Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Episode 32 - Part 2: Tim Kenny - The basic requirements around Level 3 surveys
63 Plays1 year ago
In part 2 of this episode, we continue our conversation with Tim Kenny focusing on the intricacies of Level 3 surveys. We delve into essential competencies, reporting requirements, and the challenges faced by new surveyors.
Key Points:
Competency and Knowledge Dependency: Importance of having the right technical competencies for Level 3 surveys, particularly in understanding building pathology and defect identification.
Reporting Requirements: Detailed insights into how Level 3 reporting should reflect the thoroughness of the inspection, including using photographs, diagrams, and annotated notes.
Inspection Similarities and Differences: A discussion on how Level 2 and Level 3 inspections are similar yet have distinct reporting and inspection expectations, especially concerning complex properties.
Practical Tools and Equipment: The role of advanced tools like hygrometers and thermometers in identifying moisture problems and how these can be considered in both Level 2 and Level 3 surveys.
Client-centric Reporting: Tailoring the survey report to meet client needs while maintaining rigorous inspection standards to ensure the client understands essential actions despite their initial intentions.
Recommended
Transcript
Requirements and Competencies for Level 3 Surveys
00:00:00
Speaker
In part two with Tim Kenny, we're going to discuss the basic requirements around level three surveys and we'll touch on sort of inspection requirements and reporting requirements around level threes. But the first thing I wanted to ask was how do you decide whether you're able to carry out a level three? So and I'm thinking from the perspective of like competencies and knowledge. Yeah. Yeah. that's things I think the kind of the the the building pathology and the the actual technical competencies in terms of the the prop the building itself and and defects and everything else. My argument would always be, well, if you can do a level two on it, you can do a level three on it. From a ah practical point of view, there's no difference in the level of knowledge you need to have, ah fundamental fundamentally. um To kind of take ah an example, so we talked about the level three, level three, you have to give a bit more information about repairs and how you actually go about repairs and some of the different options and timescales and everything else.
Approaching Level 2 Surveys with Level 3 Mindset
00:00:56
Speaker
To do that, you kind of,
00:00:58
Speaker
You have to do the same thing on a level two, because on a level two, although you may not include that information in the report, you still have to have that in your mind when condition rating it for understanding the severity of it, you have to have the same knowledge. And one of the ways I encourage people to move towards doing level three surveys is to kind of think, okay, well, approach your level twos and go, okay, if I was doing it at level three, would I do anything differently? What else would I do on this level two survey? Because, you know, obviously, we we think about level three surveys as being for older properties, special properties, we we hopefully, hopefully, we're going to see some some guidance and some more information about the definition of a special property.
Special Properties and Retrofit Standards
00:01:40
Speaker
But it's it's there, we do have it now in the in the retrofit standards. and And I always advise people to go and look at those retrofit standards as ah as ah as a template for what we might see in the future for our home survey standards.
00:01:51
Speaker
But they' they've done it anyway, in that, they've got a definition of special properties. And we think, OK, level 3s are for those special properties, listed, old stuff, complex stuff, poor condition stuff. um But actually, there's also a good market in doing level 3s on fairly standard stuff. you know as As we said, a level 3 is not only for old buildings. It doesn't say you can't do it on ah on a relatively modern building. um It might be you do it because a client wants a bit more information because they're planning on doing some work to it. They're planning on doing some some retrofit work or some extension work or or massive renovation.
Market Demand for Detailed Surveys
00:02:24
Speaker
They'll need a bit more detail.
00:02:26
Speaker
um You get some of it, some people will book a level three because they just want the best one that's available. There are people who, when faced with a choice, will walk into the shop and go, okay, I'll have the most expensive one because that's bound to be the best. um but My mum's like this. If she can't choose something, she's got to, she'll go to John Lewis and she'll say, okay, I'll have the most expensive one. And that that that keeps her happy because she can work it out, she can deal with that. But some clients who are the same, and they pick the expensive one. And that that's actually fine. So, you know, you will find yourself doing level three surveys on relatively straightforward modern film. And you can go, okay, well, how would I, you know, what, where, what more am I saying on what would, so if you're approaching a level two, and you're saying, okay, well, what more would I do for a level three, you can start to get a feel for it. But of course, that's why you have to understand what is actually required for a level three.
