salus