As standard every inventory clerk tool kit should contain
- Something to write your inventory on (Dictaphone, pen & paper, Professional Inventories App)
- Meter cupboard keys
IPIC recommends you also have some of the following
- Measuring device (Ruler, Tape Measure, Banana)
- Flash light
- Battery pack if using a tablet or phone
- Check out IPIC’s training to get the full list
But there are a few tools you may not have thought of
Google Translate
This app has saved my bacon several times. Whenever I have checked in or met a tenant who struggles with English, I can use Google Translate on my phone to better communicate. You can’t have a full blown conversation but you can go over the basics. Google translate has an exciting feature that will listen to what you say, translate it, listen to what your tenant is saying then translate it.
Spare Change
Above IPIC suggested using a ruler or tape measure (we added the banana). This is to measure chips, stains and damages. That’s not to say you need to give a precise measurement but a ballpark is a good place to start. Sadly, I don’t know about you. I have left my ruler at home and on a job. Having some spare change in our bag allows me to still give a rough estimate on size by placing it next to the damage.
Street View
Google, Apple, Microsoft and even Facebook provide street level imagery. You can use these to your advantage when planning your day. You can get an idea of what the exterior of the property might look like and street parking restrictions.
RouteXL
RouteXL will create the best and quickest multi stop route, and it’s free for up to 20 stops. We use this when planning some jobs, though we don’t use the same route RouteXL suggests. We do use the same order, we can then place these jobs into the clerks calendar and know they won’t be going back and forth getting to jobs. This works great when you have Mid-Term / Periodic Inspections.