00:03:18
Speaker
you know And this is this is where you before I try and get across to to students or lead surveyors when I'm teaching them about level 3s. It's all well and good in focusing on that building quality. Make sure you do understand how that building is put together. Make sure you understand how the defects have occurred. Make sure you understand how you fix those defects. But also, you have to understand what you're going to report. Because if you don't understand the difference in the reporting, you're going to be producing at level two or level three and that's that's not satisfactory.
Inspection Requirements and Comparisons
00:03:49
Speaker
I was going to say, shall we touch on then the sort of the inspection requirements around level three um and where they're similar, where they differ? This this is the one where I, I'm going to be honest, i I struggle a little bit because I can't find much difference between the two. um money we have Obviously, we have in the home survey stands, there's a section that covers the differences
00:04:11
Speaker
So you know for a level one, you open one window per elevation. Level two, it's it's one window per elevation plus one of each type. Level three, it's it's all of them. Okay, that's windows. And it's just the opening of the windows. You still inspect all of the windows that are present. You're don't go ah you're not gonna ignore the windows just because you're not opening them. That's quite a small bit. Subfloor voids. It's funny, when I do a teacher session on on retrofit to to some students, and one of the things we talk about is installation of subfloor voids. I get overexcited about subfloor voids. It's one of my favorites of this. But um one of the things, oh well we we we'll just look in the subfloor void a but because we talk about doing a level three. So we'll just look in the subfloor void to decide whether we're going to insulate. How often do we actually get underneath the floor in in ah in most properties? It might be, hi've if I'm optimistic, it's one in 10, realistically.
00:05:05
Speaker
you know unless you're going to get in an aisle set within a cellar a couple of days ago. And that's great. But most suspended timber floors, occasionally you might find a couple of boards under the stairs that will come up or whatever. But 95% of them, you're never looking under that floor. We've got to be honest about that. So the fact that there is a distinction as to whether you go in a subfloor void or not, that's marginal. It's almost confusing that it's there, because we know most subfloor voids are not inspected.
00:05:36
Speaker
you know and And there's, a few like um in in the loft, you a level three, you lift the insulation to check the upper upper side of the what the ceilings are made out of. Level two, you don't. me To be fair, most ceilings can be, ah ceiling construction types can be identified from looking up at the ceiling, you know, 90 times out of 100. But that, it's there. and And there's a few others ones. But I would say that accounts to, what, 15, 20% of the inspection? Everything you're trying to do the same. and The difference is in the length of the ah appointment, the length of the inspection, sorry, appointments are probably the wrong word. but this Yeah, the time. To find things, you're still going to spend them at the same amount of time, I would have thought. I don't book them differently, if I'm honest. no i allow I allow for the same because i't I can't see, if if I know that property is going to take me longer because it's a a complicated property, but it's the same, you know the time taken to to look in some open some windows, the time taken to move some items, and again, you know moving items is ah is a complex issue.
00:06:36
Speaker
um you ah the one The one example I always give is that one level for gardens, for grounds, it says we carry out a thorough inspection. One level it says but we do a comprehensive inspection. Which one do you reckon is which? Yes, good point. Comprehensive it sounds like it would be the the higher, but thorough, you'd expect to cover a similar amount of things I would have thought. sos yeah the the legal definition would be The dictionary definition, I looked these up. and Thorough, or comprehensive is without admission. So comprehensive means everything. Thorough means you'd look at, it's kind of most of it. Thorough is for level three, comprehensive is level two. Oh, okay, interesting. It doesn't make much sense. You know, yeah we we talk about one is ah one is a detailed visual inspection, one is a visual inspection. When I'm standing there looking at a wall,
00:07:31
Speaker
I'm looking at the wall. you know mean i could I can only look at the wall. It's the same inspection. And I think this is, again, we come back to to heart and large. I think we've made a rod for our own backs by trying to distinguish the levels of inspection between these two these two products. Because for me, if if we if we say, okay, a level three is more detailed, and yet in reality, we know that inspection is can't be much more detailed. What we're actually saying to the courts is that if I do a level three, I've got to find a defect. I'll be more likely to find the defect when you're not. So we're saying every time and do do it every with every level two, there's a risk that if you go to court, the judge would say, why didn't you have a level three because you'd have found it? And and they can they'll argue go away you it's more it says in the documents a more detailed investigation, but it's not.
