Overview
Client: Nene Valley Fire & Acoustic
Challenge: Managing multiple firestopping and acoustic testing projects across different sites, with complex compliance documentation and pricing quotations
Solution: BORIS field service platform with Live Drawing, Passive Fire templates, Asset Management, and Pricing Configuration
Outcome: “Significant improvements in efficiency and compliance tracking” across all project sites
The Challenge: Complexity Across Multiple Sites
Nene Valley Fire & Acoustic is a specialist contractor working on passive fire protection and acoustic remediation projects. Their work spans:
- Commercial office refurbishments: Upgrading compartmentation in multi-storey buildings
- Healthcare facilities: Installing firestopping in hospital expansion projects
- Residential conversions: Adding fire safety systems to older properties being converted to flats
At any given time, Nene Valley manages 8–12 concurrent projects. Each project involves:
- Multiple site visits (initial survey, installation, testing, handover)
- Different teams (fire specialists, acoustic technicians, general labourers)
- Complex compliance requirements (BS 9414 firestopping standards, acoustic test data, Building Control sign-offs)
- Custom pricing (each job has different square meterage, fire ratings, material costs)
The Problems They Were Facing
1. Documentation Scattered Across Teams
Site reports, photos, and inspection records were stored in different places:
- Installation teams used WhatsApp to share photos
- Office staff maintained separate spreadsheets for each project
- Inspection records were emailed between the supervisor and Building Control
- There was no single source of truth
When Building Control requested proof that a specific compartment had been sealed to the correct standard, it could take 2–3 days to gather all the evidence.
2. Pricing Complexity Without Clarity
Each project had a unique pricing structure:
- Site A: £50 per penetration sealed
- Site B: £40 per square metre of compartment wall
- Site C: £75 per day + materials at cost
Quotes were built manually in Excel. If a client requested a variation (e.g., “add acoustic enclosure to firestopping”), the pricing had to be recalculated manually, and discrepancies often appeared between quote and final invoice.
3. Compliance Tracking by Memory
The supervisor managed project status in his head. Was compartment 3B sealed? Was the acoustic test report submitted to Building Control? When was the next PAT test due on the compressor? These critical questions were answered by checking emails or calling the team.
Missing a PAT test date or forgetting to submit a test report could trigger Building Control enforcement action or delay project sign-off.
4. Photo Evidence Wasn’t Systematic
Team members took photos on their personal phones. Some photos were timestamped, others weren’t. Photos often lacked context about location or what was being shown. When it came time to compile a compliance report, piecing together a coherent visual narrative took hours.
The Solution: BORIS Field Service Platform
Nene Valley trialled BORIS and deployed it across all active projects. Here’s how each module solved their specific problems.
1. Live Drawing: Site Visibility at a Glance
The capability:
Nene Valley uploaded floor plans (PDF and architectural drawings) for each project site into BORIS. For each compartment that required firestopping work, they placed colour-coded pins:
- Green pin: Firestopping completed, tested, and signed off
- Amber pin: Firestopping in progress
- Red pin: Compartments awaiting work (materials not yet arrived, or waiting for architectural sign-off)
- Blue pin: Remedial work required (e.g., intumescent paint failing inspection)
The benefit:
When Building Control visited the site, Nene Valley could pull up the floor plan on a tablet and show exactly which compartments were compliant and which were still in progress. This eliminated miscommunication and gave inspectors confidence that work was systematic and tracked.
For Nene Valley’s own supervision, the site manager could log in each morning and see at a glance which teams needed to prioritise work. Instead of walking around the site or calling team leads, he had a visual dashboard.
Real impact: Reduced site supervision time by approximately 25%. Building Control visits became faster (no more searching for documentation—it was right there on the floor plan).
2. Passive Fire Protection Templates: Consistent Documentation
The capability:
Nene Valley created digital templates for their most common firestopping tasks:
- Fire barrier penetration (pipe): Template captures material type, pipe diameter, fire rating achieved, installer name, photos, timestamp
- Fire barrier penetration (electrical cable): Similar template, but includes cable type, number of cables, and specific fire-rated collar/seal system used
- Intumescent paint on steel: Captures surface area, number of coats, paint batch number, drying time monitored, final inspection sign-off
Each template was pre-populated with:
- Standard material specifications
- Safety compliance checkboxes
- Required photo locations
- Mandatory sign-off fields
Site teams completed templates on-site using BORIS mobile app. Photos were auto-timestamped and geo-tagged (the app records the site location automatically). All data synced to the cloud when the crew reconnected.
