Photo standards for subcontractors: what the trades must photograph, name and upload
Friday's plumbing upload has fifty photographs named with phone numbers. Nobody can tell which unit they show or whether the images belong to the required review stage. The trade thought 'send progress photos' was a complete instruction.
Agree a short photographic standard with each trade before its work starts. Specify the subjects, stages, location labels, upload destination, timing and review owner. Fit those requirements to the actual contract and inspection process. The aim is a usable record, rather than a large weekly folder that someone must decipher after the work is concealed.
Make the standard testable
- Define the required subjects. Identify the trade's first installation, relevant before-cover stages, completed areas and discovered damage. Ask the technical reviewer which photographs are useful and what separate inspections or test records remain necessary. Do not create a generic list that implies every hidden condition can be verified in a photograph.
- Show the naming and location. Give a worked example using the job's room or grid code, subject, item reference and stage. Retain original files while assigning useful labels in the repository. Explain how to record a subject that spans several locations and how to flag an uncertain location instead of guessing.
- Agree the transfer and response. Name the trade's recorder, backup, approved destination and actual due point. A before-cover record needs review at its required stage, not automatically at Friday's upload. Identify who checks completeness, who answers the trade and how a failed upload or inaccessible area is reported.
- Check an early sample. Review a small initial set with the trade while correction is easy. Confirm that files open, locations match and stages are recognizable. Keep missing or unsuitable images on a follow-up list with an owner; obtain the appropriate review of any stage already concealed.
Keep payment questions separate from the completeness check. If photographs form part of an agreed pay-application requirement, use the actual commercial process and qualified review for a missing record. Do not invent an automatic withholding rule in the photo standard. Apply the project's permissions and privacy arrangements to both capture and sharing, especially in occupied units.
Common mistakes
- Asking for more photographs without stating their subjects or review stage.
- Waiting for a weekly upload after a required before-cover review.
- Treating missing images as an automatic deduction or a gauge image as a complete test report.
Checklist
Put this in the start-up package
- Trade-specific subjects and required stages.
- Location and file-label example.
- Recorder, backup and approved destination.
- Due points, reviewer and response route.
- Sample check and missing-record follow-up.
Check your understanding
Is 'upload every Friday' sufficient for before-cover photographs?
