“We’re saving a couple hundred thousand dollars a year by covering our tails, by having documented evidence.”

Kyro Builders is a Virginia-based roofing, solar, and exterior company, co-founded by firefighters Kyle Billips and Robert Oliver in 2014. Each was taking on remodeling jobs during off days from the station to make some extra money, helping one another on each other’s jobs. 

But as word of the quality and reliability of the work spread from family to friends to friends of friends, they decided to form Kyro Builders and hired their fellow firefighters as some of their first employees. With their team’s unique background in emergency services, they knew firsthand the importance of documenting everything.

The team was capturing photos on their personal phones, but they kept running into issues with limited storage, broken phones, and employees not wanting to clutter their phones with work photos. They even tried handing out work phones, but more often than not, those didn’t make it out of the truck.

Because they lacked photo proof, they estimated that they were paying ​“a couple hundred thousand” dollars for preexisting damage—ripped hot tub covers, cracked driveways, and torn window screens — that homeowners may or may not have known were damaged before their team’s arrival. And since they are full-time firefighters, they needed a system in place to confidently rely on the team to manage jobs while they have limited access to their phones during their 24-hour shifts.

Kyro Builders first heard about CompanyCam through their partnership with Atlas Roofing. They credit the trusting relationship they’ve built with the Atlas team as part of the reason for giving CompanyCam a go: “[Our Atlas rep] said, ​‘Hey, we’re partnering with CompanyCam. They’re great. If you’re not using it, you really need to check it out. It’s the best way to manage photos.”

After rolling it out, ​“the guys immediately loved it,” and management started getting more and more photos from the job site. As part of their process, their team walks the house twice, documenting every screen, shutter, and gutter before they even put on their tool belts.

These photos, along with time and date stamps, give them the confidence that everything is being documented, so that everyone can operate on the same page. Their documentation even helped them get a $40,000 lawsuit dismissed.

Consistent documentation also helps with conversations around change orders. As roofing jobs progress, their team numbers damaged materials with spray paint, snaps a photo in CompanyCam, and explains why it’s being replaced. They then install the new decking, take another picture, and continue along. They then share these with customers to explain why they had additional line items on their invoice: ​“This conversation is a lot easier once people can see why. [Customers] appreciate that.”