00:08:25
Speaker
You know, that's where we're kind of causing it a problem. We need to look at that in the next in the next version of it.
Tools and Techniques for Thorough Analysis
00:08:31
Speaker
Is there scope? Do you think that it might cover if it doesn't already extra tools that you might use to analyze something further? yeah type yeah wishes test to do for dan or Yeah, well, I think yes, they there there I can. I do kind of say there is ah is a difference, but it's not because of the home survey standards. It's actually because of the joint position statement. So if you don't notice, it's that's that's the stat's the joint situation between the property care association Historic England and the RICS. It's not RICS guidance, but RICS do very specifically say on their website, this is the standard you will be judged for judged against for carrying out any investigation of moisture in ah in ah in a building. it's it's It's designed around traditional buildings, but fundamentally that's what a plot is.
00:09:17
Speaker
um And in that, eat it certainly says that you have to have a a better understanding of how moisture moves through buildings. the The difference is between the way it moves through traditional and modern buildings and yeah this idea of the the great coat versus the anorak that we use to describe breathing buildings and and and kind of dry buildings. um So you should understand more of that. you also says't It in there, it gives a list of some of the different ways of assessing moisture content in moles and some of the some of the different equipment in there. Now, it doesn't say you have to use it, it says you have to have an understanding of it. So you should understand what a gravimetric testing is, that carbide testing is. um you should But it also lists things like hygrometers and the thermometers.
00:10:06
Speaker
And one of the key ways of identifying, for example, differentiating between condensation and a damp problem is looking at relative humidity levels, looking at wall temperatures and using that information to identify problems. So I personally, I use that use those within level three, so I actually use them in level two surveys because my damp meter does both of them. It does all that anyway. And yeah we we do have you know equipment that that does it now. um i might i might I still kind of record some of that information on a level two because it's useful and if if I see a problem I'll still use that information. and But I would say certainly now on ah on a, definitely you should be thinking about it in terms of a traditional building, you know, and as as we define traditional buildings and in terms of a solid wall, breathable, whatever you want to use. Certainly you should be considering those pieces of equipment as this more standard
00:11:04
Speaker
because otherwise, not because you could breach the HCA at home service times, but because you're ignoring the joint position statement. So I think you do have to really bear that in mind. they say Yes, it doesn't say we have to use them, but if you can understand them, the equipment is readily available. You know, I have i have my old one. I can't control my desk. i don't I don't use it anymore, but it's still, I haven't actually put thrown it away yet. but I mean, that one, the first one I got only cost me like 23 quid from from Amazon and it's perfectly functional. um There's no reason not to have them. Obviously the kind of the more the more complex stuff like the drones and and thermal imaging.
00:11:44
Speaker
ah For me, yet they're not a standard part of any if any survey level. I think they're an added extra. and and you know i personally personallyly i don't I don't use drones, I ah use a camera pole and that's been enough for me. But I know a lot of people lot people do use them, a lot of people love them. i but But I have a personal dislike for drones because I think they've killed all YouTube videos ever. because YouTube videos have so many people's drone footage. But anyway, I do accept they have a ah place within within the survey se market. But I think they're not yet at the point where we can say they should be standard. Because I don't think within the industry, there's a level of knowledge to understand what they can tell you and what they can't tell you. And drones have the the limitations, same as any other kind of inspection.
