SmartCheck
Certifying photos of a site or a delivery
Making the photo prove when it was taken, which is what always gets disputed.
A photo without a trusted date proves little: the date inside a file can be changed by anyone, and the other side knows it. Certifying them turns "this is how it was" into something that admits no argument.
When it pays off
| Moment | What is protected |
|---|---|
| Receiving goods | The condition they arrived in |
| Handing over work | What was delivered and how |
| Starting a job | The prior condition, before anything is touched |
| Damage or an incident | That it happened when you say, not after |
How to take them so they count
Important
Certifying months later fixes nothing: the certified date is today's. If the photos matter, the moment to certify them is the day they are taken.
Watch out
Do not retouch or crop photos before certifying. Any edit changes the file, and the other side will ask why it was edited.
Worth knowing
Prior condition is the most forgotten and the most argument-saving: four photos before starting costs two minutes and closes the "that was already broken" claim.
›How many photos can I certify at once?
A whole set, certified as a set.
›Does a phone photo count?
Yes. What is certified is the file, not the camera.
›Can it be shared with the client?
Yes, and they can verify without an account.
A real case
The situation
An installer receives a claim for damage that predated their work.
What you do
- Retrieves the certified photos from the day they started
What you get
The claim closes in an afternoon; without them it would have been their word against the client's.
The situation
A site photo carries no provable date.
What you do
- Seals the photo the same day
What you get
The date stops being argued.
The situation
Photos live on the foreman's phone.
What you do
- Uploads and seals them from that phone
What you get
The record outlives the handset.
The situation
There is a dispute whether damage predated a delivery.
What you do
- Seals the receipt photos
What you get
The initial condition is provable.
The situation
A hundred photos are taken and sealing one by one is impractical.
What you do
- Seals the set at once
What you get
The cost does not grow with the number of photos.
The situation
The photo is sealed weeks after being taken.
What you do
- Seals at the moment of capture
What you get
The seal says what you want it to say.
This article answers
- certify site photos
- prove the condition of a delivery
- photos with a certified date
- evidence of damage to goods