Quick answer
Photo evidence certifies a progress claim when it pairs every claimed line with dated photos per address: the doorway wide shot that places the room plus a detail proving that line. Name files address_code_stage, shoot the same day the work finishes, and the quantity surveyor can certify without a site visit or an argument.
Key points
- Every claimed line is covered by the doorway wide shot that places the room plus a detail proving that line: catches fitted, wet bench seated, edging clean.
- Name files address_code_stage, for example unit07_CBT330_installed.jpg, and file them in one folder per address per claim month. A QS who can navigate your evidence certifies it.
- Shoot the day the work finishes, before the next trade covers it. A toe-kick disappears behind flooring; a delivered crate disappears into an installed kitchen.
- For part-complete months, a 60 to 90 second video walk-through per address supports a percentage claim better than any argument.
- Evidence discipline changes the relationship: certification stops being a negotiation and becomes a checking exercise, month after month.
The query email arrives mid-morning, ten days after the claim went in. The quantity surveyor has struck out the stainless wet bench line at two addresses and the overhead cabinetry at a third, with the note 'unable to verify, please substantiate'. The work is done. You watched it go in. And now you are scrolling a phone gallery of 400 photos with names like IMG_4471, trying to work out which grey kitchen ceiling belongs to which of the fourteen addresses you claimed.
That is the standard failure, and it costs real money, because a struck line does more than slip a month. It resets the conversation. The QS now reads your next claim more slowly too. Most contractors already take plenty of photos, so volume is not the problem. The fix is photos attached to the claim lines they prove, named so a stranger can find them, taken on the day the work finished.
This piece sets out the method we see certify cleanly on coded joinery packages: social housing programmes, maintenance contracts, multi-unit developments. It assumes the claim itself is built line by line against a schedule, the way pricing kitchens to the Kāinga Ora schedule of rates describes. Evidence is the second half of that discipline.
What counts as photo evidence on a progress claim?
A claim line says, in effect: at this address, this coded item is now installed, pay this much. Evidence is whatever lets the certifier agree without driving there. In practice that means dated photographs tied to the address and the line, not a general album of the job. The date matters because the claim covers a period; the address matters because the same code repeats across twenty units; the line matters because certification happens line by line.
One photo rarely does all three jobs. A close-up of a childproof catch proves a catch exists somewhere in Auckland. A wide shot of a kitchen proves you stood in a kitchen. Paired, they work: the wide shot places you in a specific unit, the detail proves the specific line. That pairing, per claimed line, per address, is the whole system.
The two-shot rule, line by line
The wide shot is taken from the kitchen doorway and includes a fixed reference: the window, the meterboard, the unit number on the door frame if it is visible. Every trade photo of that unit starts from the same doorway, so the QS learns the room. The detail shot changes with the line being claimed.
- Wet underbench unit, the CJC240 shape: detail shows the 304 stainless bench with the bowl, and the cabinet under it open, so plumbing rough-in and the childproof catch zone are visible in one frame.
- Dry underbench and wall cabinetry, per metre: detail shoots along the run so the full claimed length is in frame, doors on, gaps even. A metre-claimed line needs the metres visible.
- Laminate benchtop, per metre: detail down the bench showing the front edge and any joins, because edge and join quality is what a defects inspection will come back to.
- Small per-No. lines, cutlery inserts and catches: one open-drawer or open-door detail each. Two seconds to take, and the lines most commonly struck as unverifiable.
| Stage | Wide shot shows | Detail shows |
|---|---|---|
| Delivered | Crates and benchtops stacked in the unit | Crate label with address and type |
| Carcasses set | Run in position from the doorway | Fixings into studs, level across the run |
| Benchtops and wet bench on | Completed runs in the room | 304 bench seated, joins, sink bowl |
| Complete | Finished kitchen, doors aligned | Catches, inserts, kick fitted, edging |
One claimed line, two photos that prove it.
File names a QS can navigate
The convention is address_code_stage, and it earns its keep the first time anyone searches. unit07_CJC240_installed.jpg tells the certifier the address, the claimed line and the stage before the file even opens. Folders mirror the claim: one folder per claim month, one subfolder per address, files named to the lines inside. Phone cameras timestamp everything, so the date rides along in the file data; the name carries what the camera cannot know.
Rename on the day. Two minutes in the van after each address, while you still know which unit you just left, beats an evening of forensic gallery work at month end. Crews that run work orders for maintenance companies already tag photos to job numbers; this is the same habit pointed at claim codes.
Shoot the same day, before the next trade buries it
Joinery evidence has a shelf life. The toe-kick line, the CJC725 shape, is photographable for exactly the window between fitting and the flooring layer working down the hall. Delivered crates stop being photographable the moment assembly starts. A benchtop join is easiest to shoot before the plumber's gear is sitting on it. The rule that survives contact with a real programme is simple: the photo set is the last task at every address, done before the tools are back in the van, same day, every visit.