00:12:33
Speaker
yeah but what we don't want to do is ever over promise. you know if someone If you say to a client, i okay, I'm going to do a drone inspection of your roof, in their head, you're going to see every element of that roof and you're going to report on it in the best possible way. They're going to perceive it as if you're climbing up on that roof and and looking at it, aren't they? Which, yeah yeah, they're great, but it's not quite the same thing as that that full level roof inspection. And I always make that point when I talk to people about my my pole camera, you know, that it is something that is <unk>s not, you know, literally within every single survey report, I if i use the pole camera, it will say this is not the same as a full roof level of inspection, you know, it still has limitations, and we need to be clear on that. um Same with thermal imaging, you know, thermal imaging, I think is a
00:13:16
Speaker
a great tool in the right hands. But I think you have to have such a deep understanding of what the technology is telling you. It is not just as simple as going out and buying the attachment for your iPhone and snapping a few pitches and thinking you understand demography. It's a hell of a lot more complex than that. So I think we're away off that, but I can see it happening in in a few years' time anyway. That'd be interesting to see how that changes. My final question, I think, on the the inspection side before we discuss a bit more around reporting requirements is, I don't don't think this is prescribed, but is there a a certain length of time you'd expect or should be at the property for different levels? I was saying that the inspection length should should yeah really be the same for each, but is there a minimum time?
Challenges in Inspections and Scheduling
00:14:01
Speaker
It's as long as it takes. I don't know. um again icar yes but I'm Perhaps.
00:14:07
Speaker
I'm trying to put this in the right way. So I'm an independent. I work for myself. I've set my own and diary. i don't do I do three surveys a week. and i don't I don't do high volume. so i again i'm And i'm again, I'm not going to be critical of those guys that do corporate server function. there there' There's good reason for the way they work. And and I'm not going to say that they're wrong. um But I do, for me, I can see massive difficulties even accurately predicting how long an inspection is going to take and I can't get to grips because okay well I've booked in this job and then I know I've got two hours and I've got to be at that other job in in two and a half hours and I know it's half an hour and I've got to get keys. You know that to me doesn't work because you don't know what's going to be there until you get
00:14:52
Speaker
you know how long is it going to take to follow that trail? I mean, you perhaps could be a little bit more, you know, what more laxity when it comes to a level three, because there is some requirement to move objects. So that might take a lot of moves, the objects and put them back, you know, discussions with an owner about them moving the objects and putting them back. These things all take time and you don't know how long they're going to take consider until you physically get there. um you know So i i kind of I struggle with this concept of setting a ah time limit on anything. I mean, ah i was i willy if I was thinking about how long it takes me to do surveys recently. And and I reckon when I first started, I amim i kind of aimed to get really good at doing them quickly and and trying to see how we get quicker and quicker at doing them.
00:15:36
Speaker
And then I kind of maybe, I maybe reached a peak. I think I'm just dropping down the other side. and It seems to be every day. It's just, I'm not that old. I'm, you know, I'm still physically fit and active. So it's not a a direct decrepitude problem. I just, intent low you tend to get more indulged in it. and And we talked about yeah technology. These things take a little bit longer. You know, every time I'm taking a reading, I'm thinking about the relative humidity, wall temperatures and and bits and pieces like that. So I'm considering more information. So it is it is slowing down. um It's not necessarily a bad thing. You know, these properties do take attention. and and And again, one of the things I always aim to do is provide the best possible level that I can do for what I'm doing on the property that's in front of me. And that takes the time it takes.
00:16:20
Speaker
Awesome. I have one question actually that's popped into my head coming back to to something we touched on at the beginning of this topic, this particular topic before we go into the reporting requirements was. There have been some, um I suppose, cases recently where potentially people or surveyors who are new newer to the industry have maybe been forced to go out and do level threes that they yeah then maybe they haven't got the experience at that point to do. um I suppose so around what we were discussing, what then determines when you're you're able to do a level two or a level three? Because I suppose we're we're saying that they're similar in terms of um yeah what you need to know to be able to do an inspection. Yeah, and and this this this is this is this is the challenge. so's For me, it's not the survey level, it's the property. you know that's That's what it comes down to. Again, we can talk about the the reporter requirements and I'm saying what to report, you know, and how and how to report. And and really, that's why I tend to focus on because, you know, that's a guy I teach, I teach, you know, sort of a six hour, do it three days every two to three hours or or one six hour. And that's, you know, you can't cover build all the building technology you need of would need to know in six hours.
