Taking pictures at job sites

[haynewp]

It was mandatory we take pictures at my last job, the more the better. Now where I am, the attitude is more like pictures can come back as evidence against you. I wanted to get a few opinions from the people here.

 

[RDK]

Always the more the better. Digital cameras with large storage cards and high-resolution pictures are best. I also insert my firm name and date on the picture. (My camera does this automaticially)

If you current firm is worried about pictures coming back to be used against them, then they must be doing something wrong and know that they are doing something wrong.

I would seriously reconsider working for a firm that does not want to have a record of its activities.


Rick Kitson MBA P.Eng

Construction Project Management
From conception to completion

http://www.kitsonengineering.com

 

[CWIC]

haynewp:
I have been lugging my SLR's and/or a digital camera to all of my jobsites all over the world for the last 10 years, shop or field.

Many of my clients prohibit cameras of any type in their facilities, but have allowed me to use mine once they know the intent. Proprietary tooling, machinery or methods of fabrication or erection are not documented without permission if at all. I also let the contractor know ahead of time that I will be using a camera if I do intend to take photos.

Many of the engineers I work for really appreciate the photos, and often photo's accompany my reports. If there is a problem, a snap-shot is worth a thousand words. Before I began to use my cameras as tools, often unaccepatble workmanship or technique was subjective ("he said - she said&quot. It is not at all uncommon for any individual or entity to deny wrong-doing at a jobsite. I don't have that problem anymore. It's hard to argue with a photo. This is why many do NOT want cameras being used at a jobsite.

Cameras are also good tools for recording PROPER workmanship, technique or materials. Many of my clients like having their work documented and used as good examples.

 

[haynewp]

I should have been more clear. The company does not discourage them, in their words if they help to document the project then they are fine, but usually are not taken.
This advice I received NOT to take pictures comes from more experienced engineers that I work with. It kind of surprised me. I believe their intent is more in line that if you miss a construction error which shows clearly in the picture and something happens... It's YOUR ass
At my previous job, it was mandatory and all the engineers agreed that pictures were of upmost importance.

 

[structuresguy]

I take as many pics as I can when I am on the job site. Of course, I get gried from the contractors a lot because they think I am spying on them or something. When they give me grief for taking their picture, I just ask if it is a Religious objection to having their photo taken. Of course, when they say NO, I tell them to mind their own business and get back to work. If they are doin it right, they got nothin to worry bout. Plain and simple. I have a hangar I designed underway right now, it is about 80% complete and I have almost 700 MB worth of photos taken at med-to-high resolution digital cameras, totals over 2000 now I think. I have used the pics in several cases so far to force the contractor to remove and redo, or repair, several items. Also great record for the owner.

If you are worried about it, make sure the owner/client gives you the OK to take pics. Once you have that, I basically ignore any concerns that any of the contractors have about me taking pics of their work. They are paid to do a job right, and we as the engineers are paid to make sure it gets done right.

However, I also do a lot of work on military facilities, and particularly in some classified areas of the facilities. THis gets very tricky for picture taking. I like to try to get it in my contract in advance for permission to take pictures on site, even if they have to go thru a screening. If not, make sure that the military (or other high security organisation) will grant you access to one of their personal with photography rights if you want to get pics of work being completed.

I also concurn with RDK above. If your company doesnt want pictures, seriously consider their motives. I wouldn't want to be arround that mentality.

 

[EnglishMuffin]

This remonds me of a company I worked at where we had an official verbal instruction from management never to write any memo or e-mail which contained any reference to "safety". Luckily, NASA does not appear to be doing this (yet),

 

[Lutfi]

I love tot take pictures. They make a nice story when project is done. I would not worry about them used as evidence and if they do so what?

I am on a big project now and the client is in England. They will have several cams at the site. The entire project team can view, from any where, the progress of the project. I think this is a wonderful thing.

Being the forward thinker that I am, LOL, I think they will be used by engineers to perform certain inspection without leaving their offices. This may be taking place already. I would appreciate that since I live in Florida especially in the summer.

This is my cents worth.

Good luck

 

[CWIC]

An error, is an error, is an error, regardless of who made it.

Photos can be used as learning tools. I agree with RDK's second paragraph without saying (typing) it myself.

 

[LPPE]

A picture is worth a thousand words.
Plus they really help when trying to explain something to someone else.

 

[Rich2001]

I use photograph all the time on the jobsite. At one time, I even had a large format camera and darkroom setup.

At site that do not allow camera, I have used a digital camera and had a copy offical review the photographs prior to leaving the jobsite. You might want to stste in your contract that all photographs and negatives are the property of the client arewill be returned to them at the end of the project.

