The founding pilot
A deliberately small, deliberately limited first deployment — designed so that the risk of trying it is close to nothing, and so that what we learn is real.
What it is
A fixed window with a defined start and end, not a rolling trial.
A capped number of real cases, or an agreed group of properties.
An honest report at the end, including what did not work.
What you get
- A tenant reporting route branded to your organisation, with your own link and QR code
- The staff portal, set up with your roles and users
- Workflow and deadline tracking against the statutory timescales
- Inspection, findings, repair and follow-up recording
- Case export for any case, at any point
- Onboarding and training for the staff involved
- A weekly review call while the pilot runs
- Direct access to the person who builds it, not a ticket queue
- A written evaluation at the end
- A commercial decision after the evaluation, not before
- No automatic rollover into a long-term contract
Agreed before anything starts
None of the following is left until later, because all of it matters more than the software.
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Scope
Which properties or which cases, how many, and over what period.
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Responsibilities
Who does what. In particular: the legal duties remain yours throughout. DampFix records and tracks; it does not discharge anything on your behalf.
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Data processing agreement
You are the controller, DampFix is the processor. Signed before a single real report is accepted.
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Data protection impact assessment
Completed together, covering health information, vulnerable occupants and children.
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Security review
Your assurance questionnaire, answered honestly — including the questions where the answer is currently "not yet". See the security page.
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Exit
How your data comes back to you, in what format, and how it is destroyed afterwards. Agreed at the start rather than negotiated at the end.
How it runs
Before day one
Terms, data processing agreement and DPIA in place. Your branding, users and reporting link configured. Staff trained. A demonstration environment to practise in, with fictional data.
Days 1 to 60
Real reports flow through the agreed route. Weekly review of what is working, what is awkward and what is missing. Changes made during the pilot, not after it.
At the end
A written evaluation: cases handled, deadlines met and missed, what tenants said, what staff said, and a clear recommendation — including "not yet" if that is the honest answer.
Two things worth saying directly
Real tenant data is not accepted until the controls are operational
The software itself blocks live reports for any organisation not marked as a demonstration until production controls are switched on. A discovery meeting or a demonstration uses fictional data. That is a technical control, not an assurance.
A pilot is a genuine test, not a sales formality
If sixty days show that this does not fit how your team works, the evaluation will say so and there is nothing further to decline. A first customer who leaves unhappy is worth far less to a new product than an honest "not for us".
Founding pilot places are open
The first conversation is a short discovery call and a demonstration. Nothing is signed and nothing is committed at that stage.