Competency and Property Type Considerations
00:17:31
Speaker
I'm not entirely sure I know. I never need to know. But, um you know, but actually, what's
00:17:38
Speaker
the the knowledge around how to report. So I keep telling that that's as equally important, you know. And I think that's what we we need to kind of impart on students. But I'd say because you should, if you can do a level two, if you can inspect and understand level two, you can do a level three on that that same building. Obviously, if you're drifting, if you can't do a level two on it, you can't do a level three on it, you know. And and and unfortunately, we're still at the, I say unfortunately, unfortunately, we we're kind of a self-regulating profession in the sense that we as if individuals or or employers determine whether we are competent to do something.
00:18:14
Speaker
um You know, and, you know, we've had, you know, people say, Oh, you couldn't, you don't, maybe you can't do a level three interview. If you're absolutely rich, you have to be Emrix and this whole thing, but actually that doesn't work because just because you're Emrix doesn't mean you can do level three surveys because you haven't had the experience. So that we don't have, any objective measure of what makes somebody competent do a level three survey. I think I feel maybe there should be more around that, with more regulation, more kind of certification of that. you know Obviously, we have the valuables registration scheme, which theoretically determines whether you're competent, although there was a case recently where a guy just ticked the bottle. So it's not foolproof. At least that that exists. We don't have the same thing on condition-based surveys.
Regulation and Certification Needs
00:19:01
Speaker
There isn't external checking.
00:19:03
Speaker
ah It's a good way of looking at it though, if you if if you couldn't do a level two on that property in terms of the knowledge of the building pathology and and and so on, then then but by definition, it gives you the answer for a level three. yeah i you You then get into all, lot are you competent to do a level two? that's a you know but Again, way when you when you talk want to talk about about survey levels, one of the the funny things about the way the home survey standards are written, ah It says that we have ah have a level one, and it says that's that's itba says the level one is less detailed than the other two. It says a level two is is more detailed than a level one and less detailed than a level three, and a level three is more detailed than the other two.
00:19:39
Speaker
That's a circle. because they not don't You don't have this fixed basic level. So I actually make the argument that unless you have started doing level one surveys, you can't determine whether what's what more you need to do on a level two and a level three. You have to do a level, I've never done a level one survey. So technically, I'm not competent to do level two surveys if you want to take a kind of ah an odd view on it. So yeah, it's a little bit of a ah mess. Again, we've got, We've got a couple of good documents out there that are setting a precedent for determining mortes what is competent. So the joint position statement, for example, and and to a lesser extent, the the retrofit standards are better documents but for expressing more competency means. And again,
00:20:25
Speaker
Rumor is that we'll see this guidance document on special properties will have a little bit, it's a bit more based around the the joint position statement. And we'll have a little bit more of a framework as to what you would need to know to be competent. and Interesting. Yeah, I think that's going to be a challenge to write, because it's a very, very broad, broad subject. I mean, I'm keen to kind of see it when it when it happened. But ah you know, I would like to see that, you know, I'd like to see a little bit more definition of what a competence of AI really is. So we can get that definition. I think it's useful for both employers and employees, or if you're on your own, because you you can you've got something to judge against whether you're being asked to do the right thing. But um yeah should we should we touch then on the reporting requirements around level three? and
00:21:11
Speaker
and sort of the ways detail can be added into reports and stuff like that. Yeah. The starting point on a level three reporting requirement is, again, home survey standards. It says that the report should reflect the detail of the inspection.
