Take a Photo. AI Fills the Form
Your inspector takes a photo of any asset or defect. AI reads it and fills the inspection form automatically. No typing. No manual entry.
Quick Answer
Facade inspection software is a mobile-first system that runs the EWS1 assessments, cladding fire-performance reviews, condition surveys, Higher-Risk Building Gateway inspections, weather-tightness checks, and structural-anchor inspections behind every commercial and residential building facade, replacing paper EWS1 reports, PDF cladding folders, and Excel facade registers with one defensible record aligned to UK Building Safety Act 2022, BS 8414 large-scale fire test for non-loadbearing exterior cladding, BS 9414 facade fire performance, EWS1 form requirements, Hackitt Review recommendations, and local building regulation.
AI-Powered Features for Your Field Workflows
Everything your field team does on paper, Inspectly360 does automatically: faster, more accurate, and without the admin.
Speak. AI Writes It Down.
Inspectors speak their observations in any language. AI transcribes and fills the form in real time. Completely hands-free in the field.
Inspections Done. Report Ready.
The moment an inspection is submitted, a branded PDF, Excel, or CSV report generates automatically. No manual work. No waiting.
Connect Your Existing Tools.
Inspectly360 integrates with the tools your team already uses, including Zoho, Microsoft 365, and SAP. No double entry.
Live Dashboard. Every Site. Always On.
Your operations team sees completion rates, open issues, and compliance scores across all sites in real time. No chasing updates.
Before and After Inspectly360
What changes once facade inspection software runs on one mobile-first platform with photo proof and live dashboards.
Before Inspectly360
- EWS1 forms exist as PDF files signed off by a single facade engineer. Mortgage lenders require additional evidence; the FM team scrambles to compile cladding photos, test certificates, and remediation records from different folders.
- Higher-Risk Building Gateway documentation lives in disconnected systems. The Accountable Person cannot reliably produce the Golden Thread across design, construction, and occupation phases.
- Cladding system identification depends on memory and original drawings. After Grenfell, building owners discovered they did not know what cladding was actually installed.
- IRATA rope-access surveys produce paper survey reports; drone surveys produce gigabytes of imagery the FM team never gets through. Findings get missed because the volume is the problem.
- Facade defect records live in PDF folders. When a Defective Premises Act 1972 claim arrives 30 years after construction (post-Building Safety Act 2022 extension), half the records cannot be located.
After Inspectly360
- EWS1 assessments live as structured records with attached cladding system identification, BS 8414 fire-performance test certificates, photo evidence per panel, remediation history, and the named facade engineer's PII Ind certification. Lender review opens with the full record.
- Higher-Risk Building Gateway evidence trails carry across the construction phase with the Accountable Person assigned. Mandatory occurrence reporting integrates through structured incident capture; the Golden Thread maintains across phases.
- Every cladding panel ties to manufacturer, product code, batch, BS 8414 / BS 9414 fire test certificate, ACM grade if applicable, and installation record. The fire-performance record opens at scan rather than reconstruction.
- IRATA rope-access survey findings capture on tablet during the descent; drone imagery from DJI and Skydio ingests via API as structured payloads attached to the facade zone. AI defect detection scans imagery for cracked sealants, displaced panels, corroded anchors, and missing fire barriers.
- Configurable retention per regulatory framework (30 years under Defective Premises Act 1972 as amended by Building Safety Act 2022, 15 years for typical commercial fit-out claims, longer per residential warranty). Audit-grade event logs survive litigation hold.
What Is Facade Inspection Software, and How Do FM Directors Use It Across Building Portfolios?
