Expert article

Introducing site tablets: selection, operation, loss

The best documentation system is worthless if the device cannot be read in sunlight. What rollouts actually fail on — and what they do not.

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Expert article by Open Experience GmbH. As of: September 2026

What must a site tablet be able to do?

A tablet for construction documentation has to meet four requirements at once: it must be readable in direct sunlight and operable with work gloves or wet fingers, it must withstand dust, moisture and drops, it must last a working day without a socket, and it must be manageable — including a remote lock if it goes missing. The technical choice is the smaller part of the work; setup, clear responsibility and a settled replacement procedure are what decide the outcome.

Legal framework: Germany (Civil Code BGB, construction contract rules VOB/B, fee schedule HOAI). Other countries have different rules, and contractual agreements take precedence over the standard periods named here.

Six selection criteria that matter in daily use

Data sheets describe devices, not building sites. These six points decide whether the device is still being used after four weeks.

Display and brightnessReadability in direct sunlight is the most common disappointment. An office device with standard brightness is practically unusable outdoors — what counts is luminance and anti-glare treatment, not resolution.
Operation with gloves and in the wetThe touchscreen has to respond to gloves and must not trigger ghost touches when raindrops land on it. Both are a question of settings and hardware — if in doubt, test on site before the rollout.
Ruggedness and degree of protectionDegrees of protection under the IP code describe protection against dust and water, while drop figures refer to defined test conditions. Both are test values obtained in the laboratory, not a promise for every fall on site.
Battery and chargingA working day with camera, mobile data and a bright display draws considerably more than office use. A swappable battery or a charging cradle in the vehicle often matters more than raw capacity.
Mobile data and offline capabilityThere is no signal in the basement. What matters is that the application keeps working offline and synchronises later — and that the device has a mobile module of its own instead of depending on an employee's phone.
Camera and mountingThe camera is the most used tool in construction documentation. On top of that comes the mundane question everyone forgets: where does the device go when both hands are needed?

From experience: devices rarely fail on processing power. They fail on glare, gloves and a flat battery.

Rolling out in five steps

The sequence works for five devices as it does for five hundred — only the duration of each step changes.

Step	What happens	Where it fails
1. Define the use case	Who documents what, in which application, how often	Devices are procured before the use case is settled
2. Trial device on site	Two weeks of real operation with two or three users	The trial happens in the office and misses sun, dust and gloves
3. Setup and management	Pre-installed applications, user accounts, updates, remote lock	Each device is set up by hand and the fleet drifts apart from then on
4. Rollout with a briefing	A short briefing on the device, a named contact within the company	Devices are handed out, but nobody is responsible
5. Operation and replacement	Spare devices, repair route, procedure for losses	The replacement case is only settled once it arises

The loss scenario — settled beforehand, not afterwards

Devices get lost, get stolen or fail. What matters for the documentation is that none of this turns into a loss of data or a security problem.

Data does not live on the device aloneWhatever has been captured belongs in the system, not in local storage. Once a sync has run, a loss is material damage, not a loss of data.
Remote lock and wipeA managed device can be locked and wiped. That presupposes management set up before the loss — it cannot be arranged after the event.
Keep credentials separatePersonal accounts instead of shared logins. Otherwise every lost device means changing the password for everyone.
A replacement in hours, not weeksA prepared spare device with the same applications keeps the documentation running. Order one only once it is needed and you document on paper for two weeks.

For mobile devices, the German Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) sets out baseline measures such as encryption, screen lock, managed updates and central administration — they apply on site just as they do in the office.

Buying or renting

Both are common. The decision turns less on price than on the question of who takes on setup, management and replacement.

The case for buyingDevices of your own over several years, a free choice of management platform, no ongoing commitment — provided there is in-house IT capacity for setup and replacement.
The case for rentingReady-to-use devices with pre-installed applications, predictable monthly costs and a defined exchange procedure. Sensible where projects come in waves or where there is no device management of your own.
What has to be settled either wayWho sets the devices up, who manages them, who exchanges a faulty one, and how quickly? Those four answers decide daily practice, not the procurement model.

Our partner Skalice offers ready-to-use devices with pre-installed Open Experience applications, setup and device management. Scope and terms are a matter for Skalice; we clarify what the documentation needs.

How Open Experience solves this

The applications are built for the site, not for the desk: capture on the move, keep working offline, synchronise later. Alongside them there is hardware that documents without anyone picking up a device at all.

Capture on the moveDefects, photographs, daily reports and checklists arise during the walkthrough — with place, time and project reference.
Documenting hands-freeWith DIGIBAU 360 the recording keeps running throughout the walkthrough while both hands stay free.

To the hardware ecosystem

Frequently asked questions

Tablet or smartphone for construction documentation?

For capturing individual defects and photographs, the smartphone people carry anyway is enough. For checklists, drawings and daily reports the larger screen of a tablet is clearly ahead. Many firms run both: the phone for moving around, the tablet for the planned inspection.

What degree of protection does a device need on site?

The IP code describes protection against dust and water under defined test conditions; drop figures likewise refer to tests. High values make sense for shell and core work, while in fit-out a rugged device in a protective case is often enough. More telling than the rating is whether the device has survived real daily use — hence the trial before the rollout.

Does the documentation work without a network?

The applications are designed for interrupted connections: capture continues offline and the data reaches the system at the next connection. What matters is that users know when the last sync happened — above all before a device is handed back or exchanged.

What happens if a device is lost or stolen?

A managed device is locked and wiped; the documented data sits in the system and not only locally. That presupposes device management already in place and a personal account for each user instead of shared logins.

How many devices do we need?

As a starting point: one device for each person who documents independently, plus spares for failures. Shared devices only work if every user signs in — otherwise findings cannot be attributed to anyone afterwards.

Sources and legal basis

The legal statements in this article are based on the primary sources listed below. The article is not a substitute for legal advice in an individual case.

The use case first, then the device.

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