ElectricalBossPro Blog — Generator & Maintenance Plans

Photos and Notes From Generator Visits That Make Next Year Easier

A yearly visit has a memory problem. Twelve months is long enough for the tech to forget the house, and plenty of time for a different tech to get the job. Everything learned on this year's visit, where the generator really is, which gate sticks, what the customer asked about, is gone by next year unless someone writes it down. Photos and notes in the tech app are how a plan remembers.

The Visit Is Not Done Until It Is Recorded

The steps of a visit on the phone are covered in A Generator Maintenance Visit on the Tech App, From Start to Complete. This guide is about the part many techs rush: the photos and notes that go with the job.

In ElectricalBossPro, before and after photos are taken in the tech app and saved with the job. Job notes go on the job too. Next year, when a visit at that address is on any tech's phone, past notes show on the job card.

Photos Worth Taking

Not every photo is useful. A few that tend to pay off on generator and inspection visits:

• The equipment label. A clear photo of the generator's data plate or the transfer switch label lets the office check the brand, model and serial on the house record.
• The unit in place. One wide photo showing where the generator sits helps the next tech find it.
• The panel directory. A photo of the panel labels is useful if the inspection notes say breakers need labeling.
• Anything recommended. If the tech recommends a repair, a photo of the item makes the estimate much easier to explain.
• Before and after. When work is done, before and after photos show the customer what changed.

Notes Worth Writing

Good notes are short and specific. They answer the questions the next tech will have before they ask them. Useful examples:

• “Generator is behind the shed, not by the house. Walk around the left side.”
• “Customer works nights. Text before knocking, do not ring the bell.”
• “Customer asked about adding an EV charger next spring.”
• “Recommended surge protector, customer wants a price.”

Notes like “all good” or “done” do not help anyone next year. The checklist and the condition already say the visit is done. Notes are for what the checklist cannot hold.

Access Notes Belong on the House

Some notes are really about the property, not the visit. Gate latches, dogs, where to park, which door to knock on. Those belong in the access notes on the house, where they show on every future job card, not buried in one visit's notes.

If a tech learns something new about access, they note it on the job, and the office updates the house record. The same goes for equipment. If the location on the generator record is wrong, the tech updates it on the job, and the change flows back to the house.

Notes That Turn Into Work

Some of the most valuable notes are about what the customer wants. “Asked about a ceiling fan in the bedroom” or “wants a price on a dedicated circuit for the workshop” are small comments in the driveway that become real jobs when the office follows up.

The office sees notes as soon as the job is completed. A same-week estimate built from the service list, sent for online approval, turns a passing comment into a scheduled job. More on that flow is in Turning Inspection Recommendations Into Estimates the Customer Approves Online.

Photos and Notes Protect Your Company

Records are not just for next year. If a customer has a question about a visit weeks later, the office can open the job and see exactly what the tech recorded: the checklist, readings, photos and notes, all with the date. That is a much better conversation than relying on memory.

Make It Part of Complete

The easiest way to get good photos and notes is to make them part of finishing the job. Before tapping Complete, the tech takes the photos they need and writes a sentence or two. It takes a minute and saves far more than that on next year's visit.

New techs can learn what good notes look like by reading past notes from experienced techs on the job cards. Over time, every property on a plan builds a history that makes each visit faster and better. For how photos and notes fit with plans, records and billing, visit the ElectricalBossPro generator maintenance software page.