A Proficiency member shares his thoughts and experience of data collection

I qualified as a Domestic Energy Assessor about a year and a half ago, and signed up with an accreditation scheme soon after. I then followed the approach to assessments I learned in my training.

This was centred around completing paper-based assessment forms, so I carried forms with me as well as pens, a ruler and spare paper for drawing floorplans. My rucksack was heavy and it wasn’t long before I had a pile of paperwork accumulating at home.

A few months later I attended an NDEA training course to expand my knowledge and I took away a useful tip from the trainer on that course. This would help bring to an end the rising pile of paperwork I had at home and enable me to walk around assessments using just an iPad and ‘pencil’.

I do now use an app from my accreditation scheme to record assessment data and upload photos automatically, but now I also use a note taking app called Good Notes (alternatives exist) for drawing floorplans.

This is a useful tool because it enables me to

• Import .pdf documents to the app via email (perhaps floorplans lifted from Rightmove and printed as .pdf, or floorplans provided by clients) – or draw a floorplan from scratch.
• Annotate those floorplans using the iPad and an Apple pencil (I use a cheap clone pencil from eBay)
• Export the floorplan as .pdf or .jpg either via email, or straight to OneDrive / iCloud or save locally to the iPad and then import into my accreditation scheme’s app.

I was also able to complete the ‘paper based’ RDSAP10 assessment forms on the iPad electronically in the leadup to 15^th June 2025 before the new version of my accreditation scheme’s app was released.

I’m paying about £10 per year for the notes app, but a one off payment option is available. For me this solution works well and I’m only carrying an iPad and ‘pencil’ around with me on assessments.

The above is an example of a floorplan I’ve annotated in the past. In this example the Polycam app was used to scan the ground floor of the property, and a screenshot taken from that app to paste into Good Notes before being annotated.

There are other approaches to floorplans, including floorplan apps, but this solution works for me, and perhaps it might work for you too.

Published 23-08-2025

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