Getting Started: Your Setup Plan

This is the plan most councils follow, and the answer to "how long does it take?": you start small and grow. You do not need every asset in Civic.ly before you get value from it.

Step 1: One small workflow (a day)

Pick a single area, such as a playground or a park, or one regular check such as vehicle inspections, and get it running end to end:

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

In a couple of hours you have a real process: assets on the map, inspections done in the field, results back in the office.

Step 2: The work you do every week (first few weeks)

Add what your team already does regularly, so the benefit is immediate:

• Weekly play area and park checks
• Pre-use vehicle inspections
• Grass cutting and bin rounds

Step 3: Use your existing asset register as your plan (weeks 4 to 12)

If you already have an asset register, whether for your AGAR, your insurer or just a spreadsheet, it is the best project plan you have. Once your first workflows are running, work through it section by section:

• Work through it methodically. Take one site or one category at a time, add those assets to Civic.ly, and tick them off in the old register as you go. The first workflow you set up is simply the first section ticked off.
• Keep the old register up to date meanwhile. Until the two agree, the old register stays the record your accounts rely on. Each section you complete in Civic.ly is one you can tick off there.
• Leave assets in Draft until you are happy with them, then make them Active. That way you control what counts as finished.
• Keep the park on your AGAR, and the items inside it off. If your register holds a playground as one line, flag the playground for the AGAR and leave its individual swings and slides unflagged. You still inspect each item, and Box 9 is not counted twice.
• Add what was never on the register. Hedges, trees, grass verges, paths, laptops and fridges are not on most AGAR registers, but if it needs inspecting or regular maintenance, add it.
• When the purchase values reconcile to your AGAR Box 9, archive the old register and tighten who can delete or edit assets.

This is also a chance to ground-truth your estate. Councils nearly always find items that are gone, items that were never recorded, and values that drifted. For the value fields and how to split a grouped line, see Which asset value fields should I fill in, and how does this feed my AGAR?.

Another approach: start with defects

You do not have to add assets upfront at all. Some councils only add an asset when they need to raise a defect against it: photograph it, upload it, then create the defect. Your register grows as your team works. You can use this alongside the steps above, or as your main starting point.

The long tail

Most councils get about 80% of their regular routines into Civic.ly within 4 to 12 weeks. Holding the full knowledge of your team is a year-plus journey, and that is normal. Some things are only inspected every 1, 5 or even 10 years, and you will always find something you forgot. Add it when you do, and it is never forgotten again.