Case Study: How Spruce Modernized a Municipality’s Inspections Process

Sean Smith, Senior Project Manager, Spruce Technology

Challenge 

When a large municipality’s buildings agency needed a more efficient and cost-effective way to carry out its inspections-related Compliance and Enforcement mandates, it turned to Spruce Technology to implement a user-friendly and robust platform that would transform the day-to-day workings of the agency. While relying on manual spreadsheet-based checklists and a field services application that would soon be outdated, the agency was challenged with meeting its turnaround time and compliance mandates while enforcing building and zoning codes. 

Solution 

As a first step, Spruce worked with the agency to implement a pilot program to introduce a core group of inspectors to a Customer Relationship Module (CRM) that would allow the agency to manage and support the inspections process. 

Throughout the pilot, Spruce collaborated with users of the platform to collect feedback and implement features and enhancements that addressed the challenges and pain points of day-to-day inspections operations. Spruce was able to implement an off-the-shelf solution and customize it to meet the building inspection requirements of the agency. 

The second part of the solution involved replacing a mobile field services application that would no longer be supported in the coming years, making it difficult to customize. To address this challenge, Spruce designed a customized mobile inspections application specifically for the agency that was robust and easy to use by inspectors and support staff. 

Result 

The combination of a new CRM and mobile application allowed the agency to carry out essential inspection’s tasks in the field on a reliable and intuitive platform. Specifically, it: 

• allowed inspectors to work in offline mode while in the field, with the ability to store data locally and synch to the server once an internet connection is established
• allowed the ability to upload and view multiple images
• gave inspectors the ability to submit stop work orders (SWO) and issue mobile summons directly from the mobile application
• provided inspectors the ability to work from any type of mobile device; including Toughbook® tablets or phones.
• provided geo mapping features; allowing supervisors to route and assign inspectors to maximize productivity based on location 

Implementing the latest inspection tools, processes, and procedures is critical to ensuring the safety of our infrastructure. Spruce can help. Connect with me to learn more about how Spruce can help modernize your inspection process, saving you time, resources, and money.