Surveying heavy equipment — parts, spot reports & a defensible loss.

Why CE equipment needs its own survey discipline

A motor car claim has a settled vocabulary — bonnet, fender, A-pillar — and a standard body of case practice. Construction and engineering plant does not forgive that shorthand. A ₹1.2-crore excavator and a ₹40-lakh hydra crane carry hundreds of named assemblies, each with a different failure mode, a different repair economics, and a different line in the policy. The difference between an accidental boom crack and a fatigue crack, or between a burst hydraulic hose and a seeping seal, is the difference between an admissible claim and a declined one — and it is the surveyor's photographs and words that carry that decision.

This guide gives you two things: the labelled anatomy of the ten machines you meet most often, and a repeatable method for turning a site visit into a report that an underwriter, a re-insurer or a court can rely on.

From site visit to signed report — how the software carries it

The workflow is the same for every machine class, which is what keeps the output consistent:

1. Capture on site

   Photograph and video the machine on your phone, or send the insured a secure self-survey link so they capture it for you. Every image is stamped with GPS and time the moment it is taken.

2. AI tags the parts

   The app recognises the machine class and labels each photo to the right component, and offers that class's inspection checklist so nothing is skipped on site.

3. The spot report drafts itself

   Identity, perils, the tagged photo annexure and a preliminary estimate are assembled in an IRDAI-style spot-report format for you to review and edit.

4. It carries through to the final report

   The same file becomes the final survey report — estimate, depreciation where applicable, total-loss assessment and salvage listing — exported as a clean PDF with a scannable walk-around video link.

Writing a spot report that holds up

A spot (preliminary) report is the first, fast record made at the site before anything is moved or dismantled. It is also the document most often tested later, so it has to be complete on the day. Work to a fixed order:

AI parts recognition — complete, consistent capture

The weakest link in a CE survey is usually the photo set: a hundred images with no names, gaps where a part was missed, and captions that mean nothing to the reviewer three months later. DigiSurvey closes that gap. It identifies the machine class, tags each photograph to the correct part — Boom, Arm, Sprocket, Alternator, Moldboard — and surfaces the inspection checklist for that class so you leave the site with a complete set. It helps flag damage and pre-fills the parts table that feeds the estimate. The result is an annexure that reads like a report, not a camera roll, and a file that is faster to finish and far harder to pick apart.

Policy & compliance — getting the cover right

Admissibility on CE plant is decided before you cost a single part, by matching the loss to the right policy:

A road-registered machine — a JCB, a hydra, a transit mixer — may additionally carry a motor policy, so a road accident and a site incident can sit under different covers. The surveyor's job is to name the peril precisely and separate accidental damage from gradual wear and from internal breakdown, because each points to a different section of cover. Work independently and factually, in line with IRDAI surveyor-and-loss-assessor practice, and let the GPS- and time-stamped evidence and the walk-around video carry the audit trail.

The machines — labelled parts & what to survey

Each diagram below labels the main assemblies of the machine. Under it: the parts you inspect, and the loss scenarios and identity points to focus a spot report on.

Frequently asked questions