In the new world of mobile device technology, many construction companies have field staff taking pictures of project milestones, safety hazards, and work defects. These photos are taken on smartphones and tablets, a few still use digital cameras, perhaps a few even still have an old Polaroid in use. But what is the “best” way to accomplish this process? There is no simple answer to this question; each company has a unique set of scenarios to factor into their method. 

While team members take photos of the project and place them on the server to find and use later, can another team member find the photo they need quickly or at all? What is the best way to take, sync and archive photos? 

The first iPad pilot project involved two superintendents working in 6 buildings doing kitchen renovations, sometimes involving 30 to 40 units a day. The apps used had to accomplish the following:

• Document the existing conditions prior to the start of work
• Documenting the work put in place
• Document any damage to the unit

To see how the first project used cloud storage apps such as Dropbox to streamline the process of taking and storing project pictures, read the full post on the Construction App Guru blog.


This post is a part of a series by The Construction App Guru who runs a blog which offers mobile technology advice for the construction industry. The author is a Risk Manager for a construction firm based out of Georgia who is on a mission to educate the construction industry about the uses for new technology on projects.