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Inspection and insurance reportsHow does a roofer turn a roof inspection into an insurance photo report?
In the Blue Crane Roofing Division, the roofer opens Insurance report (on site), takes photos and talks while walking the roof, and the app files each photo with the words said around it. It then sums the visit up, titles it, tags it and makes one PDF for the homeowner and the adjuster, kept on the house and the job. Blue Crane Works builds it in Hamilton, Ontario. It does not write estimates in an insurer's own system.
Lifted tabs on the north slope
9:41Counter flashing pulled away at the chimney
9:44Soft decking by the valley
9:47Ceiling stain, back bedroom
9:55
Illustration with sample numbers
What do roofers do on the roof for the report?
Point and talk. Open the report from the job, or from scratch at an address, and the camera opens. Take a photo of the lifted tabs on the north slope and say what you see. Walk to the chimney, take two more, say "flashing pulled away, daylight under the counter flashing." Every photo is kept with the words that were spoken around it, so nobody has to type captions in the truck or remember which picture was which a week later.
If the phone loses signal on the roof, the photos and clips wait on the phone and go up as soon as it is back, even if the app was closed in between.
What is in the finished report?
One file of the location, in order. The app writes a summary of the visit from what was said, gives the report a title, tags it so it can be found again by what was found, and lays out every photo with its words under it. The PDF carries your letterhead. It is filed on the house and on the job, so the next visit, the next claim or the next sale starts with the history in hand.
| Part | Status |
|---|---|
| Photos with the spoken words around each one | Built and running |
| A written summary, a title and tags | Built and running |
| One PDF on your letterhead | Built and running |
| Kept on the house and the job, searchable | Built and running |
| Estimate files in Xactimate or Symbility | Not built. Your estimator still writes those |
| Your insurer's own portal or form | Not built. The PDF goes in as an attachment |
Does the app write the insurance claim for me?
No, and we say so up front. Adjusters and insurers work in their own estimating systems, and every company we talk to does it a little differently. What the app gives you is the evidence, organised: what was seen, where, in whose words, on what date, with the photos to show it. That is the part a roofer loses most often, and the part that decides most arguments. If your company sends a lot of claims and wants the report shaped to one insurer's checklist, that is a build we scope with you in writing.
Who sees the report?
Your office and whoever you send it to. The report lives in your app, under your company, with the rest of the job's files. Crew members see the jobs they are on; customers see what you share with them. Who can open what is a setting per file, not a promise in a brochure.
Is it safe to send a homeowner up for photos?
No, and the app never asks them to. When a homeowner sends a request, the photo tips are ladder-free: from the ground, from a window, the ceiling stain inside. The roof itself is measured from the address and open lidar data, and inspected by your crew, who on an Ontario construction project must hold valid working at heights training when they use fall protection.
See it on a roof you already know
Book a 30-minute walkthrough. Bring the address of a roof you have already done, and we measure it with you so you can judge the number against one you know. Then we walk the material list, the proposal, the dispatch board and the crew app, and you tell us how your company works. You leave with a straight answer about what your own app would take and cost. Prices in Canadian dollars, plus HST.
Book a 30-minute walkthrough Call 905-570-5344