A Renovation Contractor App for Hours, Photos and Estimates

Renovation work happens in someone's home, with the owner walking past every hour and changing their mind about the vanity on day six. JobSnap is a renovation and remodelling contractor app for hours, photos and estimates: your crew's time lands on the right house, every photo of what was behind the wall stays with the job, and the estimate you wrote at the kitchen table becomes the invoice.

How a renovation job really goes

A typical renovation crew is two to five people working the same house for weeks: a bathroom, a kitchen, a basement finish. Often there are two jobs running at once, and the lead carpenter splits the day between them. The electrician and the plumber come in for a day or two. Then the demolition starts and the surprises with it: rot under the tub, old wiring, no insulation in the exterior wall. That is where renovators lose money:

Extras the client doesn't remember asking for. The pot lights added in week two show up on the final invoice, and the client says they thought they were included.
Hidden conditions with no proof. The rotten subfloor is gone by the time the client sees the bill for replacing it.
Estimates that take a week. The site visit is Tuesday, the estimate goes out Monday, and the client signed with the renovator who quoted on the spot.
Hours split between two houses. Without a record, the bathroom you priced at 80 hours took 110 and you never learn it.

How a renovation crew uses JobSnap

Write the estimate at the kitchen table. Pull items from your cost library with their unit and price, build a line from several components, set your tax rate once, and send a PDF with your logo before you leave. Duplicate last spring's bathroom to price the next one. See estimates and invoices.
Photograph before, during and after demo. The camera picks the nearest job and files the photo with the date and the person who took it. Circle the rot on the photo, then send it to the client that afternoon. See the jobsite camera.
Write the extra down the day it comes up. Record a voice note during the walk-through or answer the daily report's question about extra work. For a signature, use our change order template, then file the signed copy's photo under the job.
Hours on the right house. Each house gets a geofence, and shifts can start on their own when the crew arrives. The lead who splits the day between two jobs has his hours split too. See time tracking.
Materials on the job. Receipt mode reads the hardware store receipt and attaches it to the house it was bought for.
The deficiency list. At the final walk-through, make a note with a checklist and photos, link it to the client, and tick items off as they are fixed.

When paper is enough

If you work alone on one job at a time, a notebook and your phone's camera roll may do the job. JobSnap earns its place when you have a crew, two houses at once, or clients who dispute extras. If you manage subs on larger projects, see the page for general contractors. Rules on deposits and holdbacks vary by province, so check yours before you set your payment schedule.

What it costs

$5 CAD per active employee per month, $20 minimum, every feature included. An owner and three carpenters pay the $20 minimum. Add an apprentice for the summer and it is $25, and you can pause him in the fall. The first 30 days are free, no credit card.

Questions renovation contractors ask

Can the homeowner see progress photos?

Select the day's photos and send them from your phone's share menu, or share a note by link. Nothing is visible to the client until you send it.

How does it help when a client disputes an extra?

Open the job's feed: the photo of what you found, the note from the day the client asked, the daily report, the estimate and the invoice, all in date order.

How do I keep track of what the homeowner still owes?

Each invoice has its own number, due date and status: sent, paid, overdue or cancelled. The client's page shows what has been billed and what is still outstanding.