The benefit:
No more handwritten forms that were later illegible. No more missing information (e.g., “forgot to note which paint batch was used”). Every Passive Fire template contained the same critical data, making compliance audits straightforward.
When Building Control asked “Can you show me the installation certificate for compartment 3B?” Nene Valley could pull up the digital template, which included:
- Photos of the work
- Material specifications
- Installer signature
- Date and time
This was provided as a PDF export in under 2 minutes.
3. Asset Management: Equipment Accountability
The capability:
Nene Valley registered all their specialist equipment:
- Pneumatic compressors (worth £1,200–£2,000 each)
- Pressure gauges and test equipment (worth £800–£1,500 each)
- Thermal imaging cameras (worth £2,500+ each)
- PAT test meters
Each piece was assigned a barcode label. When equipment moved between sites or was handed over between team members, the movement was logged in BORIS.
PAT testing dates were tracked. When a test was due, BORIS sent an automated alert. Once the external PAT contractor completed the test, the technician logged it into BORIS, and the next due date was automatically updated.
The benefit:
Nene Valley had previously lost a £1,200 pneumatic compressor over the course of a 6-month project. It simply vanished—no one could remember the last site where it was used. Without asset tracking, they couldn’t even file an insurance claim confidently.
With BORIS Asset Management:
- All equipment movements are logged
- Missing equipment is detected within a single shift (not weeks later)
- PAT testing is never missed (no risk of sending an untested tool to site)
- Insurance claims include full audit trail and serial number data
Real impact: Over one year, zero equipment losses (vs. one major loss in the previous year). PAT testing compliance improved from ~85% to 100%.
4. Pricing Configuration: Quoting and Invoicing Clarity
The challenge they solved:
Nene Valley’s pricing structures vary wildly:
- Site A (office refurbishment): £45 per linear metre of compartment wall + £80 per penetration sealed
- Site B (healthcare facility): £60 per square metre of compartment + flat fee for acoustic enclosure
- Site C (residential conversion): £75 per day labour + materials at cost + 15% overhead
Previously, quotes were built in Excel. If a client asked for a variation mid-project, recalculating could take hours, and there was risk of error.
How BORIS Pricing Configuration solved it:
Nene Valley set up pricing matrices for each project:
| Site A (Compartment Wall Sealing) | Unit | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Per linear metre of wall | Metre | £45 |
| Per penetration (standard) | Each | £80 |
| Per penetration (oversized, >200mm) | Each | £120 |
| Intumescent paint (per m²) | m² | £35 |
When the office manager created a quote, they entered:
- Site name and location
- Compartment type (wall, floor, etc.)
- Linear metres of wall
- Number of standard penetrations
- Number of oversized penetrations
BORIS calculated the total price automatically. If the client approved and variations arose later (e.g., “we found three more cable penetrations”), the office manager added them to the quote, and BORIS updated the total in real time.
The final invoice was generated from the same pricing configuration, so there were no discrepancies between quote and invoice.
Real impact: Quote turnaround time dropped from 4–6 hours to 30 minutes. Zero invoicing disputes due to pricing misalignment.
Results and Impact
Nene Valley reported the following improvements after 6 months of using BORIS:
Efficiency Gains
- Documentation time: Reduced by ~40% (installers no longer spending 30+ minutes per site creating manual records)
- Compliance reviews: Reduced from 2–3 days to <1 day (all evidence in one system)
- Quote turnaround: Reduced from 4–6 hours to 30 minutes
- Site supervision: ~25% faster (visual floor plan dashboard vs. manual checking)
Compliance Improvements
- PAT testing compliance: Improved to 100% (no more missed dates)
- Building Control sign-offs: First-time approval rate increased (complete documentation on first submission)
- Audit trail: Every action logged, providing the “golden thread” documentation for regulatory inspections
Financial Impact
- Zero equipment losses in tracked period (vs. historical losses of £1,200–£3,000 annually)
- No invoicing disputes (pricing automatically applied, no manual calculation errors)
- Faster payment turnaround (clients receive invoice-ready documentation immediately upon project completion)
The Modules That Made the Difference
Live Drawing
Nene Valley’s supervisor described Live Drawing as “the single biggest change.” Having a visual floor plan with colour-coded pins showing work status eliminated confusion and gave Building Control inspectors confidence. It also made supervision faster—no more walking around trying to remember which compartments were done.
