From Roof to Report: How Staffs Chimney Repairs streamlined stack & flue inspections.
Efficiency & Authority Metrics:
When it comes to specialized residential and commercial brickwork, chimney flue lining, and stack stabilization, accuracy is non-negotiable. Staffs Chimney Repairs, a chimney sweep, stack rebuilding, and CCTV flue inspection specialist based in Staffordshire, faced a classic trade bottleneck: spending valuable hours typing reports and drawing schedules at a desk long after leaving the property. By transitioning to PropertySurvey Pro™, they overhauled their diagnostic and reporting workflow.
About Staffs Chimney Repairs
Based in the heart of the West Midlands, Staffs Chimney Repairs is a Staffordshire provider of chimney sweep services, stack dismantling, repointing, lead flashing, and CCTV internal flue inspections. They serve residential homeowners, landlords, letting agents, and commercial housing providers who require certified, structural safety audits of high-risk masonry.
A primary service they provide is chimney safety certification, which requires documenting structural soot deposits, cracked flue liners, and damaged pots to comply with strict safety rules (such as BS 6461 and building ventilation regulations).
The Challenge: Transitioning from Paper Drafts to Professional Tech
Historically, chimney sweeps and engineers logged flue conditions by writing notes on paper pads while holding inspection torches and cameras. Back at the office, the team had to manually type these up, match photos from digital cameras to specific rooms, and construct PDF reports for landlords or insurance claims. This process was time-consuming, prone to error, and delayed quoting.
They needed a mobile-first, native offline surveying app that allowed them to drop structural defect pins, map chimney stacks on-site, perform rapid post-code checks, and compile a finalized PDF before climbing down from the roof.
Key App Integrations for Chimney Professionals
High-Res Camera Mapping
Staffs Chimney Repairs captures internal flue conditions using CCTV cameras. PropertySurvey Pro™'s native image integration allows them to drag-and-drop high-definition flue captures alongside external stack photos, creating a transparent, defensible audit trail.
Smart Builder Clauses
Using PropertySurvey Pro™’s custom defect libraries, they built a library of standardised clauses covering chimney terminal damage, loose stack masonry, failed mortar joints, and lead flashing splits for quick spec-selection.
AI Polish
While on site, inspectors speak shorthand descriptions (e.g., "pot cracked, loose bricks north, flashing split"). PropertySurvey Pro™'s AI Polish module expands these raw notes into RICS-aligned technical prose that the inspector reviews before export.
Native, offline performance
Specialists often work in rural areas or deep in brick basements with zero cellular signal. PropertySurvey Pro™ runs natively offline, allowing complete data entry and PDF rendering on the device without any internet connection.
The result: less evening paperwork
Since adopting PropertySurvey Pro™, Staffs Chimney Repairs has cut down its paperwork backlog. Instead of matching photos to text at night, they compile, brand, and email the final condition report to the client before leaving the site.
Staffs Chimney Repairs — a Staffordshire chimney, stack and CCTV flue specialist that has a business connection to ProSurvey Apps — uses PropertySurvey Pro™ on live jobs to log stack and flue inspections and produce client reports on site rather than back at a desk. The time it saves on any given job depends on its scope.
Faster quoting
Delivering RICS-style reports to insurers or landlords on the day builds trust and can speed up quoting and decisions.
Structural Safety Compliance
Clear, date-stamped photographic evidence paired with professional descriptions supports a defensible record for building safety audits. Confirm the safety regulations that apply to the work.
Frequently asked questions
Can PropertySurvey Pro be used for chimney, stack and flue inspections?▾
Yes. Contractors use it to drop structural defect pins, attach external stack photos and CCTV flue captures, build a reusable library of standard clauses, and compile a branded PDF on site — useful for chimney safety, repointing and flashing inspections.
Does it reference the relevant standards?▾
Reports can cite the standards and duties that apply to the work, such as the RICS Home Survey Standard and BS 6461 for chimney and flue safety. Conclusions remain tied to what was inspected; confirm the safety regulations that apply to your work.
Does it work offline on a roof or in a rural area?▾
Yes. It is a native app with an on-device database, so data entry and PDF rendering work with no signal. Data saves on the device first and syncs and backs up across your own signed-in devices when you reconnect.
How does the AI write-up work?▾
Speak or type shorthand (e.g. "pot cracked, loose bricks north, flashing split") and AI Polish expands it into RICS-aligned technical prose that you review and edit before export. Free users get a few trial runs; Pro adds a daily allowance plus the option to use your own Gemini or OpenAI key.
Grow your surveying business
Whether you are a chimney sweep, a structural brickwork contractor, a letting agent, or an independent RICS building surveyor, PropertySurvey Pro™ is built to speed up your diagnostics and reporting. Related: roofing & scaffolding app, RICS condition reports.
Cut down evening paperwork
Download PropertySurvey Pro™ for free on iOS and Android. Native offline capture, smart builders, and on-device PDF exports.