The problem
Development finance drawdowns usually need evidence of progress, and the photos are scattered across phones and WhatsApp groups. If a monthly progress pack takes about 4 hours a site to pull together and you run 2 sites, that is 8 hours a month, and a late pack can mean a late drawdown.
What the AI does
CompanyCam is a job photo app. On its Core plan it lists timestamped photos and videos, project history organized automatically, offline capture, turning job photos into reports and sending clients live job updates. Everyone on site takes progress photos in the app against the right project, and at month end you pick the photos and build the report. The Crew plan adds auto-generated job reports and AI features. Check with your lender or monitoring surveyor what each pack must contain; the app only presents what you capture.
A worked example
A developer in Bristol is turning 2 houses into HMOs with development finance, and the lender's monitoring surveyor wants a progress pack before each monthly drawdown. The developer takes progress photos in CompanyCam Core on each site visit.
Before
About 4 hours a site to collect photos and build each monthly pack: 8 hours a month for 2 sites
After
About 1.5 hours a site to pick photos and build the report in CompanyCam: 3 hours a month
What it's worth
About $266£200€238A$384C$376 a month saved, against a $63£47€56A$90C$88 to $78£59€70A$113C$111 cost. That is 5 hours a month (8 down to 3), valued at $53£40€48A$77C$75 an hour. Core is $63 (about $63£47€56A$90C$88) a month billed annually or $79 (about $78£59€70A$113C$111) monthly for 1 user; a second user is $29 or $34 a month more. Getting drawdowns on time isn't counted.
How to set it up
- Ask your lender or monitoring surveyor exactly what each progress pack must show.
- Start CompanyCam's free trial, create a project for each site and set it up on your phone.
- On every site visit, photograph each area in the app so photos are timestamped and filed by project.
- At month end, pick the photos that show progress against the program and turn them into a report.
- Check the report against your program and cost-to-complete before sending it.
What goes wrong
- Billing is in US dollars, so the sterling cost moves with the exchange rate. The GBP figures on the page are approximate.
- Core includes 1 user with a limit of 2; a site manager and a project manager both taking photos need the second user or Crew.
- Photos can include neighbors, passers-by or tenants' belongings. Frame shots carefully before sharing them outside the business.
- Some payment and invoicing features are limited to US-based companies, so ignore those.