Help & Advice
How To Use The App
To change or upload a new logo, firstly open the MySiteWitness app.
1. Click the “Stamp Icon” located in the top right corner.
2. Ensure the "Logo" is selected on. Then click the "Logo" icon.
3. From here you can select previously loaded logos or click the "plus" icon to load a new one.
4. From here you can either "Choose Photo" from your devices photo album or "Browse" to upload a file from your your devices file library.
5. Once you have selected your logo you can scale, crop, zoom, rotate and edit the image ratio. For best results we recommend using logos with transparent background.
Once you have completed editing your logo select "Done".
6. Your logo should now be selected. Click "Back" in the top left corner.
7. Your logo should now be included in the stamp area.
Once you have captured a photo or video, it is stored locally on the device until such time as you choose to share or save it somewhere else.
Within the app you can view your photos and videos in the album area. This can be found by clicking the bottom left corner. thumbnail.
Once you have enter the album screen, you can see the most latest photo or video. From here you can click the "Album" icon in the bottom left corner to see all photos and videos.
Here you can select multiple or single photos and videos to send and share.
In latest photo screen you can share using the "Share" icon located in the bottom right.
Firstly ensure you have selected the photo or video in the top right above the image.
Before you start sharing, one of the easiest ways to easily and safely share your photos and videos is using a cloud storage platform such as "Dropbox". Click Here to quickly set up a free account.
On your device ensure you have "Dropbox" installed and you are logged in before continuing.
Once you are ready to share, click the "Share" icon in the bottom left corner.
This will open the sharing function. Here you can typically send, save and share your photos.
We strongly recommend not emailing the photos as many of the mail app embed the photo in the body of the email which removes the automatic file naming the MySiteWitness app a given it. This will mean the recipient will have to rename the image upon receipt.
Therefore we strongly recommend using a cloud platform. To do this simply select the "Save to Dropbox" icon.
From here you can check the file name is correct and select which folder within your Dropbox account the photo or videos are saved.
Additionally, you can rename your image/video if required.
Within Dropbox you can create folders for different project and sub folders for different plots to easily store your photo and video evidence.
Using the Dropbox application you can easily share complete folders with other members of your team who can all access and contribute to the evidence requirements.
This type of cloud setup such as "Dropbox" can provide easy access to all sizes of site and office teams to easily collate, store and share the evidence with other parties such as the building control inspector, client or energy assessor.
We understand other cloud platforms and applications exist, however the principles are similar and we suggest you try your prefer platform of choice before fully committing to its use.
Please note MySiteWitness cannot take responsibilty for other third party software or applications. Therefore we strongly advise you backup your photos/video saved on your device regularly.
Common Questions
Tap on the watermark area normally located at the bottom of the start screen (shown below).
This will open up a user input area (shown below). Allowing you to quickly enter your company name, the project name and plot number and select the appropriate photo reference. This will ensure the automatic file naming is correct and also helps easily identify the project and type of photo evidence to others such as your building control and energy assessor.
You only need to input the company, project name and plot once. You can select previous entries by using the dropdown icon (shown below) to help speed this up.
Once you have entered all the project details, simply hit save and return to your camera view. You are now ready to take your first photograph.
Within the app, you will find a drop-down menu listing various photographic options that correspond with those specified in Appendix B of Building Regulations Part L 2021. This feature aims to streamline the process and guide users in capturing the required images.
Please note however, the specific photographs needed will vary depending on the type of project. It is advisable to discuss these details with your energy assessor and building inspector, who can provide precise guidance on the necessary images.
The app ensures that all photographs are geotagged with location, time, and date information and automatically prepares file names for easy sharing. However, some manual selections are required before taking each photograph include the photo reference, project name and plot number.
The app requires you to add a (free text) note to before allowing you to capture a photo. This will helps you identify key information about the photo that can help the energy assessor better understand the photo. This may include denoting the thickness of insulation, draw attention to something in the photo, highlight the serial number of a product.
The app automatically names the photos to include the company name, project name, plot number, photo reference number and post fixed with date and time to ensure all photos are unique. This help you ensure compliance with Building Regulations Part L 2021.
This is an important feature of the app as many geo-location devices will give random naming, usually just a series of numbers and letters, meaning someone will have to download and rename the photo separately to ensure it is named correctly. This is a requirement of Part L 2021 section B8, which requires the following:-
" Each image file name should include a plot number and detail reference according to the numbers used in paragraph B7. For example, Plot 1 eaves detail would be P1/3b"
Additionally, this helps other users understand what the photo is without the need to open the image. This can really reduce time spend managing and organising photos.
Here's a quick look at what the My Site Witness file naming looks like when viewed using an iPhone.
