Documenting site progress with 360° photos and SiteWalk

Introduction

Once work has been covered up, it can be difficult to confirm what was installed or share that information with others. As a construction manager, you can use 360-degree photos and SiteWalk to create a visual record of a location before work areas are closed off. This makes it easy to review the documentation later, compare it to the BIM model, create tasks from the images, and share the recorded view with colleagues or owners without having to visit the site.

The challenge

Once a wall is closed or a slab is poured, you cannot see what was built underneath or behind it. Inspections of hidden installations may date back weeks, and the photos end up scattered across the mobile devices of different site workers. These photos are mixed in with dozens of similar-looking images that are not tied to a particular location.

When an issue is reported later, you are digging through a camera roll for the right photo, describing in words which wall or which floor it was. If you are still not completely sure, you ask contractors to open something back up just to check.

A building owner or stakeholder who is not regularly on site has limited visibility into how construction progresses, and discussions about issues are not grounded in visual examples.

How Dalux solves it

360 photos and SiteWalk tie every image to a location and a date, so you can find what a location looked like on any day, not rely on someone having remembered to photograph it. From a 360 image or SiteWalk, you can create a task directly from the image, with a cropped view automatically attached. You can share the same SiteWalk with the owner directly, without a site visit.

The result

With Dalux you get:

• Visual documentation of hidden work: Documentation of hidden or covered-up work exists before it becomes inaccessible.
• Tasks created directly from images: You can create a task directly from a 360 image, with a cropped screenshot automatically attached.
• A record tied to location and date: Every image is tied to a location and a date, so you can retrieve exactly what was recorded, and when.

A record tied to location and date

Regular SiteWalks or 360 images document the things you otherwise miss. While inspections or defects get close attention, regular site work can fall between the cracks. Valuable documentation for future needs can be created using high-resolution static 360 images or SiteWalks recorded while walking the construction site.

If a question arises later about what was installed behind a closed wall, you can access the recording from that date at that location. This provides concrete proof, so you will not have to rely on memory alone. You can read more about this in here: Tracking defects throughout the liability period.

Reviewing a SiteWalk does not require being on site. You can open the image and compare it to the BIM model side by side, from as-built to as-planned. By comparing images from different dates, you can see progress and review what has changed.

If something in the image requires attention, such as a defective installation or a missed detail, you can create a task directly from the image. An attached cropped version is tied to that exact location. You can then add markups to the image and send it to the responsible contractor, whether you are standing in that room or reviewing it externally.

You can share a SiteWalk directly to the Owners Portal, either the entire walk or from a specific point you choose as the starting view. The building owner opens it from their own access, at their own time, without needing you to walk them through it.

You do not need to be the one capturing every location yourself. Using the coverage view in SiteWalk, you can see which spaces have been captured recently and where captures are missing or outdated.

Working from recorded site documentation

With recorded 360-degree images and SiteWalks, you can revisit hidden or covered-up work, whether you need to answer a question, flag an issue, or bring in someone who was never on site.

With Dalux, you get:

• No more guesswork: Open the recorded image for that location and date instead of relying on memory or searching old photos.
• Tasks from documentation: Create a task directly from the image and send it to the responsible contractor without visiting the site.
• Independent stakeholder access: Owners and other stakeholders can review shared SiteWalks independently, without the need for additional walkthroughs or photo requests.