Facade inspection software is a mobile-first system that runs the EWS1 assessments, cladding fire-performance reviews, condition surveys, Higher-Risk Building Gateway inspections, weather-tightness checks, and structural-anchor inspections behind every commercial and residential building facade, replacing paper EWS1 reports, PDF cladding folders, and Excel facade registers with one defensible record aligned to UK Building Safety Act 2022, BS 8414 large-scale fire test for non-loadbearing exterior cladding, BS 9414 facade fire performance, EWS1 form requirements, Hackitt Review recommendations, and local building regulation. Inspectly360 is built for FM directors, facade engineers, Accountable Persons under the Building Safety Act, and building owners who carry personal accountability for cladding fire safety, facade structural integrity, and residential safety post-Grenfell.
For the field team, the platform replaces clipboard EWS1 survey notes with offline-first capture on Android and iOS. The IRATA rope-access surveyor or facade engineer captures findings during descent, AI Visual Inspection flags cracked sealants, displaced panels, corroded anchors, and missing fire barriers from photos, and drone imagery from DJI and Skydio ingests via API as structured payloads. The survey closes on the device with cladding system identification, fire-performance certificate references, and remediation recommendations attached.
For FM directors and Accountable Persons, every facade survey, EWS1 assessment, cladding fire-performance review, and Higher-Risk Building Gateway inspection feeds the same data model. The Building Safety Regulator portal sees structured Gateway submissions; mortgage lenders see complete EWS1 evidence packages; building insurers see scored facade performance; residents see scoped read-only access to their building's safety record. The Defective Premises Act 1972 retention window (extended to 30 years for new claims and 15 years for legacy claims under Building Safety Act 2022) preserves the full record.
- Facade compliance aligns with Building Safety Act 2022 Gateway processes and Accountable Person obligations: Building Safety Act 2022
- EWS1 assessment templates align with the External Wall System form requirements: EWS1 — External Wall System Form
- Cladding fire-performance references BS 8414 large-scale fire test methodology: BS 8414 — Fire Performance of External Cladding Systems
How Does a Facade Inspection Programme Run from EWS1 Assessment to Gateway Review?
Facade inspection programmes follow Higher-Risk Building, EWS1, and condition-survey cycles; the five-step loop below is what Accountable Persons standardise.
- 1
Digitise the Facade Inspection Template Library
Import existing EWS1 assessment templates, cladding condition surveys, fire-barrier inspection forms, structural-anchor inspections, weather-tightness checks, and Higher-Risk Building Gateway templates into versioned digital programmes aligned to BS 8414, BS 9414, EWS1 form requirements, and Building Safety Act 2022.
- 2
Map Buildings, Facade Systems, and Fire-Performance Data
Define every building's facade systems: cladding manufacturer, product code, batch, BS 8414 fire test certificate, ACM grade if applicable, structural-anchor type, fire-barrier specification, glazing system, sealant system. The platform becomes the Golden Thread source for facade information.
- 3
Configure IRATA Access, Drone Survey, and Engineer Workflows
IRATA rope-access surveyors, drone survey contractors, structural engineers (PII Ind), and Accountable Persons each get scoped access. Drone API integrations ingest imagery from DJI, Skydio, and third-party survey providers as structured payloads.
- 4
Run EWS1, Cladding, and Gateway Inspections Offline
Field engineers capture findings offline during IRATA descents, ground-level surveys, and Gateway reviews. AI defect detection scans inspector photos and ingested drone imagery for cracked sealants, displaced panels, corroded anchors, missing fire barriers, and ACM identification.
- 5
Generate EWS1 Forms, Gateway Submissions, and Lender Packs
EWS1 forms with the named engineer's PII Ind details, Higher-Risk Building Gateway submissions, mortgage lender evidence packs, insurance audit submissions, and resident safety packs generate from the same record. Retention preserves through the full Defective Premises Act window.
How Should Accountable Persons Pilot Facade Inspections Without Disrupting Occupancy?
Answers to common long-tail questions, kept on one canonical page to avoid thin duplicate URLs.
Where Does Facade Inspection Software Fit Beside the Building Safety Regulator Portal?
