Frequently asked questions

Every finalized record is locked server-side with an authoritative timestamp, hash-chained to the previous record for the same property (UPRN), geo-stamped, and covered by an append-only audit log. No app or API path can alter or delete finalized evidence, and any out-of-band change — even at the infrastructure level — breaks the cryptographic chain and is detectable by our verifier. Not even we can edit history undetectably.

Yes. HousingSurvey Pro is CMS/HMS-agnostic: a HACT-aligned REST API, signed webhooks, SFTP flat-file EDI, scheduled CSV exports and a Microsoft Power Automate connector mean it connects to NEC, Civica, MRI, Aareon and virtually any other system your IT team runs.

Yes. Contractor organisations work under scoped grants from the landlord: their surveyors capture evidence against your properties, and the finalized records belong to your evidence chain.

Per surveyor, per month, billed to the organisation — no per-report fees and no app-store purchases. See the pricing page for tiers.

Yes — branded, org-themable PDF renderings (survey evidence reports, works-completed packs, resident letters at every case stage) are generated on demand from the sealed record. The hash-chained record itself remains the authoritative deliverable, flowing into your case-management system by API, webhook, EDI or SFTP; a PDF is a rendering of that evidence, never a replacement for it.

Yes. Capture is offline-first: basements, voids and tower-block cores with no signal still let a surveyor complete a full record, which syncs automatically the moment connectivity returns.

Yes. Contractor organisations work under scoped grants issued by the landlord: their surveyors capture evidence against the landlord's properties, and the finalized records belong to the landlord's own evidence chain, not a separate contractor silo.

Microsoft Entra ID via OIDC or SAML, configured per organisation, with SCIM for automatic joiner/leaver provisioning — your directory stays the source of truth for who has access.

No. Create your organisation free in the portal, invite users, connect your systems and upgrade with a card — entirely self-serve on Team and Platform. Enterprise and invoice billing involve a short conversation because terms are negotiated; contact us any time you want one.

Only active surveyors — people capturing evidence in the field app — consume surveyor seats.

Owner, org-admin, manager, coordinator and finance roles are office users — the people running compliance, work orders and billing rather than capturing evidence. Each tier includes a bundle free (Solo 2, Team 5, Platform 15, Enterprise unlimited); extra office users above the bundle are £6/user/month on Team and Platform.

Yes — always, on every paid tier, unlimited. Viewers get read-only access to evidence and dashboards with no create/edit/export rights, so spreading visibility to stakeholders costs nothing. Solo is capped at 3 viewers.

Yes — annual is 10× the monthly price, so two months free, whether paid by card or invoice.

Yes. Team and Platform can move to annual invoice billing (PO number, BACS/bank transfer, agreed payment terms) — contact us and we'll set it up; card self-serve remains available throughout. Enterprise is invoiced by default with negotiated terms.

You drop to the free Solo plan automatically. Every record, photo and audit trail stays intact and exportable — evidence is never held hostage.

Yes. The iOS and Android apps are free to install with no in-app purchases; access is granted by your organisation and billed per surveyor seat on the web.

Yes — SFTP is a Platform-tier feature, alongside the REST API, webhooks and EDI exports it's typically paired with. That covers connecting your own SFTP server, sending reports/letters/invoices to it, pulling in property/UPRN, SOR or tenancy data, and automatic nightly EDI-to-SFTP delivery.

Every plan, including free Solo, puts your logo and brand colour on survey reports, works-completed packs and resident letters. Team and above additionally unlock full PDF theming — a dedicated theme colour, choice of font and cover layout — across all three document types.

No. Firestore, Storage, Cloud Functions and Authentication are all pinned to the Google Cloud London region (europe-west2) in the codebase itself, not by policy — there is no configuration path that stores or processes tenant data outside the UK.

Not through any client or API path, by any role, including our own staff accounts — enforced by database security rules and covered by an automated test suite. Every sealed record is also hash-chained to the one before it for its property: any change made after sealing, by any means including direct database access, breaks the chain and is detected by our nightly verifier. Not even we can edit history undetectably. Corrections create superseding records; originals survive.

Each finalized record embeds the SHA-256 hash of its canonical content, chained to the previous record for the same UPRN (property reference). A nightly verifier recomputes every chain end to end and records its clean runs, so the absence of tampering is provable, not merely assumed.

The platform is designed against Cyber Essentials and ISO/IEC 27001 controls from the first commit; formal certification is on the roadmap and not yet held. We do not claim certification we don't have — contact us for our current security design notes and DPA.

API keys, SCIM tokens and webhook signing secrets are shown once at creation and stored only as SHA-256 hashes thereafter — we cannot retrieve them either. Webhook payloads are HMAC-signed so receivers can verify authenticity.

Under the Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023, social landlords in England must investigate reported damp and mould hazards and begin repairs within fixed timescales, with emergency hazards acted on fastest. Scotland has legislated its own version. The exact timescales are being phased in — but the direction is fixed deadlines with evidence of compliance.

