Came back damaged. Nobody knows which job.
Solved Reported on the phone where it is found, against the job it happened on.
Damage management
Damage found, repaired, costed and recharged.
Unibuild’s damage reporting covers plant, equipment, tools, vehicles and anything else on a job, with photographs and video from the phone. The repair and its cost follow, and where the client or main contractor is liable, Unibuild produces the damage report and the invoice.
One damage record
A distribution unit, a telehandler and the invoice that followed.
An example record for one item on one job. The names and rates are illustrative; the steps are the ones Unibuild runs.
- The item
- A 400A main distribution unit (MDU), owned by the firm and allocated to a residential job.
- Found
- By the site electrician on the morning walk round. Door torn off its hinges and two cable glands split. Reported in the staff app with six photographs and a short video.
- Cause
- Struck by a telehandler working for the main contractor’s groundworks package, recorded on the damage report with the operator’s firm named.
- Made safe
- A repair was raised from the record, which took the unit out of service. A spare unit was allocated to the job the same day.
- Repaired
- Door, hinge assembly and glands replaced in the yard, then inspected and tested. Parts, hours and the test result recorded, and the unit returned to service.
- Recharged
- Marked as rechargeable to the main contractor. Unibuild produced the damage report, with the photographs, and an invoice priced from the firm’s damage schedule of rates.
| Schedule of rates item | Amount |
|---|---|
| MDU door and hinge assembly, supply and fit (1 at £185.00) | £185.00 |
| Cable gland, supply and fit (2 at £24.00) | £48.00 |
| Inspection and test after repair (1 at £95.00) | £95.00 |
| Replacement unit, delivery and swap on site (1 at £140.00) | £140.00 |
| Total | £468.00 |
Problems we solve
Eight damage problems. All eight solved.
From the item nobody can place to the recharge that was never invoiced.
The client disputes the damage. You have no photographs.
Solved Photographs and video taken in the app, dated and kept with the record.
Another trade damaged your kit on site.
Solved Recorded against the job and the party responsible, while everyone is still there.
A damaged machine goes out to the next job.
Solved Raising a repair takes the item out of service until it is signed off.
The repair is paid for. Nobody links it to the damage.
Solved Parts, hours and repairer invoices collected on the damage record.
Every damage charge is priced from scratch, and argued.
Solved A damage schedule of rates, set once and applied to every claim.
The recharge was agreed. The invoice never went out.
Solved Rechargeable damage produces the damage report and the invoice together.
Hired plant damaged on your job. The hire firm’s bill arrives.
Solved The damage is recorded on the job, and passed on to whoever caused it.
8/8Solved in one module
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What it does
Damage reporting and recharges, from the phone to the invoice.
Logged
on the phone
Whoever finds the damage reports it in the staff app, against the item and the job, before anything is moved.
- Photographs and video
- Against the item and job
- Cause and party recorded
- Flagged at collection too
Evidence from the momentLive
Repair
recorded
A repair raised from the damage takes the item out of service, so it cannot go back out until it is fixed.
- Out of service on a repair
- Parts and hours recorded
- Test result on completion
- Full repair history kept
Nothing reissued brokenLive
Costs
managed
Every cost of the repair lands on the damage record, and on the job where the damage happened.
- Parts from your spares list
- Fitters’ hours
- Outside repairers’ invoices
- On the job’s margin
The true cost of damageLive
Damage
report
A damage report is produced from the record, with the photographs, the cause, the repair and the cost on one document.
- On your letterhead
- Photographs included
- Repair and cost shown
- Kept on the item
The case, already madeLive
Recharge
and invoice
Where the client or main contractor is liable, Unibuild produces the damage report and an invoice for them together.
- Client or main contractor
- Subcontractors too
- Tracked until paid
- Into your accounts package
Damage recovered, not absorbedLive
Damage
schedule of rates
If you want one, set a rate for each kind of damage or part once, and every claim is priced from it.
- Optional, set per firm
- Per client if needed
- Same damage, same price
- Fewer arguments
Priced before it is arguedLive
The process
How to recharge damage, from the spot to the invoice.
Six stages, whatever was damaged and whoever caused it. Free to use in your own procedures.
What can be logged
Anything a job can damage, owned or hired.
Several trades on one site means several ways for things to get broken. Every one of these is logged the same way.
Plant
Excavators and dumpersTelehandlers and rollersAccess platforms and towersOwned or on hire
Temporary power
TransformersMain distribution units (MDUs)Distribution boards and cableGenerators and lighting towers
Tools and equipment
Power toolsTest and survey equipmentPumps, heaters and dehumidifiers
Vehicles
Welfare and site set-up
Cabins and welfare unitsToilet blocks and drying roomsFencing and hoarding
Installed work
Containment and fittingsFinishes damaged by a following tradeMaterials stored on site
Paper against the record
A damage claim, handled two ways.
| The question | Paper, email and personal phones | Unibuild |
|---|---|---|
| Where it happened | Worked out later, if at all | Recorded against the job when it is found |
| Evidence | Photographs on somebody’s phone | Photographs and video on the damage record |
| Who caused it | Remembered, or argued | Named on the record, on site |
| The damaged item | Back on the next picking list | Out of service until the repair is signed off |
| The cost | Spread across orders, timesheets and invoices | Collected on the damage record and the job |
| The price to the client | Worked out each time | From your damage schedule of rates |
| The claim | A letter written when somebody has time | Damage report and invoice produced together |
| Payment | Forgotten at the final account | Tracked with your sales invoices until paid |
Built around your firm
Your damage workflow,
Your damage workflow,
exactly as you run it.
