A Plumbing Contractor Time Tracking App for Service Vans and Rough-Ins

Most plumbing shops run two businesses out of the same vans. One is service: a water heater, a backed-up drain, a leak under a sink. The other is construction: rough-in on a row of townhouses, then back weeks later to set fixtures. JobSnap is a plumbing contractor time tracking app that records when each plumber arrived and left every address, and keeps the photos of what went into the wall with the job.

How a plumbing day runs, and where it leaks

A service plumber usually leaves from home in a stocked van, often alone, sometimes with an apprentice. Three to five calls is a normal day, plus a run to the wholesaler for the part the van didn't have. On the construction side, two or three plumbers spend days on one site, leave while the drywall and tile go in, and come back for the finish. The trouble spots:

Hourly bills that get questioned. "You were only here an hour." Without a record of arrival and departure, it is your plumber's word against the homeowner's.
Rough-in nobody can see anymore. Once the wall is closed, a question about where a line runs or how a drain was sloped can only be answered by a photo.
Warranty and insurance paperwork. The water heater's rating plate, the damage from the leak, the old unit before removal. Manufacturers and insurers ask for these photos weeks later.
Wholesaler receipts. Parts bought for a specific job end up in a pile, and the job never gets charged for them.
Two phases, two crews. Rough-in and finish are weeks apart and often done by different people, and the schedule lives on a whiteboard in the shop.

How a plumbing crew uses JobSnap

Arrival and departure at every address. Each plumber has a clock on their phone. A shift can start when they reach the first call, and each address gets its own hours on the timesheet. When a homeowner disputes the time, you have a GPS-backed record of when your plumber got there and when they left. See time tracking.
Photos that land on the right job. The JobSnap camera picks the nearest job. Shoot the open wall, the shut-off, the rating plate. Draw an arrow on the shut-off valve and send the photos to the homeowner or their insurer from your phone. See the jobsite camera.
Receipt mode at the counter. Take a picture of the wholesaler receipt; JobSnap reads the vendor and the line items and attaches it to the job.
Rough-in and finish on one job. A job can have more than one block of dates, rough-in this week and finish in three, and each block can go to a different crew. See crew scheduling.
Quotes for the jobs you price every week. Save a water heater replacement or a toilet swap in your cost library with a unit price, and send a PDF estimate with your logo before you leave the driveway. See estimates and invoices.
Notes by voice in the van. Record a note about the corroded stack you saw in the basement and link it to the customer for the next visit.

New builds, renovations and service calls in one place

Rough-in on a new build, a bathroom renovation and an emergency call can sit on the same week's schedule, each with its own hours, photos and estimate. When the emergency call comes in, add the job and the plumber's arrival and departure land on it like any other address. To see how JobSnap lines up with a field service app, read JobSnap vs Jobber. HVAC contractors run their weeks the same way.

What it costs

$5 CAD per active employee per month, $20 minimum, every feature included. Three plumbers and an apprentice come to $20 a month. A two-person shop also pays the $20 minimum. Try it free for 30 days with no credit card.

Questions plumbing contractors ask

Can I see the drive time between calls?

The timesheet shows the start and end time on each job, so the gap between leaving one address and reaching the next is visible. How you pay travel time is your policy, and the rules vary by province, so check yours.

We charge flat rate. Why track hours at all?

Because the flat rate is only right if the job takes the time you think it does. With hours on each job, you can compare what you quoted with what the work took and adjust the price.

What about after-hours emergency calls?

The plumber clocks in when they get there like any other call. Regular and overtime hours are separated on the timesheet; overtime rules vary by province.