The new combi’s fired, you’ve commissioned it, the customer’s put the kettle on and you’re due across town at two. The easy thing is to load the van and leave the paperwork for tonight. Tonight turns into Sunday, Sunday turns into “did I register that one?”, and five weeks later you’re on the phone to a manufacturer about a guarantee that’s been cut short. The last fifteen minutes on site decide how much of that you ever have to deal with.
Photos before the tools go back in the van
Photos are the cheapest insurance you have. They settle warranty claims, “you scratched my worktop” disputes and “what did we fit there?” at the next service. Take the same set every time, so you never have to think about it:
Then file them straight away, in one album or job folder per address, named the same way every time: postcode, surname, date. A photo you can’t find in eighteen months doesn’t help you.
The paperwork with a clock on it
You know these jobs. The problem isn’t knowing them, it’s that they each have a deadline and none of them reminds you. Here’s where the deadlines sit after a boiler install:
Benchmark. Fill in the commissioning checklist fully and leave it with the customer, with the manufacturer’s instructions. Point out the service record pages, because whoever services it next needs them. Manufacturers lean on it: Baxi, for one, says the installer must complete the Benchmark checklist for the warranty.
Guarantee registration. Vaillant, Ideal and Baxi all say on their own sites that a boiler must be registered within 30 days of installation to get the full guarantee. Miss it and it drops back to the standard period, which Vaillant and Ideal both give as 12 months. Other manufacturers and other products set their own terms, and they change, so check the one you’ve just fitted. Register it before you leave the driveway if you can; it’s a few minutes on your phone with the serial number in front of you.
Building Regulations. In England and Wales, the Gas Safe Register says a new gas heat-producing appliance, such as a boiler or fire, must be notified to the local authority within 30 days of installation. As a registered business you can do that through Gas Safe, and they send the customer a Building Regulations Compliance Certificate. This doesn’t apply in Scotland, which has its own system. Tell the customer the certificate will arrive in the post or by email, so they don’t ring you asking what it is.
None of these is hard. Each has a deadline, and none of them reminds you. That’s why they get missed.
Invoice on the day
The best time to send an invoice is while the customer is still standing in a warm house. Everyone agrees the job’s done, the price is fresh, and nobody’s had time to wonder what the extra fitting was for. An invoice that goes out three weeks later is easy for them to put off.
Tell them before you send it: “I’m sending the invoice to your phone now. Bank details are at the bottom, and it’s due within seven days.” Use whatever terms you work to, but say them out loud. If you take card on site, take it then. If you took a deposit, show it on the invoice so the balance is obvious.
One decision rule worth having: no invoice gets left for the evening. If you can’t send it from the driveway, send it from the next stop before you start work.
Set up the next visit before you leave
Two things take thirty seconds now and save a lot of work later.
The service reminder. Put it in the diary for about eleven months’ time, so you can book it before the anniversary rather than after. Many manufacturers make annual servicing a condition of the longer guarantee (Baxi says so plainly), so mention it: “To keep the guarantee, it needs a service every year. I’ll message you in the autumn.” That’s a reason to book you that isn’t a sales pitch. We’ve written more on reminders that actually get booked.
The review ask. The heat’s on and they’re pleased. Ask in person and text the link from the van. The exact words are in asking for reviews.
The whole routine on one screen
Screenshot this, or write it on a card in the van. The point is to do it the same way every time, in the same order, so nothing depends on remembering.
On a repair or a service, steps 2 to 4 mostly fall away, but the rest still applies. And none of this is about speed. It’s about never doing the same job twice: once on site and again from memory on a Sunday.
Datify can take some of the typing off you. Tell it on WhatsApp “Mark the Elm Road install complete and add the notes” and it updates the job and confirms the change went through. Ask for the invoice and it drafts one from the job details for you to approve, and tracks who’s paid against Xero. It can draft completion reports and service records too; the forms are set up with each business during the pilot. The Benchmark, the guarantee registration and the Gas Safe notification are still yours to do and sign. See job updates. There’s a 14-day free trial, then it’s £37 a month.
Finish every job the same way before you drive off: photos, Benchmark completed and left, the guarantee registered (often within 30 days, but check the manufacturer), the install notified through Gas Safe within 30 days in England and Wales, the invoice sent with the terms said out loud, a service reminder at eleven months, and the review asked in person.
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