The ability to communicate clearly and accurately is the key to successful project management. Your response to a site visit request should not be in a narrative format. The person that requested the information needs to see the answers to their questions as both obvious and clear. What they do not want to do is to have to read your narrative of the site visit, your story with all its variations and possibilities, in order to dig out the information they require. The person requesting the site visit did so because they needed specific information for planning, quoting or budgeting. A satisfactory response to a site visit request will include answers to the information requested plus information that was not requested but may be needed further to explain costs in a quote. Your response will be brief. It will include a short synopsis of what you reviewed followed by a bullet point formatted listing that identifies the question asked with the costs associated.
The site visit report is a business document, not a letter to a friend. It should include the name of the requester and date of the request at the top of the document. It should include your name and title, the date of the site visit and the date of the site visit report submission also at the top. These should be clearly labeled so there is no confusion. For example:
Site Visit Requested: Last name/First name.
Date of Site Visit Request: Date.
The first letter of each line should align, and the first letter or number of each response should be tabbed to align. The decimals in a series of numbers should align. This allows the reviewer to scan down a page for all information.
It should include the name or title of the site visit as well as the location address. This would be just below the names and dates at the top of the document.
The next line should list the requested or expected job start and finish dates. For example:
Project #1234 requested start date: xx/xx/xxx, Anticipated completion date: xx/xx/xxx.
Below this, there should be a space and then under the title “Site Visit Summary” there should be a brief description of your findings.
The summary should describe what you were asked to look at and document and describe any issues that could add to the cost of the project. If there was no available parking or limited hours of availability or an elevator was problematic, for example, this is where you would mention it. If you think you’ll remember the details later I’m here to tell you that you won’t. Write it down while you are at the location and be specific in your note-taking. For example, if your “exit description” was “a door” then your site visit failed as you are offering no useful or specific information. A description should include all dimensions, which way the door opens, any obstacles such as stairs or ledges before or after the door and any obstacle the door itself presents such as width lost due to door knobs, height lost to magnetic locks or door stops or doors that don’t fully open. If you believe a door needs to be removed, you should note this and follow-up with the building as you may require authorization to do so. As important as this information is to gather during your site visit your initial report is not the place to raise detailed information unless it adds to the cost of the project. In that case, it would be mentioned in the summary.
Any description, dimensions or piece counts of the object or objects would come after the summary. Specific object information such as measurements should never be in the narrative. This sort of information should be isolated with bullet points so that it is clear and understandable. If, for example, your site visit was for the crating of five objects the person that you are reporting the information to will expect the objects title, description, condition, and their dimensions. This is what was requested. if the site visit was done properly you will also know that the crated objects can fit through the doorways and be removed from the building. If they cannot then you need to mention this in your summary and if the information is important enough it should be mentioned on the same line as the object description, “Will not fit out of building in a crate, see summary.” is sufficient information. You always want to offer a solution to a problem. If the objects can be crated on site but only if doors are removed then mention this in your summary as it adds time to the project and then include the time to your quote as “door removal and replacement, under your labor line. If the object needs to be removed and crated somewhere else also mention this as this would require authorization and a soft pack plan.
Below the summary should be your list of itemized costs. These lines should not be combined. Costs should be listed under their billing categories: Labor, Time, Transportation, Soft materials costs, Hard Materials costs, Crating, Sub-contracts. Each of these lines will have a cost associated with it. The costs should be tabbed and line up so that the dollar sign and decimal points align. This should look as if you were adding a line of numbers. This makes it easier for the person receiving the report to follow.
You should sub-total each category clearly defined as “Sub-Total” and give a final total clearly identified as the “Final Total”. At the bottom of your report, there should always be a courtesy reminder that you should be contacted with any questions.
Any Site Visit report or quote should be sent as an email. I recommend sending the document as a PDF attachment and as a copy and paste of the attachment in the body of the email. If you work in the same office as the requester there is a temptation to print a hard copy of the report and hand it to the person. An email is better as you will have proof that your report was sent and received. You should keep a hard copy for yourself on file in a binder which you should make for every project you quote. This allows you to add to the file as the project progresses and as you make revisions. Also, keep an electronic copy of the report both as a Word document and as a PDF on your computer under the Job Title. You may need to resend or be asked to refer to an earlier version of your quote at any point after submission. I have had to review quotes after several years have passed to see if the quote and report are still valid. After sending your report you should wait a few days and send an email asking if there are any follow-up questions.
It is considered a professional courtesy to acknowledge anyone who assisted in your “Site Visit Report.” Thanking the client and the building manager for their time goes a long way to making the project successful. These thank yous are sent as a separate email and they do not go into your report. Your report should state that a certain person is the point of contact, but it is unnecessary to state that they are helpful. If on the other hand, they are difficult and could delay the project this should be mentioned in the summary as it could affect cost.
Other than a short narrative describing the project you will want to present the information as a table or in a bullet point format. You are reporting information to an account representative or a financial officer that is only looking to set or quote a budget. Do not use your site visit report to accomplish any more than that. You will have gathered other more specific information during your site visit which is necessary for managing the project but unnecessary and distracting in an initial report intended for quoting purposes.
Examples of site visit checklists and reports will be included in my book “Fine Art Movement and Storage: Project Management for the Visual Arts- Estimating, Quoting, Budgeting and Managing Art-based Projects”, to be published by Rowman and Littlefield in 2019.
Chuck Agro - Project Management For The Arts 