The problem
After a site visit, the host needs to know what to do before build day: mow the grass, move the cars, mark drains and buried cables, arrange power, warn the neighbors and be in on Thursday morning. Writing that up for each job takes about 40 minutes, and with 12 jobs a month that's 8 hours. A missed instruction can mean a crew standing around.
What the AI does
A general AI assistant can turn rough site notes into a clear letter. Paste your notes and your standard checklist into ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini and ask for a short, friendly letter in plain English with headings for access, ground, power, timings and what the host must do, using only what you gave it. Check every detail against your notes before sending. Safety decisions, such as anchoring, stakes near buried services and wind limits, stay with your own risk assessment and competent people, not the assistant.
A worked example
A marquee firm in Wiltshire does about 12 site visits a month. The owner records notes against a checklist on site, pastes them into an assistant and edits the letter before sending.
Before
About 40 minutes per letter: 12 × 40 = 480 minutes, 8 hours a month
After
About 15 minutes per letter to paste, check and edit: 180 minutes, 3 hours a month
What it's worth
About $166£125€149A$240C$235 a month saved, against nothing to about $27£20€24A$38C$38 for an assistant. That's 5 hours (480 minus 180 minutes) at an assumed $33£25€30A$48C$47 an hour. The free plans of ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini can do this; a paid plan is up to about $27£20€24A$38C$38 a month for one person if you hit usage limits.
How to set it up
- Write your standard checklist once: access width, ground, drains and services, power, parking, neighbors, timings.
- On each site visit, record notes against the checklist, including measurements.
- Paste the notes and checklist, without the host's name or address, into ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini and ask for a plain-English letter with headings.
- Check every measurement, date and instruction against your notes, and add the host's details yourself.
- Send it with the booking confirmation and ask the host to reply to say they've read it.
What goes wrong
- An assistant can add instructions you never gave or drop one that matters. Read it line by line.
- Don't let the letter make safety promises. Anchoring, wind limits and buried services are covered by your risk assessment and the crew lead on the day.
- Hosts' names and addresses are personal data; leave them out of the prompt and add them to the letter afterwards.