Same-day shooting also keeps the dates honest. A claim period is a date range, and photos taken inside it prove work done inside it. A batch of photos all dated the day before the claim reads exactly how it looks.
Part-complete months: claim what you can walk through
Some months an address sits at 60 per cent: carcasses set, benchtops on, doors and kick still to come. Percentages invite argument, so give the percentage a walk-through. A 60 to 90 second video per part-complete address, starting at the front door, saying the unit number out loud, panning each run slowly, dates itself and shows exactly where the work stands. The QS certifies a defensible 60; an unsupported percentage gets rounded down to a safe 40. Still name it the same way: unit07_walkthrough_[date] sits beside the stills in the address folder.
Video is the exception tool, not the default. Stills tied to lines certify faster than footage anyone has to scrub through. Use video where a percentage needs context, and for the record shot at handover that defects liability callbacks will lean on a year later.
When a line is disputed anyway
Evidence does not end disputes; it shortens them. When a line comes back queried, answer with the pair of photos for that address and line, and leave it there. If the photos genuinely do not exist, say so, re-shoot within 48 hours, and take the certification a month late without grinding the relationship. When the dispute is about quality rather than existence, offer a joint walk of that one address, scoped to that one line. Keep the claim's other forty lines out of it.
And put the outcome back into the system. A struck line usually reveals a missing shot in your standard set. Add it. The install pack that started as four photos per address tends to settle at six or seven, the same way shop drawings accumulate the details that once got queried.
A claim with photos attached is a checking exercise. A claim without them is a conversation, and conversations run on the QS's clock.
Make the camera part of the install kit
The practical next step is a one-page evidence standard for your crews: the doorway wide, the details per line type, the address_code_stage name, the per-address folder, photos before the van leaves. Print it, laminate it, put it in every install kit next to the level. Then build one claim with it end to end and watch what happens to certification time.
We run this standard on our own supply-and-install packages out of East Tāmaki, and the honest summary is that it costs about two minutes per kitchen and repays it at every claim. Pair it with a quote and claim built to the same coded lines, the discipline behind a kitchen quote that matches the invoice, and the paperwork side of a joinery package mostly runs itself.
Frequently asked questions
What photo evidence should a progress claim include?
One doorway wide shot that places the address in an identifiable room, plus a dated detail for every claimed line: the stainless bench seated, the catches fitted, the claimed metres of cabinetry in frame. Filed in one folder per address and named to the claim codes, the set lets a certifier verify each line without a site visit.
How should I name progress claim photos?
Use address_code_stage: unit07_CBT330_installed.jpg tells the reader the address, the claimed line and the stage before the file opens. Keep one folder per claim month with a subfolder per address. Rename in the van straight after each address while you still know which unit you left. A gallery of IMG_4471 files is evidence you own but cannot use.
When should the photos be taken?
The same day the work finishes, as the last task before leaving the address. Joinery evidence gets buried fast: flooring covers the toe-kick, assembly consumes the delivered crates, the plumber's gear lands on the benchtop. Same-day shooting also keeps dates inside the claim period, which is part of what the certifier is checking. A month-end photo blitz puts every date on the wrong side of the claim period.
How do I claim a part-complete kitchen?
Support the percentage with a short video walk-through: 60 to 90 seconds, start at the front door, say the unit number, pan each run slowly. It dates itself and shows precisely where the work stands, so the certifier can agree to a defensible 60 per cent where an unsupported number would be trimmed to 40. File it in the address folder beside the stills, named the same way.
What do I do when the QS strikes a line I know is complete?
Reply with the two photos for that exact address and line, nothing else. If the photos do not exist, re-shoot within 48 hours and accept the month's delay without burning the relationship. If the complaint is about quality, offer a joint walk scoped to that one line at that one address. Then add whatever shot was missing to your standard set so the gap closes.
Does photo evidence still matter after the claim is paid?
Yes. The same photo set becomes the baseline for the defects liability period: it shows the condition the joinery was handed over in, which separates a legitimate defect from tenant damage or another trade's impact months later. Handover-condition photos are the cheapest insurance a joinery contractor carries into year one, and they cost nothing extra if the claim discipline already exists.
How many photos per kitchen is enough?
For a standard coded kitchen, six or seven per address covers it: one doorway wide, then details for the wet bench, the cabinetry runs, the benchtop, and the small per-No. lines like catches and inserts, plus a delivery shot early in the month. That is about two minutes of work. Claims stall when a specific line has no photo, so shoot to the lines and the volume looks after itself.