Inspectly360 sits as the building owner's evidence layer beside the Building Safety Regulator's Gateway portal. The Gateway portal continues to run statutory Higher-Risk Building submissions. Inspectly360 produces the structured evidence the Accountable Person submits at Gateway One (design intent), Gateway Two (construction completion), and Gateway Three (occupation with mandatory occurrence reporting). The Golden Thread of information maintains across phases with versioned templates, named approvers, and audit-grade event logs.
What Should Accountable Persons Validate During Procurement?
Accountable Persons and FM directors should validate seven enterprise requirements: SSO via SAML or OIDC; SCIM-based facade engineer credential lifecycle (PII Ind, CABE, IFE); IRATA rope-access surveyor credentialing; drone API integration for DJI, Skydio, and third-party providers; configurable retention aligned to Defective Premises Act 1972 (30 years for new claims under Building Safety Act 2022); regional data residency; and integration to the corporate CMMS, IWMS, or building safety management system.
Security, Resident Data Residency, and Building Safety Audit Posture
Production facade programmes carry resident PII (for residential buildings), Accountable Person personal data, facade engineer PII Ind certifications, contractor data, and inspection evidence that the Building Safety Regulator, mortgage lenders, insurance auditors, and Defective Premises Act claimants may request decades later. Inspectly360 supports configurable retention, audit-grade event logs, encrypted at-rest evidence, regional data residency aligned to UK GDPR, and legal-hold flags.
Migration from Paper EWS1 Reports and PDF Cladding Folders
Existing paper EWS1 reports, PDF cladding folders, and Excel facade registers batch-import as searchable evidence against the same building, facade zone, and cladding system. Historical cladding system data (manufacturer, product code, batch, fire test certificate) seeds from existing records where available; gaps flag for facade engineer follow-up. The Golden Thread baseline establishes from the import; new inspections build forward.
Which Capabilities Help Facade Engineers Run EWS1, Cladding, and Condition Surveys?
The platform capabilities that power facade inspection software across every site.
Ready to Move Facade Inspection Off Paper?
Book a Free DemoHow Is This Different from Paper EWS1 Reports and PDF Cladding Folders?
FM directors and facade engineers comparing Inspectly360 to paper EWS1 reports, PDF cladding folders, Excel facade registers, and generic forms apps care about five things specific to facade: whether EWS1 evidence survives mortgage lender review, whether Building Safety Act 2022 Gateway obligations meet for Higher-Risk Buildings, whether cladding fire-performance data ties to test certificates rather than narrative, whether IRATA rope-access and drone surveys integrate as evidence, and whether the facade record survives the full Defective Premises Act window.
| Topic | Typical Gaps | With Inspectly360 |
|---|---|---|
| EWS1 evidence for mortgage lender review | EWS1 forms exist as PDF files signed off by a single facade engineer. Mortgage lenders require additional evidence; the FM team scrambles to compile cladding photos, test certificates, and remediation records from different folders. | EWS1 assessments live as structured records with attached cladding system identification, BS 8414 fire-performance test certificates, photo evidence per panel, remediation history, and the named facade engineer's PII Ind certification. Lender review opens with the full record. |
| Building Safety Act 2022 Gateway One/Two/Three obligations | Higher-Risk Building Gateway documentation lives in disconnected systems. The Accountable Person cannot reliably produce the Golden Thread across design, construction, and occupation phases. | Higher-Risk Building Gateway evidence trails carry across the construction phase with the Accountable Person assigned. Mandatory occurrence reporting integrates through structured incident capture; the Golden Thread maintains across phases. |
| Cladding fire-performance traceability to test certificates | Cladding system identification depends on memory and original drawings. After Grenfell, building owners discovered they did not know what cladding was actually installed. | Every cladding panel ties to manufacturer, product code, batch, BS 8414 / BS 9414 fire test certificate, ACM grade if applicable, and installation record. The fire-performance record opens at scan rather than reconstruction. |
| IRATA rope-access and drone survey integration | IRATA rope-access surveys produce paper survey reports; drone surveys produce gigabytes of imagery the FM team never gets through. Findings get missed because the volume is the problem. | IRATA rope-access survey findings capture on tablet during the descent; drone imagery from DJI and Skydio ingests via API as structured payloads attached to the facade zone. AI defect detection scans imagery for cracked sealants, displaced panels, corroded anchors, and missing fire barriers. |
| Retention through the Defective Premises Act window | Facade defect records live in PDF folders. When a Defective Premises Act 1972 claim arrives 30 years after construction (post-Building Safety Act 2022 extension), half the records cannot be located. | Configurable retention per regulatory framework (30 years under Defective Premises Act 1972 as amended by Building Safety Act 2022, 15 years for typical commercial fit-out claims, longer per residential warranty). Audit-grade event logs survive litigation hold. |
What Changes for FM Directors, Facade Engineers, Building Safety Regulators, and Residents?
