The problem
On a bathroom refit survey your hands are full: tape measure, torch, phone for photos. Notes end up scribbled or half-remembered, and a forgotten trap, valve or length of waste pipe means a second merchant run on day one. At 4 surveys a month, 30 minutes typing up each one is 2 hours, and if half the jobs need an extra 1-hour merchant run, that's another 2 hours.
What the AI does
ChatGPT Voice lets you talk to it hands-free while you walk the room. Tell it at the start to ask about anything a materials list needs that you haven't mentioned, such as the waste route or whether valves are being replaced, then say what you see and measure. Voice works within a chat, so when you hang up the transcript is there, and you type one request: turn this into a materials list and a short scope of works for the quote. Voice is on every ChatGPT plan; Free access is limited, and Go (about $9£7€8A$13C$13 a month) gives 3 hours of Live voice in a rolling 24 hours.
A worked example
A two-person plumbing firm in Leicester does about 4 bathroom refit surveys a month. The owner opens ChatGPT Voice on the phone, keeps it in a top pocket and talks through each room, then asks for a materials list and scope in the same chat.
Before
2 hours a month typing up survey notes, plus about 2 extra merchant runs a month for forgotten parts
After
About 30 minutes a month checking lists, and about 1 extra merchant run a month
What it's worth
About $133£100€119A$192C$188 a month in time saved, against about $9£7€8A$13C$13 for ChatGPT Go. Survey admin and extra merchant runs drop from about 4 hours a month to about 1.5 hours, and 2.5 hours at an assumed $53£40€48A$77C$75 an hour is $133£100€119A$192C$188.
How to set it up
- Install the ChatGPT app and choose Go (€8, about $9£7€8A$13C$13 a month) so voice lasts through several surveys a day; Free voice access is limited.
- Start a new chat for each survey, tap the voice icon and begin with: 'I'm surveying a bathroom for a refit. Ask me about anything a materials list needs that I haven't mentioned.'
- Walk the room and talk: sizes, pipe runs, what stays, what goes, and the customer's choices. Interrupt it whenever you need to.
- End the voice conversation, then type in the same chat: 'Turn this into a materials list grouped by plumbing, waste, fittings and sundries, plus a short scope of works.'
- Check every size and quantity against your own measurements and photos before you order or quote.
What goes wrong
- OpenAI says voice transcripts are not word-for-word records, and an extractor fan or radio makes mishearing more likely. A 15 mm heard as 50 mm is easy to miss, so check every size.
- Free voice is limited and can run out mid-survey. Go gives 3 hours of Live voice in a rolling 24 hours; Plus (€23, about $27£20€24A$38C$38 a month) also gives 3 hours, with a stronger voice model.
- Go and Plus are personal plans, and chats may be used to improve OpenAI's models unless you turn off 'Improve the model for everyone' in Data Controls. Describe the room, not the customer: leave out names and addresses.
- It can suggest typical items, but it doesn't know your merchant's stock codes or prices. Price the list yourself.