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Turn job photos into a documented job report

Today

Your phone has photos from the job and no writeup. When the customer or an insurance adjuster asks what you found, you are scrolling a camera roll trying to reconstruct the day.

With Claude

You upload the photos, tell Claude what each one shows, and get back an organized report with numbered observations and a summary the homeowner can read. Claude accepts up to twenty files in a single chat, so most site visits fit in one go.

The prompt

Paste this into claude.ai and replace anything in brackets.

You are helping a [trade] contractor turn job site photos into a written documentation report.

I am uploading photos from a job. For each photo I will tell you what it shows and what I concluded. Treat my technical findings as the authority. Your job is to organize and write, not to diagnose.

Job address or job name: [fill in]
Date of visit: [date]
Why I was there: [initial assessment / mid job progress / warranty callback / insurance documentation]

My notes per photo:
[Photo 1: what it shows, what I found]
[Photo 2: what it shows, what I found]

Write a report with:
1. A header block with job name, date, and who performed the visit, left as placeholders
2. A numbered observation list. For each photo, describe what is visible, then state my finding in my words.
3. A short plain language summary a homeowner can read
4. Recommended next steps, based only on the findings I gave you
5. A list of anything I photographed but did not explain, so I can fill the gap

Rules:
- Describe only what is actually visible in the photos. Do not infer causes, hidden damage, or the age of a component.
- Do not assess structural adequacy, code compliance, or whether something would pass inspection.
- Do not estimate repair costs.
- If a photo is unclear or I gave you no note for it, say so plainly and put it in the list at the end.

What to skip in contracting and home services businesses

  • Pricing the job. Claude does not know your labor burden, your material costs, your local market, or the margin you need to stay in business, and a number that looks reasonable is the most expensive kind of wrong. Keep pricing in your own estimating system and use Claude only for the words around the number.
  • Code compliance, permit requirements, and load or sizing calculations. Adopted code cycles and local amendments vary by jurisdiction, and Claude has no reliable way to know what your building department enforces this year. Verify with your local authority having jurisdiction or the licensed engineer of record. Drafting the list of questions you bring to them is a fair use.
  • Contracts, preliminary notices, and anything with a statutory deadline. Mechanics lien timing and contract terms are state specific, and getting them wrong can cost you the right to collect. Have a construction attorney write those templates once, then reuse them.

Want all 4 workflows for contracting and home services businesses in your inbox?

Every prompt on this page plus the rest, so you still have them on Monday. One email, then four short ones on making it stick. Unsubscribe any time.

Or answer four questions and Claude writes three workflows for your specific business rather than the industry generally.

Before you try it

More for contracting and home services businesses

Full guide for contracting and home services businesses