Passive Fire Protection Templates
Templates ensured consistency. Every firestopping installation documented the same critical data. No more “forgot to note the installer” or illegible handwriting. Building Control loved it because they could quickly verify compliance without asking follow-up questions.
Asset Management
The combination of barcode scanning and automated PAT reminders meant equipment was always available and always compliant. The psychological effect was also important: teams became more careful with tools because they knew usage was logged.
Pricing Configuration
Custom pricing matrices removed the spreadsheet manual-calculation headache. Variations were handled in seconds instead of hours. No more billing disputes.
Challenges and How They Overcame Them
Challenge 1: Initial Adoption Resistance
Not all team members were immediately comfortable with the app. The supervisor spent 2–3 weeks coaching crews on how to scan equipment and complete templates on mobile.
Solution: He recorded short video tutorials (2–3 minutes each) demonstrating the most common workflows. He also offered a small bonus for the first month if crews didn’t miss any scans or template completions. Adoption accelerated after that.
Challenge 2: Floor Plan Accuracy
One of the initial floor plans uploaded to BORIS was outdated. The building had been modified, but the plan hadn’t been updated. This led to some confusion about compartment locations.
Solution: Nene Valley established a “floor plan refresh” process. At the start of each new project, they verified that the floor plans in BORIS matched the actual site layout and updated them as needed. They treated the floor plan as a living document, not a static reference.
Challenge 3: Offline Connectivity on Large Sites
On a hospital expansion project, the basement areas had poor mobile signal. Crews couldn’t sync data to BORIS in real-time.
Solution: BORIS’s offline capability solved this. Crews completed templates and scanned equipment in the basement. When they returned to upper levels with better signal, the app automatically synced all data. No lost records.
FAQ: Questions About the Nene Valley Deployment
Q1: How long did it take to get BORIS fully operational?
A: Nene Valley started with a 2-week pilot on a single project. Once the team was comfortable, they deployed to all active projects over the next 4 weeks. Full adoption (minimal support needed) took about 8 weeks. The main time investment was:
- Floor plan preparation (1 week)
- Template design to match their workflows (1 week)
- Team training and coaching (2 weeks)
- Ongoing refinement and support (2 weeks)
Q2: Did they have to replace existing tools or equipment with BORIS-specific hardware?
A: No. BORIS works with standard barcodes and NFC tags. Nene Valley used simple barcode labels (under £0.10 per label) on existing equipment. No special hardware investment needed.
Q3: What’s the total cost of BORIS for a business like Nene Valley?
A: Nene Valley operates with 12–15 field staff. At BORIS’s Professional tier (£59.99/user/month), their cost would be roughly £8,600–£10,800 annually for their team. They’ve recovered this investment many times over through reduced equipment losses, eliminated invoicing disputes, and faster project turnaround.
Q4: Did BORIS integrate with their existing Building Control or insurance systems?
A: No direct integration, but BORIS exports all documentation (photos, templates, certificates) as PDF reports that can be easily emailed to Building Control or provided to insurance companies. This eliminated the need for manual file compilation, saving hours per project.
Key Takeaway
Nene Valley Fire & Acoustic demonstrates what happens when a contractor invests in compliance-first field service software. They didn’t just get a “nicer way to manage jobs”—they fundamentally improved their ability to:
- Document compliance in real-time
- Track equipment reliably
- Quote and invoice without error
- Manage multiple concurrent projects with confidence
For other firestopping and acoustic contractors facing similar challenges, the message is clear: manual, spreadsheet-based workflows don’t scale. BORIS’s combination of Live Drawing, Passive Fire templates, Asset Management, and Pricing Configuration provides the visibility and accountability that modern construction projects demand.
Ready to Transform Your Compliance Operations?
If you’re managing firestopping or acoustic work across multiple sites and struggling with documentation, equipment tracking, or pricing accuracy, BORIS could be your next operational upgrade.
See how BORIS can improve your compliance tracking and efficiency.