Detail in Reports: Balancing Information
00:21:27
Speaker
That's kind of that. That's the first thing. Flooring that, of course, is we know that a level two inspection is pretty much the same as a level three. So based on that, what you write in a level two is exactly the same as what you write in a level three. i I don't, but so that's a kind of ah a fairly sort of maybe slightly facetious and view on it, but that that's kind of what the document says. So I can can certainly make that point that your level two should be the same as level three so um for most of the property. Now, of course, there's there it does go a little bit further and it gives you a little bit more ah bit more scope within there to write a little bit, to to write more. you know I think the way to view the document is it's not
00:22:07
Speaker
It's maybe not an ideal way, but I think the only way you can do it is it's not there to set, give you rigorous examples, it's to set ah an idea or a tone for your surveys. you know I think that that I think is is perhaps more of an approach to take. um But I think we know they need to be detailed. The biggest mistake I think a lot of people do make with a survey is misunderstanding what detail actually means. They think, okay, well, if I just throw everything in, then that's a detailed survey, right? Because I've thrown everything I know about this into it. ah You know, I've seen examples where people have put in, you know, everything they know about the entire history of cavity wall construction. That's great. You've got a really good history of cavity wall construction. But if your client wanted to know that, we've got Wikipedia. I mean, it's not, it's not
00:23:02
Speaker
necessary for them to understand you know how these these systems develop. They're not necessary to understand all of the different materials that have ever been used in the past for each different type of construction. They want to know about the materials that are present in their property. you know It has to be relevant. The phrase I use, which I have stolen from somewhere else, is more is not better, better is better. you know Don't just keep churning in detail after detail after detail. If it doesn't have a purpose for your client, What's, what's, what's it there for? You know, when it's, I think what you put you said earlier on customer experience, if it it's, it might feel like you're offering more value through more information, but actually it's more of a headache to read through. um And it's not getting to the point. Yeah. And how many suppliers complain about the fact that clients don't read the report again, much. We've had the people throwing up because we've not read their terms. We've had the people phone up because they've not read the report. And they say, do you, are you why didn't you mention this thing? Like look at page 57 it's, it's in there.
00:24:02
Speaker
um you know and yeah we thought we probably you knowve I had an example where a friend of mine based up in in Bristol Way, miles away from me, so you know not not not my patch, couldn't make a direct recommendation, so they found Ace of Ayer locally, and it was even an old property, quite quite a small but 1860, 1870, converted shop, I think. and And it had some complex issues for it. And they'd obviously had a a building survey done. It was under the old, probably HCS, the building survey. It sent it to me to read through. I read it. i and I couldn't tell you whether that was a good building or a bad building ah from a point of view. yeah it had equalla All the information was there, and there was there were some some some good technical information. But I couldn't make head nor tail as to what
00:24:56
Speaker
they were supposed to do with that information. You know, and I've been doing my job long enough. I understand, you know, what's there, but not doing this, you know, what what repair what do I go out and actually action, how do I resolve any of this, you know? ah question A question I've got actually from that is, and it comes back to what does the client want. Do you write the report from the perspective of, you know, you wanted this level of survey in terms of detail, so I'm i'm providing a report that, um answers that in terms of what I've seen on the investigation. Or do you only report from the perspective of what the client wants to potentially do, for example, with the property? So if there's someone that's thinking of doing an overhaul, do you do you do you admit quite a bit of detail? You mentioned this about the outbuildings because they're possibly ripping out the kitchen and the upstairs and taking a wall out, or do you still need to put a certain de detail in? Yeah, that's always a tough one, isn't it? Because, you know, much as they might have expressed an intention to you,
00:25:54
Speaker
that intention may change, you know, and that's the thing we might, you might say, okay might say oh, yeah, we're going to rip that kitchen out. We're going to do all of this. We're going to do all of that. And then between, you know, between moving in and, or, you know, they might buy the house and then they move in and, you know, somebody's lost the job or, you know, the money they thought was going to come through, didn't come through. And therefore they don't have the money. So they're going to still have to live with that kitchen. If it's got defects, they're still going to be coming to you to say there's defects with it. So it is a tough one. I think we we we do need to obviously make whatever we can, to talk to our clients, understand their needs, understand their plans. But we can't attempt that to exclude something. Unless we go again, we come back to it. Is it written in my terms? Yeah. If they want an extension, for example, where they know they're going to knock down that conservatory and they've written to you saying, we're going to knock the conservatory down, please exclude that conservatory from the inspection.