What changes once facade inspection software is standardised on Inspectly360.
- FM Directors and Accountable Persons: One facade record per building that meets Building Safety Act 2022 Gateway obligations, EWS1 lender review, and Defective Premises Act 1972 retention.
- Facade Engineers and PII Ind Holders: EWS1 forms generate from structured field assessment with PII Ind certification attached. The form lender review opens with complete evidence.
- Building Owners and Property Investors: Cladding fire-performance traceability per building; post-Grenfell mortgage lender review opens with structured cladding identification rather than reconstruction.
- IRATA Rope-Access Surveyors and Drone Contractors: Field capture during descent and structured drone imagery ingestion. The 8-hour survey ends with the report already published.
- Building Safety Regulator: Higher-Risk Building Gateway submissions arrive structured with the Golden Thread intact.
- Mortgage Lenders: EWS1 evidence packs export with complete cladding system identification, fire test certificates, remediation history, and PII Ind engineer details.
- Residents (Higher-Risk Buildings): Scoped read-only access to their building's facade safety record under Building Safety Act 2022 resident-engagement obligations.
Which Facade Inspection Checklists Should FM Teams Start With?
Get started with inspection and audit checklist templates.
Inspections
Site Inspection Checklist
Standard site-level inspections for construction, safety, and compliance. Capture conditions, photos, and follow-ups in one place.
41,000+GET
Asset Management
Asset Inspection Checklist
Inspect assets and equipment: condition, location, photos, and maintenance history. Track condition over time.
28,900+GET
Work Orders
Work Order Checklist
Complete work orders with checklist items, photos, and sign-off. Track completion and proof of work.
31,800+GET
Maintenance
Maintenance Checklist
Preventive and corrective maintenance inspections. Log repairs, parts, and condition with photos and follow-ups.
27,400+GET
Which Mobile Apps Run Facade Walks on iOS and Android?
Use these apps to run inspections and audits.
Facade Inspection App
by Inspectly360
facadeinspectionfacilities
Inspect facade with structured checks, photo evidence, and corrective action tracking.
Get the App
Facade Inspection Mobile App
by Inspectly360
facadeinspectionfacilities
Run facade inspections on phones and tablets with offline forms, photo evidence, and instant reports.
Get the App
Facade Inspection Audit App
by Inspectly360
facadeauditfacilities
Audit facade inspection programmes with weighted scoring, photo evidence, and corrective action tracking.
Get the App
Facade Inspection Android App
by Inspectly360
facadeinspectionfacilities
Run facade inspections on Android phones and rugged tablets with offline forms and photo capture.
Get the App
Construction App
by Inspectly360
constructionchecklistfield
Execute construction apps workflows with field evidence capture and accountable follow-up actions.
Get the App
Frequently Asked Questions About Facade Inspection Software
How does facade inspection software handle EWS1 assessment for mortgage lender review?