When a case reaches the Housing Ombudsman or court, the landlord's defence is its record: when the report arrived, when it was inspected, what was found, what was done. Records assembled after the fact carry little weight; records created at the moment of inspection, provably unaltered since, carry a great deal.

Finalized records are locked server-side with a server-set timestamp, cryptographically chained to the previous record for the same property, and covered by an append-only audit log. A verification sweep recomputes every chain nightly. Exported evidence bundles include the chain proof.

The Awaab's Law timescales came into force for the social rented sector in England on 27 October 2025, initially covering emergency hazards and damp and mould. Further HHSRS hazard categories are phased in during 2026, with the remaining hazards (except overcrowding) following in 2027. The framework is confirmed to extend to the private rented sector through the Renters' Rights Act.

The investigation and repair windows are counted in working days, while the emergency make-safe obligation is counted in hours. Because the exact windows are being phased in by hazard type, always confirm the current statutory figures that apply to the specific hazard and tenure before relying on them.

In broad terms: (1) investigate the reported hazard within the statutory window; (2) provide the tenant with a written summary of the findings; (3) begin repairs within a further set period; and, running in parallel, (4) make safe any emergency hazard within 24 hours. Each stage needs a dated, contemporaneous record to be demonstrable.

From 27 October 2025, social landlords in England must investigate a significant damp and mould hazard within 10 working days of becoming aware, provide a written summary of findings within 3 working days of the investigation ending, and make the property safe within 5 working days of the investigation. Emergency hazards must be made safe within 24 hours.

An emergency hazard is one that presents an imminent and significant risk of harm — for example a serious leak, electrical danger, gas safety issue or risk of collapse. These must be investigated and made safe as soon as reasonably practicable and within 24 hours.

The 27 October 2025 timescales apply to the social rented sector in England. The government has confirmed the Renters' Rights Act will extend Awaab's Law to the private rented sector, with further hazards phased in during 2026 and 2027.

For the social rented sector in England, Awaab's Law requires you to investigate a reported damp and mould hazard within a fixed period, give the tenant a written summary of the findings, and begin repairs within a further set period — with emergency hazards made safe within 24 hours. The duties came into force on 27 October 2025 for emergency hazards and damp and mould, with further HHSRS hazards phased in through 2026 and 2027. The clock and the evidence are both your responsibility to demonstrate.

A CMS records what your staff typed and when they saved it — which is editable after the fact and carries little evidential weight at the Housing Ombudsman. What defends the association is the contemporaneous field record: captured on site at the time, geo-stamped to the property, and provably unaltered since. HousingSurvey Pro produces that record and then feeds it into your CMS, so you keep your system of record and gain a defensible system of evidence.

Yes. Contractor organisations work under scoped grants from the landlord: their operatives capture evidence against your properties (by UPRN), and every finalized record belongs to your evidence chain, not theirs. You see the whole stock in one portal regardless of who did the inspection.

Finalized records are locked server-side with an authoritative timestamp, hash-chained to the previous record for the same property, and covered by an append-only audit log. A verification sweep recomputes every chain nightly, and exported evidence bundles carry the chain proof — so neither a contractor, nor a member of staff, nor even we can alter history undetectably.

The statutory duty sits with the landlord, but in practice the evidence is created by whoever attends the property — and that's usually you. If your inspection records aren't contemporaneous and defensible, the association can't demonstrate compliance, which puts your contract and your reputation at risk. Increasingly, associations require their contractors to capture evidence to a defined standard.

Your organisation is granted scoped access to the landlord's properties. Your operatives capture geo-stamped, tamper-evident records against those properties by UPRN, and each finalized record becomes part of the landlord's chain — visible to them in their portal in real time. You demonstrate the work was done, on time, to standard, without emailing photos around.

No. Your surveyors capture against whichever landlord has granted your organisation access; the evidence lands in the relevant landlord's chain automatically. It's the same field app and the same workflow whether you're on one association's stock or several.

A contractor-side record that you attended, when, and what you found and did — provably unaltered — so that if a case is scrutinised later, your position is defensible independently of the landlord's system. It's the difference between 'we say we fixed it' and 'here is the contemporaneous, tamper-evident proof'.

The costs stack up in layers: Housing Ombudsman findings and compensation orders; disrepair claims and legal fees where records can't be produced; re-inspection and repeat visits when the original evidence is incomplete; regulatory scrutiny from the Regulator of Social Housing; and the reputational cost of a case that could have been defended with a contemporaneous record. None of these require the association to have done the wrong thing — only to be unable to prove it did the right thing.

Per surveyor, per month, billed to the organisation — no per-report fees and no app-store purchases. PO numbers, BACS/bank transfer and payment terms are a normal part of how we work with housing associations and councils. See the pricing page for tiers.

