As-built documentation for installations

As-built documentation for installations: what you fitted and where

Simple question: an installation you did two years ago fails, and the client calls you. Do you know — without going in blind — which camera you fitted, where the recorder is and where the cable runs? If the answer is “I’ll have to go and look”, you’re losing time and money on every maintenance visit.

The as-built — the record of what was actually installed — is what solves that. Not the plan of what you were going to do, but the one of what you really did. And almost nobody keeps it properly, because doing it with loose photos and memory is torture.

This page explains what a good installation as-built is and how to keep one with no paperwork, from your phone.

What the as-built is and why it pays off

The as-built is the faithful record of the finished installation: what equipment sits at each point, which model, how it’s connected. It sounds like big-project red tape, but for an installer it’s pure self-interest:

• Maintenance with no surprises. You know what’s there and where before leaving home. A fault stops being an exploratory visit.
• Easier extensions. When the client wants two more cameras, you already know how everything is set up.
• A handover that builds trust. A client who receives a clear record of their installation calls you again. Loose WhatsApp photos don’t send the same message.
• Backup if questions come up. There’s a record of what was installed and when.

The problem with how it’s done today

Most people document like this: photos in the camera roll, the odd note on the phone, the project PDF lost in a folder, and everything else in their head. It works for the first month. But two years on, when you really need it, there’s no reconstructing it. The photos don’t say which client they belong to or where they were taken. Memory doesn’t reach that far.

The as-built is only useful if it’s easy to do in the moment and easy to find later. That’s where a tool built around the plan comes in.

How to keep the as-built with PinMy

The idea is simple: every piece of equipment is a pin dropped at its exact point on the plan — or on a photo of the space, or on the map if it’s outdoors — with everything you need to know about it.

• Every point, in its place. The hallway camera is a pin in the hallway, not a loose photo. The recorder, the rack, every access reader: each one fixed where it actually is.
• With its spec sheet. In the pin you leave a photo of the mount and a voice note with the model, the serial number and how it was connected. The voice is transcribed into text, so later you read it and search it without listening to audio.
• Distinguishable at a glance. With category icons, you see instantly what each thing is: cameras, recorders, network points. A plan with thirty pieces of equipment reads clearly.
• Always available. The as-built lives in the cloud, not on a phone that gets lost or replaced. When you come back in two years, it’s still there, just as you left it.

Hand the as-built to the client, no fuss

Here’s the part that sets you apart in the client’s eyes. When you finish, you don’t send them thirty WhatsApp photos: you give them access to view their installation documented, organised on the plan.

And since many clients aren’t technical and won’t install another app, with guest mode they open the file in the browser and view it without creating an account or any hassle. A client who sees their installation properly documented perceives professional work — and that’s what makes them call you again.

What you can do today

Only features that are live on the phone right now:

• Voice, photo, video and text pins on PDF plans, photos and maps.
• Category icons to distinguish equipment types.
• Voice notes transcribed in 20+ languages, searchable.
• Dispute-proof pins with timestamp and author: nobody rewrites the history.
• Guest mode so the client can view the as-built without an account.
• iOS, Android, web, and Chrome extension. Hosted in the EU, GDPR-compliant.

One honest clarification: PinMy doesn’t generate an as-built PDF document for you. What it gives you is the living record — every piece of equipment located, photographed and described on the plan — that you and your client can come back to whenever you need.

Start with your next installation

No need to document the past. Start with the next job: mark each piece of equipment in PinMy as you install it, and by the time you finish you’ll have a real as-built, without spending any extra time.

It’s free to start, no card. Also see how to document a CCTV installation step by step and the page for CCTV, access control and smart home installers.

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