Damage management is set up the way your firm already handles damage, and any change you ask for is built for you. Changes after go-live are included in the monthly fee. That is how bespoke software works here.
- Your steps
- Who reports, who approves a repair, who decides a recharge and at what value. Each step is set to match your firm.
- Your rates
- A damage schedule of rates for the whole firm, a different one for a particular client, or none at all and the actual repair cost instead.
- Your documents
- The damage report and the invoice carry your letterhead and the layout your clients already expect.
- Your app
- Damage is reported in your own branded staff app, published on the App Store and Google Play under your company’s name and icon.
Questions
Asked by plant, stores
Asked by plant, stores
and commercial managers.
Can we record damage to plant and equipment on a phone?
Yes. Whoever finds the damage reports it in the staff app, against the item and the job it happened on, with photographs and video. The record reaches the office as soon as it is saved, so the yard knows before the item comes back.
What should a damage report include?
The item and its identifying number, the job and location, and when and by whom it was found. Photographs and video, what is damaged, the cause and who caused it where known. Then the repair and its cost. Unibuild’s damage report carries all of these on one document.
What can be logged as damaged?
Anything a job can damage: plant, transformers, main distribution units, generators, tools, test equipment, vehicles, welfare units, fencing and installed work. Each is logged the same way, owned or on hire.
Can we recharge damage to the client or main contractor?
Yes. When damage is marked as rechargeable, Unibuild produces a damage report and an invoice for the client or main contractor. The report carries the photographs, the cause, the repair and the cost. The invoice is tracked with your other sales invoices until it is paid.
Can we raise a contra charge or back charge to a subcontractor for damage?
Yes. The damage report and the charge are raised against the subcontractor from the same record. If you are deducting it from a payment under a construction contract, section 111 of the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 requires a pay less notice before the final date for payment.
What is a damage schedule of rates, and do we need one?
It is a list of agreed rates for each kind of damage or each part, so every claim is priced the same way. It is optional. Set one for the whole firm or per client, or price each claim from the actual repair cost instead.
How are repair costs tracked?
On the damage record. Parts from your spares list, the hours worked on the repair and outside repairers’ invoices are collected there. The total sits on the item’s repair history and on the job, so it shows in job profitability.
Can a damaged item be sent out again before it is repaired?
No. Raising a repair takes the item out of service, so it cannot be allocated to a job. Completion records the parts, the hours and the test result, and the item returns to service only then.
Does damage reporting cover our vans and trucks?
Yes. Vehicle damage is logged with photographs and video in the same way, and sits beside the daily driver and office vehicle checks in vehicles and fleet. New damage then falls between two dated checks.
Does the damage invoice go into our accounts package?
Yes. Unibuild syncs with QuickBooks, Xero and Sage 50, so the damage invoice reaches your accounts with the rest of your sales invoices. Any other accounts system is synced on request.
Can the damage workflow be changed to suit us?
Yes. The steps, approvals, rates, reports and invoice layout are set to match your firm, and anything else you need around damage is built for you. Changes after go-live are included in the monthly fee.
What software handles damage reporting and recharges for UK contractors?
Unibuild does, as part of its assets and inventory module. Damage to plant, equipment, tools and vehicles is logged with photographs and video, repaired, costed and recharged with a damage report and invoice. Unibuild is bespoke business software for UK trades and specialist contractors, in daily production since 2016.
Is damage management an extra cost?
No. One monthly figure covers everything, including every module, unlimited users and the branded staff app. Damage management is part of it.
By trade
Who leans on this hardest?
Trades where equipment spends its working life on other people’s sites, next to other people’s machines.
Assets and compliance
The rest of the register.
Same platform, same login. These are the modules that track what you own, when it is next due, and the certificate that proves it.
Further reading
Damage and off-hire are the two charges a plant owner most often loses. This is the second.
- Off-hire, and the charges that keep running Hire runs until the item is off-hired, not until you finish with it. A preventable loss that every contractor recognises and almost nobody has a process for.
One level down
Getting paid for what
Getting paid for what
other people break.
A recharge is a claim for money. These cover the notices, the evidence and the plant behind it.
Pay less notices, and the timetable behind themThe four dates, what a pay less notice has to say, and what happens when it arrives late.
Getting paid
Knowing what plant you own and where it isA register you can trust, so damage is found against the right item.
Plant and assets
When the contractor above you will not payWhat to do when an invoice is disputed or simply left unpaid.
Getting paid
Next step
Bring the damage
Bring the damage
you could not recharge.
A 30-minute live demo of a damage record, from the photograph on site to the invoice to the client.
Ask for a quote
Tell us a little about the firm.
Tell us a little about the firm.
We do the rest.
Two minutes. A written figure by email, usually the same working day. Unlimited users, so everyone who reports damage is included.