Mainly from avoided repeat visits and re-inspections, faster case handling because evidence is complete first time, reduced disrepair exposure because records are defensible, and staff time saved by not retyping field notes into the CMS. We don't publish a fabricated ROI figure — the honest calculation depends on your stock size, claim history and current process, and the pricing/case-handling inputs are all transparent.

Within 3 working days of the investigation ending — day 13 overall for a significant damp and mould hazard, counting from the 10 working days allowed to investigate. The clock runs on working days, so weekends and bank holidays don't count.

Yes. Awaab's Law guidance is explicit that the tenant must receive a written summary even when the investigation finds no significant hazard — it must explain why no further action is being taken, not just confirm that action is happening.

GOV.UK guidance does not mandate a specific format, but it must be written, given to the tenant (not just logged internally), and dated so the 3-working-day clock is evidenced. Most landlords issue it as a letter or portal message referencing the case.

Damp and mould growth is its own hazard profile under HHSRS. A hazard scores Category 1 (mandatory local-authority enforcement) at 1,000 points or above; below that it's Category 2 (moderate or low risk, discretionary enforcement). The score comes from the likelihood of harm over the next 12 months combined with the severity of the harm outcome, assessed against the most vulnerable plausible occupant age group, not just the actual tenant.

Not automatically. Awaab's Law's 24-hour emergency track is for hazards presenting an imminent and significant risk of harm — a smaller, more urgent set than every Category 1 finding. A Category 1 damp and mould hazard that isn't imminent typically follows the standard 10/3/5-working-day track, not the 24-hour one.

The surveyor. HHSRS scoring is a professional judgement against a published methodology (likelihood and harm-outcome bands); software can structure the assessment and apply the published formula consistently, but the on-site judgement calls remain the surveyor's.

With an organisation API key as a bearer token (Authorization: Bearer hsp_live_…), minted by an org-admin in the management portal under Integrations → API keys and scoped to exactly what the integration needs. The MCP tools enforce the same scopes as REST API v1, and every call is written to the organisation's append-only audit log. Full detail: https://housingsurvey.pro/auth.md

Read work orders and their statutory-clock timestamps, list finalized evidence, verify a record's tamper-evident hash, and raise or assign work orders — all scoped. It is a read-and-safely-act server, not a bulk-export firehose.

MCP server card at /.well-known/mcp/server-card.json (also mirrored at /.well-known/mcp.json), Agent Skills index at /.well-known/agent-skills/index.json, OAuth Protected Resource metadata at /.well-known/oauth-protected-resource, API Catalog at /.well-known/api-catalog, and the OpenAPI 3.0 spec at https://api.housingsurvey.pro/openapi.yaml.

No. Neither REST API v1 nor the MCP server has a billing route or tool — access is read-and-safely-act against an already-provisioned organisation only. Buying, upgrading and seat changes are Stripe-hosted checkout actions a human completes in the management portal. Full detail, including why agentic-commerce discovery protocols like x402, MPP, UCP, ACP and AP2 aren't published on this domain, is at https://housingsurvey.pro/payments.md.

Not quite. AwaabSafe is a deadline-tracking and tenant-reporting layer — a QR code for tenants to report a hazard, and automated statutory-deadline calculation and alerts. HousingSurvey Pro is a field evidence-capture app plus management portal: surveyors record geo-stamped, tamper-evident, hash-chained evidence on site, which flows into your case-management system by API, webhook, EDI or SFTP. The two products solve adjacent but different problems.

Not on its public site as of this review — pricing isn't listed, so we can't compare it here. HousingSurvey Pro's pricing is public: free to start, then £29-£99 per surveyor per month depending on tier. Check AwaabSafe directly for current pricing.

PocketSurvey's own pricing page lists its Damp & Mould software at £125 + VAT per user per month (after a discounted £25 + VAT first month), with volume discounts for multiple users. HousingSurvey Pro starts free and its paid tiers run £29-£99 per surveyor per month. Always check each vendor's current pricing page before deciding — published prices change.

No — PocketSurvey is a general building-surveying platform (an app designer and template editor) used across several inspection sectors, with a damp & mould module aimed partly at Awaab's Law reporting. HousingSurvey Pro is built specifically for housing associations, councils and their repairs contractors, with CMS integration (API, webhooks, EDI, SFTP) as a core feature rather than an add-on.

You can, and many landlords still do today — but a spreadsheet or a scanned form has no tamper-evidence: any editable file can be changed after the fact with no trace, which is precisely what the Housing Ombudsman and disrepair claims scrutinise. A purpose-built evidence system doesn't replace your surveyor's judgement, but it timestamps and locks the record the moment it's finalised.

Not the deadlines themselves — a well-run team can hit those with a spreadsheet. The risk is proving it later: a disrepair claim or Ombudsman complaint often arrives months after the event, and a record that anyone could have edited in the meantime is weaker evidence than one that was locked and hash-chained on the day.