A repeat property inspection doesn’t always need to start with a blank survey.
If the same property has been inspected before, the previous inspection may contain information that is useful to the person carrying out the next one.
Some inspections are carried out once for a particular purpose. Others are designed to be repeated, where knowing what happened last time can help with the next inspection.
Set the template up for repeat inspections
If a template is going to be used repeatedly for the same properties, BrightChecker lets you choose how previous inspection information is handled.
When the same template is used for the same property, you can either reuse the previous responses or keep the previous inspection available for reference.
Reuse the previous responses
The previous responses can be brought into the new inspection.
The surveyor can work through the inspection, confirming or changing the responses as they inspect the property.
This can be useful where an answer is likely to remain the same, or where the previous response provides a useful starting point.
Previous photographs aren’t reused. The new inspection needs its own current evidence.
Keep the previous inspection for reference
Sometimes you want the surveyor to make a fresh assessment but still be able to see what was recorded previously.
In that case, the previous inspection remains available as information.
As the surveyor works through the new inspection, they can open the previous response for an individual element when they want to see what was recorded last time.
This is useful when the history matters but you don’t want previous answers automatically carried into the new inspection.
A pool inspection is a good example
Consider a swimming pool that is inspected regularly.
The previous inspection might record:
- Water parameters
- Whether the filter was checked
- Treatment carried out
- Notes about problems
- Previous responses
When the pool is inspected again, the surveyor can see what happened last time.
Did somebody check the filter?
What treatment was carried out?
Did the treatment work?
Have the water parameters improved?
The previous inspection gives the surveyor useful context for what they find today.
Not every inspection needs this
A RICS Condition Report, for example, may be a one-off assessment for a particular transaction. There may be no reason to carry information from an earlier inspection into the new report.
A recurring inspection of the same property is different.
The template can be set up to make use of previous information where it adds value, without making it part of every inspection.
Keep the current inspection current
Previous information helps the surveyor, but the new inspection still records what is there today.
A repair may have been completed.
A defect may have deteriorated.
A treatment may have worked — or it may not.
The surveyor can use the previous inspection to understand what has changed, while recording the current condition and evidence in the new inspection.
Build the template once. Use it repeatedly. Use previous information when it helps.
Flexibility by Design.
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