Describing a site photo so it can be found in a year
A warranty call comes in from the property manager: a water stain on the ceiling of a top-floor suite, fourteen months after handover. You search the project's photos for the roof above it and get two hundred results described as "roof", "roof 2" or nothing at all. The photo of that drain being installed is in there somewhere.
A photo without words shows what was there, but not what it is about, where it sits on the drawings or why someone took it. People search later with the words on the drawings and in the correspondence — a gridline, a room number, a detail, an RFI — so a description that uses none of them is invisible to search. Photo metadata guidance puts it the same way: the caption is for the who, what and why of the picture, and detailed, accurate descriptions are what make images easy to find by search.
One line: what, where, why
- Start with what it shows, in the trade's words: "membrane lap", "sleeve through rated wall", "cracked curb".
- Add where, using the references on the drawings: level, gridline, room number or elevation — "L3, grid D/4" or "Room 214, east wall".
- Say why you took it: progress, a deficiency, before cover, a delivery, damage or a question, matching the project's agreed tags.
- Include the number someone will search for: the detail or drawing (5/A-501), the RFI or change order, the product or equipment tag.
- Give measurements with units when the photo proves one: "lap 150 mm", "cover 40 mm at chair".
- Write it on site, before you move on. A plain line written now beats a better one written from memory next week.
- Test it once: search for the words a stranger would use and check that the photo comes up.
Common mistakes
- Describing the file instead of the work: "photo 3", "pic from today".
- Private shorthand the office cannot read, such as "the thing by the green box".
- Opinions instead of facts: "sloppy taping" rather than "no compound over 3 screw heads".
- A paragraph nobody will read; one line is the target.
Checklist
A good description has
- What it shows, in the trade's words
- Where, from the drawings: level, gridline, room
- Why it was taken, matching an agreed tag
- The number people will search for
- Measurements with units, where they matter
- Facts, not opinions
- Words written on site, at the time
Check your understanding
The photo's location is already recorded. Why add the detail or drawing number to its description?