EWS1 assessments are captured as structured records: external wall system identification, fire-performance test certificate references, ACM grade where applicable, the named facade engineer with PII Ind certification, and remediation status. The EWS1 form is generated as a branded PDF with that structured evidence attached. Mortgage lenders increasingly want more than the bare form, so the record also carries cladding system identification, BS 8414 test certificates, photo evidence per facade zone, remediation history, and the engineer's PII Ind details in one pack. Lender review then opens with complete evidence rather than triggering a round of follow-up requests, which is what slows a sale or a remortgage when the form arrives on its own.
How does the platform support Building Safety Act 2022 Higher-Risk Building obligations?
Higher-Risk Buildings, meaning those over 18 metres or 7 storeys with residential use, require structured information through Gateway One (design intent), Gateway Two (construction completion), and Gateway Three (occupation with mandatory occurrence reporting). Inspectly360 carries the Gateway evidence trail with the Accountable Person assigned to it, so responsibility is named rather than assumed. The Golden Thread of information is maintained across the construction phase, the handover, and the in-use phase, so the building's safety record is not lost when it changes hands. Mandatory occurrence reporting is handled through structured incident capture, so a safety occurrence is logged, routed, and evidenced in the same system that holds the rest of the building's record, ready for the Building Safety Regulator.
How does the platform handle cladding fire-performance traceability post-Grenfell?
Every cladding panel is tied to its manufacturer, product code, batch number, BS 8414 or BS 9414 large-scale fire-test certificate, ACM grade (Category 2, Category 3, or non-ACM), and installation date. Where the original construction records are incomplete, which is common in pre-2017 buildings, a facade engineer's assessment establishes the baseline, and any gaps are flagged for forensic investigation rather than quietly assumed safe. The cladding system identification database that results becomes the post-Grenfell Golden Thread that the Building Safety Regulator and mortgage lenders now expect to see. Because the data is structured per panel and zone rather than buried in a survey PDF, a question about a specific elevation can be answered directly instead of by re-reading a report.
How does the platform integrate with IRATA rope-access surveys and drone surveys?
IRATA rope-access surveyors capture findings on a tablet during descent with offline-first capture, so a survey on a high-rise facade with no signal still runs. The survey closes with structured findings per facade zone, photo evidence per panel, and the IRATA-certified surveyor's identity attached. Drone imagery from DJI, Skydio, and third-party providers is ingested through the API as structured payloads tied to the property and zone. AI defect detection then scans both the inspector and the drone imagery for the same defect categories, such as cracking, spalling, sealant failure, and displaced panels, so the two survey methods feed one consistent record. That lets a facade team combine rope access and drone coverage on the same building without reconciling two separate reports by hand.
How does retention work under the Defective Premises Act 1972 as amended by Building Safety Act 2022?
Retention is configured per claim window: 30 years for new claims under section 1 of the Defective Premises Act 1972 as extended by the Building Safety Act 2022, 15 years for legacy retrospective claims, and 12 years for residential JCT contracts under the original 1972 windows. Audit-grade event logs survive any litigation hold placed during the full retention window, so a record cannot be altered or purged while a claim is live. Because each claim type runs on its own clock against the record it applies to, a facade record can be held to the longest applicable window without forcing every document onto one blanket period. Legal-hold flags pause retention purges during active claims, which matters when a cladding dispute can run for years.
How does the platform support resident engagement under Building Safety Act 2022?
Higher-Risk Building residents have a right to structured information about their building's safety, and Inspectly360 supports that through a scoped read-only resident portal. Residents see the building's facade safety record at the level intended for them: the EWS1 status, a cladding fire-performance summary, the current outstanding facade issues, the planned facade maintenance, and the Accountable Person's contact details. The access is read-only and scoped to their own building, so residents get transparency without being able to alter the record or see another building's data. That gives the Accountable Person a defensible way to meet the engagement duty, because the information residents receive is drawn from the same live safety record the duty-holder works from rather than a separately written summary that can fall out of date.
Explore More Facade Inspection Software Apps, Checklists, and Industries
Facade Inspection Software on Inspectly360 connects directly to the inspection apps, checklist templates, forms, industries, and adjacent solutions linked below.
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