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Project manager: daily site capture

You're on site, in a stairwell with no signal, and you need to log what you just saw before you forget it. Capture has to take seconds and it has to work offline. Everything else can wait until you're back at the site office.

This walkthrough is the mobile day.

The shape of it​

1. Prepare before you lose signal​

Do this at the site office, on wifi, before you walk.

  1. Open the project on the mobile app.
  2. Download the zones you'll be working in for offline use.
  3. Download the drawings you'll pin against.
  4. Download any documents you'll need to consult.

Result: the zones, drawings and documents are cached on the device. See Working offline for what's available offline and what isn't.

tip

Download the zone, not the whole project. A basement level plus its drawings is a fast download; an entire residential programme is not, and you're standing at the door.

2. Start with Today​

Today is the entry point. It answers what needs me right now without you filtering anything.

SectionWhat it shows
OverdueIssues past their due date
Due todayWhat's due before you go home
Stats summaryOpen count, overdue, overdue soon, due today, overall progression, average completion time
Recent activityWhat changed on the project since you last looked

My tasks narrows it further to what's assigned to you — your issues, ordered by due date, plus your checklists that are not started or in progress.

See Today and My tasks.

3. Capture as you walk​

For each defect:

  1. Create the issue from the mobile capture screen.
  2. Take the photo. Photos are compressed on the device, so a full day of capture doesn't fill the phone.
  3. Set the zone — it's already downloaded, so it's a picker, not a search.
  4. Pin it on the drawing if you're working from plans.
  5. Set the company and the trade. Title suggestions and trades are cached offline, so these work with no signal.
  6. Set a due date.

Result: the issue is saved locally and queued. A pending marker shows it hasn't reached the server yet.

note

Photos captured offline are stored in durable storage, not the cache. They're the one thing on the device that can't be re-downloaded, so they're never swept by cleanup — they survive until they've uploaded.

4. Work your list​

You don't only create. Through the day you're also closing things out:

All of it works offline and queues the same way.

5. Sync when you're back​

Sync is automatic. When the device has a confirmed connection, the queue flushes.

  • The sync status indicator shows where things stand.
  • Photos upload separately from the issues themselves and retry on their own schedule.
  • If a photo upload fails repeatedly you'll see a failure banner rather than a silent loss.
caution

Don't uninstall the app or clear its storage while items are still pending. Queued issues and offline-captured photos live on the device until they upload — that's what makes them survive a dead network, but it also means they're only on that phone.

Builddar deliberately waits for a confirmed connection before declaring itself online. Turning airplane mode off reports a connection the instant the radio comes up, seconds before the network can actually carry a request — syncing on that first signal is how you get a screen full of errors.

6. Stay informed without being buried​

Set up push notifications and tune notification settings so you're told about what's assigned to you and what's escalating — not about every comment on every issue.

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