00:26:46
Speaker
um yeah There's other conversations whether you drop your price for that, and personally I wouldn't. But if they want to exclud it excluded, fine, we can we can do that. We can write that in the terms. We can very clearly specify that. And and I can ignore that physically separate element of it. But again, personally, I'd still be kind of... If though I saw particular significant details, I might certainly make a note of them. So we do have to be cautious with that idea of of tailoring it too much to the client. Now, of course, we can we can tailor up.
00:27:18
Speaker
Tailoring up is is absolutely fine. Tailoring down is dangerous, but tailoring up, you know, they say ah they've got, ah again, as long as you've got the competency to do it, if they say, okay, we want additional information about this element, or we want to know what we can do with this, or, you know, whatever it may well be, and the classic one is, okay, well, can we can we knock down the wall between the kitchen and the dining room? And you know, what's your opinion on that? And they want specific detail. you know certainly you're recording whether it's a stud wall or a makeshift wall anyway but they want that explained a little bit more detail but that certainly is a you know because we can go up but i'm more reluctant to come down i get that um is there anything before we move on to our final topic around like sort of added detail in in number three reports is there anything else that you'd like to touch on around i suppose the sort of key difference on level two still level threes oh what the one big advice i i'll leave the one i kind of
00:28:07
Speaker
bit of advice I tend to give everybody on this is that remember that the detail you include in a report doesn't just have to be words.
Enhancing Reports with Visual Aids
00:28:14
Speaker
You know, I'm, we live in a very visual age now, everybody has, you know, everyone has a phone to hand with them all of the time now with pictures are are really key. And certainly, I think we should be And pictures, for me, should be part of every single level of Sarah Berry Report. It's not a a strict requirement. And some people say that photographs in Level 3, no photographs in Level 2, or more photos in Level 2 than in Level 3. Certainly, I would say that
00:28:42
Speaker
annotating photographs is a very beneficial thing to into ah add into a level three survey. You know, again, you should have the technical equipment to be able to just draw on a photograph, whether you're just using, you know, MS Paint will do it. There's other packages that are available that can can be really helpful to explain things to a cartoon and take credit off. The other big and useful thing to include is diagrams, you know technical diagrams that that that really give it give it a much better explanation of a construction type. um Marked up floor plans are really useful. you know I used the example of a property which has got, I think, four or five different wall constructions. So I used within that i that where each wall type is color coded with a little key that explains what they are. Now, if I wanted to explain all of that,
00:29:27
Speaker
in words, that's a ah big old chunk of text. and And it's quite, you know, you can't use your standard text for, you know, detailing which at which walls which. And again, that's important for us aren't because they might be playing or doing work to it or retrofitting or whatever. um So they need to know it, you need to explain it, but explain it in a diagram, make it yeah easy. Go ahead. Yeah, I can see on that floor plan, I can go and I can touch that wall. I know which wall that one is. and I know which wall that one is. You know, think around just chucking in 10,000 words on every element. it' and It's not going to help anybody. No, and I agree. I think from from a customer experience perspective, it's, um and far as you say, far easier to visually see something in a second rather than try and um understand what's been described to you. yeah And possibly from your own benefit, you're going to have fewer follow-up questions when people are trying to understand where so where something is you're talking about when they get to see an annotated picture. yeah like like My favorite
00:30:22
Speaker
Email, the the favorite emails I ever get from clients, my favorite kind of response from clients, they are, thank you, no questions. If I get that, I'm a happy man. I'm available availabl able to talk to my clients now and I'll chat to them for hours about whatever's going on. But if they send me an email saying, thank you, no questions, that's a good day as far as I'm concerned. Yeah. Yeah. Been good before. Nice. I think that rounds us off nicely. Stay tuned in for topic three, where we'll be discussing added detail in level threes.