This article explains how long it takes to get Civic.ly up and running for your council. The short answer: you start small and grow. You do not need to add every asset before you start getting value from the system.

Start Small, Grow Over Time

A common concern is that setting up an asset management system will take weeks of data entry before anyone can use it. With Civic.ly, that is not the case. The approach is to pick one area, get a full workflow running for it, and then build outward at your own pace.

Here is a realistic timeline for most councils:

Your First Day (1–2 Hours)

Pick a single area — like a playground or a park — and get a complete end-to-end workflow running for it:

  1. Add the assets in that area using the mobile app (a typical playground has 15–30 assets)
  2. Create an inspection for those assets
  3. Get one team member completing that inspection on their phone

That is it. In a couple of hours you have a real, working process — assets on the map, inspections being completed, and results coming back to the office.

Your First Few Weeks

Once your first workflow is running, focus on the work your team does most often — the things that happen weekly or monthly. Some quick wins to get going early:

  • Weekly play area and park inspection checks
  • Pre-use vehicle inspections
  • Grass cutting rounds
  • Bin collection rounds

These are the tasks your team already does regularly, so they are easy to set up and you will see the benefit straight away.

Another Approach: Start with Defects

You do not have to add assets upfront at all. Some councils prefer a defects-first approach — you only add an asset to the system when you need to raise a defect against it. If someone spots a problem and the asset is not in Civic.ly yet, they photograph it, upload it, and then create a defect against the newly added asset. Your register grows naturally as your team does their normal work.

You can use this alongside the quick wins above, or as your main starting point — whichever suits your team best.

4–12 Weeks

Most councils get about 80% of their regular routines into Civic.ly within 4 to 12 weeks. You do not need to do this all at once — add a new area or task type each week and it builds up quickly.

The Long Tail

For Civic.ly to hold the full collective knowledge of your team is a year-plus journey, and that is completely normal. There is a long tail of assets and tasks that happen on longer cycles — some things are only inspected or maintained every 1, 5, or even 10 years.

You will always discover something you forgot to add. Perhaps in a few years you realise an EICR is due — you get it done, add it to the system, and it is never forgotten again. The system grows with you.

Tips
  • Do not try to add every asset before moving on to inspections and jobs. Get a full workflow running first, then expand.
  • Focus on frequency — start with the things you do weekly and monthly, then work back to quarterly and annual tasks.
  • If you have an existing asset register in a spreadsheet, you can use it as a reference to make sure nothing gets missed. See the article on reconciling your asset register when you are ready for that step.

Common Questions

No. You add assets alongside your normal work. When your team is already out inspecting a playground, they photograph the assets as they go. It fits into what you are already doing.

No. You can add an asset at the moment you need it — for example, when you spot a defect. Just photograph the asset, upload it, then create the defect against it. Your asset register builds itself over time as your team works.

That is actually an advantage — you are building your register from scratch with accurate, geolocated data from day one. The gradual rollout approach works especially well here because everything you add is already in the right format.

Every council we work with follows the same pattern — start with one or two areas, get the team comfortable, then expand. Some go faster than others depending on team size and how many assets they manage, but the approach is always the same: start small and grow.

That is expected and completely fine. Add it when you discover it. Civic.ly is designed to grow over time — there is no deadline to have everything entered.

Keep it to one or two dedicated people, at least at the start. Have a simple plan — who is covering which areas, in what order — so nothing gets duplicated or missed. Consistency matters more than speed. If lots of people upload photos without a plan, you end up with duplicate assets, inconsistent naming, and a messy register to clean up afterwards. You can always bring more people in once the process is bedded in.