You prove a site was plowed or salted with a record made at the site during the visit: start and finish times, a GPS position on the property, photos with the time and place, the material put down, and who was there. A record made on the night answers a disputed invoice or a slip-and-fall claim far better than notes written up later.
This is general information, not legal advice. For a specific claim, talk to your insurer and a lawyer where the property is.
Quick answer
- Record every visit, plowing and de-icing alike, as it happens.
- Capture five things: times, GPS, photos, material and crew.
- Never edit what was recorded on the night. Add a note instead.
- Keep the full record yourself, and send the client a short report of the visit.
- Keep records for as long as a claim could still be brought, and ask your lawyer or insurer how long that is where you work.
The five records that prove a visit
| Record | What good looks like | What it answers |
|---|---|---|
| Start and finish time | Captured when the crew starts and finishes, not typed in later | When the site was serviced, and for how long |
| GPS position | From the crew’s phone or vehicle, at the property | That the crew was at this site, not the lot next door |
| Photos | Taken on site, each with the time and place | What the surfaces looked like when the crew was there |
| Material | Product and amount, logged at that site for that visit | Whether, when and how much it was salted |
| Crew | Who was on the visit | Who to ask about it later |
A de-icing visit on a night with no snow needs its own record. Snow and de-icing are separate visits, and ice can form on nights with no snow to plow.
What makes a record believable
- It was made at the time. Phone records carry the time and place from the device. A log filled in at the end of the night, or the end of the month, invites the question of whether it was reconstructed.
- It is the same every visit. Records kept only on some nights look selective; records kept on every visit look like routine.
- Nothing was changed later. If you need to correct something, add a dated note and leave the original as it was.
- It matches the contract. Your trigger depth and the surfaces you agreed to service decide what you were required to do. The contract clauses guide covers both.
When a client says you weren’t there
- Pull the visits for that site on the dates in question.
- Send the times and photos for each visit.
- If they question the amount of salt, check your material log for those visits. You decide whether to share the amounts.
- If the visit fell outside the contract’s triggers, say why: the client called you out, or drifting closed an entrance.
When a slip-and-fall claim arrives
A claim can reach you weeks or months after the storm, naming a date, a time and a place. Pull every visit at that site around then, tell your insurer, and talk to a lawyer before you reply. Leave the original records as they are.
Our slip-and-fall documentation guide covers what a defence needs. In Ontario, the Occupiers’ Liability Act sets a 60-day written notice for snow and ice injury claims; see Ontario’s 60-day notice.
Paper or an app
Paper works if it is filled in at the site during the visit; the free salt log template has the fields. Its weakness is that it is easy to fill in later and hard to tie to a time and place. Photos carrying the time and location close most of that gap.
How Icey Software records it
We make Icey Software. Its crew app, Field Mode, records each visit as it happens: start and finish times, GPS, the crew, and photos at every site, each with the time it was taken and, when the phone recorded one, the GPS position. The crew logs the salt or de-icer with “Log material”. With no signal, all of it is saved on the phone with the time the crew tapped it and syncs when the signal comes back.
Every completed visit gets a site report with the time it was completed and the photos, kept on the job. A new account starts with client report emails off, so you send each report with a tap, or switch on a once-a-day email. Salt amounts stay in your own records and never appear on the client’s report.
For a claim, the claim pack on a site’s Site Reports page builds one PDF of every visit at that site between two dates: times, crew, GPS, photos and the material put down. It is an internal document that downloads to your computer. See proof of service. Free forever up to 10 sites and 5 crew. Every feature.
No record decides a claim on its own, and no software makes you claim-proof. A record made at the time lets you answer the questions with evidence instead of memory.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is proof of service in snow removal?
A record of each visit made at the site: the start and finish times, a GPS position, photos with the time and place, the material put down and the crew. It shows a site was serviced, when, and what was done.
How do I prove I salted a parking lot?
Log the product and the amount at that site during the visit, with the time, a GPS position and photos of the treated surfaces. A salt total on a monthly invoice does not show when or where it went down.
Are phone photos enough proof?
They help most when each one carries the time and place it was taken and sits with the visit’s times and GPS. Photos taken only some nights, or added after a claim, carry less weight.
Do I have to show the client how much salt I used?
That is up to you and your contract. One way is to send a short visit report with the time and photos, and keep the material amounts in your own records to produce if an insurer or lawyer asks.
How long should I keep snow service records?
At least as long as a claim could still be brought where the property is. That differs by province and state, so ask your insurer or lawyer for the number. General information, not legal advice.
How Icey records proof of every visit
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