You can email photos, but iPhones using the standard mail app usually embed the image into the email body rather than attaching it as a file, making it harder for recipients to save and organize. This is because when a photo is embedded into an email instead of attached the file naming is lost together with the native metedata.
Dropbox is preferred method by many users for its ease of setup, sharing and organizing. If you really need to email photos we'd suggest using a mail service such as Outlook as this is known to attach a photo rather than embedding them.
While the app does not require Wi-Fi access to function, it does rely on GPS to geolocate the photographs and embed that information into the photographic evidence. This means that while you don't need a full mobile signal, a basic level of connectivity is required for the GPS to work correctly. Often, even in areas with weak mobile signals, there’s enough connectivity for satellite location to operate.
Once the photographs are taken and the GPS data is embedded, you can upload the photos to what ever storage platform you like once a stronger signal or Wi-Fi is available, as the photos are always stored locally on the device until such time you choose to share them.
No, to clarify photos taken on one user's device are not visible on another user's device, even if they are part of the same company. Each user requires their own license, and each license is tied to a single user. The photos and evidence captured via the app are stored locally on the device and are not automatically shared or uploaded to cloud storage.
This design ensures that the app remains functional in environments with limited connectivity, such as building sites, where Wi-Fi or strong mobile signals may not be available. That said, if users need to share photos, they can do so through third-party file-sharing services like Dropbox. We provide recommendations and guides for this in our help area to assist with seamless file sharing if needed.
Troubleshooting
If you have upgraded or purchased the Pro version but can't capture images please try the following actions before contacting us.
Check your purchase/upgrade was successful.
Close the app completely and re-open the app.
Delete or Uninstall the app and reinstall from your app store.
Restore the purchase through your devices subscriptions manager.
If this hasn't resolved your problem, please contact us for further help. Please ensure you have can provide information about your device such as:
Make & Model of device.
Version of app installed on your device. This can be found at the bottom of the in app menu.
You can't change the address manually. The map and location come from google mapping services via the GPS location on your device. Sometimes newer roads or sites aren't yet available through the mapping services so the app can only provide the address most know closest. Also sometimes the GPS location can be out on the device so turning it on/off can help make recalibrate the pin location to be more accurate if your device is out of sync slightly.
Additionally, we would recommend using the Project Name field to provide SAP assessors the project address. Sometimes this can be more useful for referring to the project/development name which can be different to the actual address.
To delete a photo simply go to your photo album library on the device. Here you’ll find a My Site Witness folder/album which would have created when you installed the app. From here you can delete and share photos taken on the app.
IOS Devices
1. Go to photos on your home screen
2. Go to Albums tab
3. Open the My Site Witness folder
4. Here you can easily select, delete and share photos taken on the app
If you have lost your iPhone and have replaced it. It is likely that when you reinstall the My Site Witness app you'll need to give permission to upon reinstallation. If you don't your likely receive an error saying "All Photos Permission Denied"
To fix this you'll need to allow the app access to your photos and other settings.
To do this following the instructions below.
On the iPhone go to settings.
Scroll down to the list of your installed apps
Find My Site Witness and select it
Make sure the following are settings are set/selected
This should fix the problem.
If for some reason the file name isn't correct, i.e the plot number on the stamp says for example "Plot 1" however the file name when saved is something else, here's how you can check its setup correctly within the app. We suggest you do this before taking any further photos, as you can't amend the file name afterwards unless you do this manually outside of the My Site Witness app.
1. Always make sure you are running the latest version of the app. Visit your app store and update (if required), as this can often solve most common problems. If the problem still persists, continue with the below.
2. Make a note of the plot number on the stamp home screen (shown below).
3. Click on the "Stamp Settings" icon shown across the top of the screen (see below).
4. Click on the "File Name" icon at the bottom of the list (see below).
5. Here you'll be able to see what the file name will be based on the current stamp inputs. You should be able to see that the plot number matches that of the home screen stamp input shown in figure 2 above. If for some reason it doesn't please contact us for further help.
Subscription management and billing for MySiteWitness are all handled through the App Store or Google Play Store, depending on your device. As such, cancellations must be processed through these platforms.
To cancel your subscription on an iPhone:
Open the Settings app.
Tap your name at the top of the screen.
Tap "Subscriptions."
Select the MySiteWitness subscription.
Tap "Cancel Subscription" and follow the on-screen instructions.
To cancel your subscription on an Android device:
Open the Google Play Store.
Tap the menu icon (three horizontal lines) in the top-left corner.
Tap "Subscriptions."
Select the MySiteWitness subscription.
Tap "Cancel Subscription" and follow the on-screen instructions.
If you require further assistance with the cancellation process, please refer to the support resources provided by Apple App Store or Google Play.