Look at the photo carefully, looking at the background. Crop the photo to remove anything you do not want shown. I know of a case where a newsphotographer took some picture at a site and in the background showed a serious OSHA safety violation. The Area Director of OSHA noticed it while reading the evening paper, they had a visit the next day.

If they is a the possibility of litigation take photographs with a film camera. With digital photographs you can not prove a chain of custody, digital photographss could have been altered.

 

[Sparweb]

We've been bringing a digital camera with us for almost a decade, now, and an unexpected benefit of having digital photos of a project is the "reminder" a picture can give you when you pick up again on a project that left off years ago.

Most of our customers (aircraft operators) don't care at all if I take pictures, having the same "open" philosophy that's been described above. There are some that do seem to mind, but accept it as part of my "job".

I now have many photos of damaged aircraft and helicopters, but if somebody asked me for copies, I would say, "no", because the photo is taken for my project (either a design or repair) and it's proprietary to my company.


STF

 

[Ron]

Keep taking the photos. digital or film. They are invaluable. The excuse of additional liability is more than overcome by the information retained in photographs. Besides, photos can often reduce your liability.

 

[riverhaven]

What is the trick when trying to paste a digital image say into a mathcad file or word file without the file ending up so big it wont run. I find that when I try to use microsoft photo editor, even to copy and paste one picture into a mathcad file or even a microsoft word file it becomes unmanageable.

 

[dik]

When I do up reports, I have a template that holds 4 photographs and has a title and number for each.

The typical file size is about 10 megs... I print these to Adobe acrobat file creator and end up with about a 250K file size...

 

[structuresguy]

Well, one "trick" is never use Microsoft products, especially their Photo Editor. But if you must use Word (I use it too), then make sure the pictures you insert are in jpeg format. Never use bitmaps, ever. Also, if you have a decent picture viewer/editor, it sometimes help to reduce the size of the photo prior to pasting it into word. this holds true more now with all the multi-megapixel digital cameras on the market now.

Sometimes, because it's Microsoft afterall, your file will just bloat to ridiculous proportions anyway, so you will be forced to save your file in parts to keep size to a minimum.

Of course, the answer to all this is to use Word Perfect not Word. It handles pictures much better than Word. Now if I can just convince everyone else, I can go back to the good old days of blue screen Word Perfect 5 for DOS. Live would be so much easier.

 

[VAD]

There is no doubt that photos are excellent for recording various aspects of projects and to have for discussion purposes, historic references etc etc. However, I recently heard that digital photos are unacceptable in some areas, I cannot remember exactly in which,(perhaps expert evidence) but it has to do with the fact that digital photos can be doctored and in such cases only conventional photography is admissible. Very often people have both digital as well as conventional cameras in taking sensitive photos. Sometimes the conventional camera is used as a backup in the event that problems occur with digital etc. However, this is rarely the case.

 

[jheidt2543]

I still use my 35 mm SLR camera, but have both prints and a CD developed. That way I can use the prints in situations that need them and the CD digital photos for reports and transmissions.

For a job a few years ago, we were putting an addition on to an existing building. We took pictures of a the existing structural steel frame that was to be connected to and e-mailed them to the fabricatior. The pictures were a great help, along with field dimensions, to help prepare the shop drawings. The digital photos could be blown up to see small details or column line numbers of the existing framing.

 

[JTMcC]

As a small contractor, we take a lot of photographs of our jobs and we have no problem with others doing the same! Everything we do is open to inspection, by any parties involved, at any time. We are proud of our work and invite close scrutiny at any point in the process. Contractors who think otherwise, must have a reason.

regards,
JTMcC.

 

[chicopee]

I have taken Polaroid pictures and videos of all job sites that we had during the ten years Plus I was w/ this bridge contractor. These pictures were used as instructional tools and for accident reports whether involving public liability or worker comp. claims. Sometimes they were used against you but in the long run they proved to be more of an asset.

 

[RDK]

I’ve used digital photo’s in AutoCAD as well.

This is especially useful in connecting to any existing structure. You simply take a photo and insert it into the drawing, add additional drawings, notes and dimensions as needed.

The only time I have ever had difficulty taking photo’s was on a high security military fighter base. It took some talking but I was given a photo pass and the only stipulation was that I had to make any photos available for inspection on demand. The MP’s never asked to see any of the photos.

Other times the clients has requested copies of all photos. This is never a problem because I usually make an album of the important shots for them anyway. With digital pictures now this is too easy.




Rick Kitson MBA P.Eng

Construction Project Management
From conception to completion

http://www.kitsonengineering.com