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Inspection

Property inspection with photo and coordinate, even offline

How to log each room of an inspection with a photo and the position, with no signal needed, and why that matters when the report is questioned months later.

September 28, 20263 min read

A property inspection produces two things that have to survive a difficult conversation months later: what was seen and where it was seen. A notebook handles the first and never the second. “Crack in the kitchen wall” does not say which kitchen, in which of the twelve units inspected that afternoon.

One note per room, with the position attached on its own

In Asterisco, every note carries the coordinate of where it was written. It is not an approximate position for the city: it is the position the device recorded at the moment you wrote, with the GPS’s own margin of precision alongside it, so you know how far to trust it. Writing “crack above the sink” inside the unit attaches that automatically, with no “save location” button to remember.

A photo attached to the same note (the crack, the water meter, the state of the floor) stays pinned to the same point. When the report is reviewed, “where exactly was this seen?” is already answered inside the note.

A list of nine notes in the Afternoon inspections folder, each with the street and house numberOne note opened, showing its coordinate, accuracy margin, street address, a map and the time it was written
An afternoon of inspections on the phone: the folder with its notes (left) and one note opened (right), with the coordinate, the GPS accuracy margin, the street address and the time it was written. Sample data.

One convention helps: the property and the room at the start of the title, as in “Unit 71 · bedroom window”. The list reads at a glance, and the address under each note comes from the device, with no typing.

No signal in the building, no problem

Buildings under construction and basements are where signal fails, and also where inspections happen. Asterisco writes the note, attaches the photo and keeps it all on the device. Syncing to your other devices happens afterward, on its own, once the connection returns. Nothing blocks on missing signal while you write. Inside a basement the GPS may be less accurate or find no satellites at all, which is why the accuracy margin sits next to the coordinate: the text about the room, “Unit 71 · bedroom window”, is what identifies the place, and the coordinate gets you to the right building.

Finding it again

Months later, back in the same neighborhood for another inspection, Radar shows what was written nearby, including the old inspection if it is relevant. There is no folder to remember.

When the report has to be written, the same notes are on your computer. Sign in to the portal, open the afternoon’s folder, and each note sits on the map where it was written, with its text beside it.

The Asterisco portal in a browser: a map of Vila Madalena with the inspection notes and, beside it, the note Unit 32 · kitchen opened
In the portal, the same afternoon on the map. The open note is the kitchen of unit 32, with its address, coordinate and folder. Sample data.

For a team of inspectors, Grupo organizes the same workflow with an administrator: invite whoever goes out to the field, see everyone’s inspections, and remove someone who leaves the team without losing what was already logged.

Keep reading

Guide

Notes app with location: what to look for

Six questions and a ten-minute test for choosing a notes app with location: what it stores, whether it works offline and where your coordinates go.

Door-to-door fieldwork as a team, with Grupo

How a team organizes door-to-door canvassing with no signal, without losing track of who covered which street and without an administrator reading what is not theirs.