Jobsite photos
you can rely on

Photos are usually asked for by project and by time: “what did it look like in March?” So make the project the top folder and the month the next level. Inside each month, keep every photo, whoever took it.

Resist subfolders for every trade or area. They look tidy on day one and then half the photos do not fit. Let the file name carry the area instead, and use search to pull a trade together.

Start with the date the photo was taken, then a running number for that day, then a few words on what it shows. The date and number keep photos in the order they were taken, and the words mean you can tell what a photo is without opening it.

Use the date the photo was taken, not the day it was uploaded or sent. Phones store it in the file’s details, though chat apps can strip it, so check forwarded photos. For a day with several pours or inspections, add the time, like 1430.

Most photos show progress and are never looked at again. The ones that matter are taken before work is covered up, when something is damaged, and when conditions differ from the plans. Take these on purpose, with something in frame that shows where you are.

Keep the original file as it came off the phone, and avoid editing or cropping the copy you file. A photo that has been changed is harder to rely on. If you need an annotated version, save it as a separate file next to the original.

Many sites lean on a photo app with project folders, or ask everyone to post pictures in a group chat and have the office pull them out on Friday. The app route works when everyone uses it. The group chat route depends on one tired person remembering.

Another common habit is a shared drive with a folder per day. It is quick to set up, but photos from different projects get mixed and months later nobody knows which job a day belongs to. With Filex you describe the rule in plain words, name the project, upload what you have, and each photo is named and filed by project and month.

Filex names and files photos in the project and month you give it. It does not take photos, judge whether work is correct, decide who is at fault in a dispute, or tell which project a photo belongs to by looking at it. It does not give legal advice or prove a photo is genuine, so ask your lawyer what a claim needs.

It files photos from the day you start using it, and it does not edit your originals. Keep an untouched copy of each original in case you need it.