Guide for graffiti removal companies · checked 30 October 2026
How graffiti removal companies run council contracts, surfaces and proof
A council contract pays for a removal it can check: a graffiti register row with square metres, surface, method and a time-stamped before and after photo. This guide covers the response windows cities actually write into contracts, the chemistry by surface, heritage and wash water rules, and the software graffiti crews use to keep the register clean.
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Short answer
Graffiti removal companies on council, transit and property-manager contracts need a job record per tag, not per customer: location, surface, graffiti type, square metres removed, method, cost and time, and before and after photos with date and time stamps, all exported to the client's register every month. Requests arrive from 311 or council request systems with response windows as short as two hours for offensive graffiti. Many crews run on a generic field service app (Jobber, ServiceM8) plus spreadsheets for the register; councils sometimes add police tag-tracking tools such as Graffiti Tracker. Fieldproxy is one option that builds the register, SLA timers and photo rules into the job itself.
2 hours
City of Sydney contract window for graffiti flagged by the City during work hours (4 hours after hours)
source: City of Sydney, Specifications for Provision of Graffiti Removal Service
Within 3 m
Sydney's contractor removes graffiti visible from, and within three metres of, a council road, up to three metres high
source: City of Sydney, Specifications for Provision of Graffiti Removal Service
100-400 psi
Low-pressure range the National Park Service gives for washing historic surfaces; hardware-store washers run 1,600-3,200 psi
source: National Park Service, Preservation Matters: graffiti removal from historic features
35 days
Time a New York City owner has to answer a Notice of Intent before DSNY removes the graffiti
How a job runs
One graffiti removal job, from first call to paid
The order the work really happens in, and what has to be written down at each step so nothing is argued about later.
- 1
Take the request in with its clock already running
Requests come from the client's system (a 311 ticket, a council customer request, a property manager's email) or from your own patrol of a zone. Record the client's reference number, the time received, the address and the category. The category sets the clock: in the City of Sydney specification, graffiti the City notifies must go within 24 hours, and emergency removals within two hours in work hours or four hours outside them.
- 2
Classify: offensive or hate, ordinary tag, poster, etching
Offensive, racist or hate graffiti jumps the queue and may involve the police first. Bexley removes racist or offensive graffiti within 24 hours following notification to the police. Sydney's specification lets crews cover offensive graffiti temporarily until approvals are in place. Etching on glass, metal, plastic and wood is excluded from Sydney's contract definition of graffiti, so it is usually a separate quote.
- 3
Check consent and heritage before anyone sprays anything
Public assets and 'accessible property' can often be cleaned without the owner's consent (Section 12 of the NSW Graffiti Control Act 2008 in Sydney). Private walls usually need written consent, and Sydney's contractor sends a consent letter within 24 hours of finding graffiti on private property. Heritage items need the council heritage officer's approval and the method they choose.
- 4
Photograph and measure before removal
Take the 'before' photo with date, time and location stamps, wide enough to identify the wall and close enough to read the tag. Measure the affected area in square metres or square feet, because that is what the register and many invoices are priced on. If the client shares data with police tag-tracking (Graffiti Tracker, TAGRS-type systems), the before photo is the evidence, so it has to be taken before any chemical touches the wall.
- 5
Identify the medium and the surface, then test
Spray paint, marker, ballpoint, crayon, sticker and poster each need a different method, and the surface decides what is safe. The NPS brief splits masonry into acid-sensitive (limestone, marble, travertine, calcareous sandstone, polished stone, glazed brick and terra cotta) and non-acid-sensitive (slate, granite, unglazed brick and terra cotta). Test in a hidden patch first: NPS suggests patches of six by six inches or less.
- 6
Remove, or paint out with a matched colour
Chemical removal with a low-pressure rinse suits bare masonry and coated surfaces. Paint-out suits already-painted walls, timber poles and some street furniture. Sydney requires paint of the exact colour and nature of the original, a small test area where needed, neat squared-off patches, and permission before a paint-out that will leave a visible colour difference.
- 7
Capture the wash water
Block the drain before you start, contain the run-off with berms or booms, and vacuum it up. San Diego's pressure washing rules make discharge of polluted wash water to the storm drain illegal, with penalties of up to $10,000 per day per incident. Sydney's contractors must collect water and cleaning products by vacuum and keep them out of stormwater and sewer unless treated to Sydney Water requirements.
- 8
Photograph after, coat if agreed, close the record
Take the 'after' photo from the same position. If the wall is on a protection plan, re-apply the sacrificial coating (it comes off with every removal) or log the clean on the permanent coating. Fill the register fields before leaving the site: square metres, method, product, time on site.
- 9
Tell the owner and update the register
Sydney's contractor writes to the ratepayer within five days of a removal on private property, with photographic evidence, and must update the graffiti register within five working days. Both have their own KPI line in that contract.
- 10
Report monthly and invoice
Send the client the month's register (Sydney wants an Excel sheet with every photo indexed and linked to its row) plus KPI results, then invoice by the contract's unit (per square metre, per job or per zone). The register data and photos belong to the City under Sydney's contract, so they must be complete and unaltered.
What to record
The fields every graffiti removal job should capture
Register fields a council contract asks for on every removal
- Location: suburb, street and number, plus precinct, sub-precinct and zone (City of Sydney register)
- Incident or graffiti reference number, and the request source (council request system or your own inspection)
- Date identified and date removed, with times so the response window can be checked
- Graffiti type: spray paint, marker, chalk, poster, sticker, other
- Tag type: name or description of the tag
- Asset type: council asset, accessible property, non-accessible property, park
- Property fixture or surface (brick wall, roller door, signal box, timber pole, glass)
- Square metres removed
- Removal method and type, and removal cost and time
Photo rules
- Before and after photo of every instance, with date and time stamp (required in the Sydney register)
- GPS position attached to each photo so the location can be mapped
- Same angle and framing before and after, so a client auditor can compare at a glance
- Before photo taken before any product is applied, if the photos feed a police tag database
- Photos indexed and linked to their register row, not dumped in a shared folder
- Close-up of the tag readable enough for police use, plus a wide shot showing the wall
Surface, chemistry and consent
- Surface material and finish, and whether it is acid-sensitive
- Heritage status checked, and who approved the method
- Product used, its Safety Data Sheet on file, dwell time and rinse method
- Wash pressure and water temperature used, and how wash water was captured and disposed of
- Paint-out: manufacturer, product, colour code and sheen, or the colour-match reading
- Coating status: none, sacrificial (re-applied today), permanent (cleaned today)
- Owner consent: date of the consent letter, who signed, and the notice letter sent after removal
- Offensive or hate graffiti: police notified (date, reference) before removal
Rules and standards
The rules that shape the work, with their sources
| Rule | What it means on the job |
|---|---|
| City of Sydney response windows | The service specification sets 24-hour removal in priority zones and for anything the City notifies, removal six hours before and within six hours after special events, and emergency removal within two hours in work hours or four hours outside them. Routine zones are inspected every seven days. source: City of Sydney, Specifications for Provision of Graffiti Removal Service |
| Sydney KPI thresholds | The same specification scores the contractor monthly: 100% for notified graffiti and emergency removals, 95% for priority zones and special events, 85% for routine zones, 100% owner approvals obtained, 85% photos obtained and uploaded, and 98% for register updates within five working days. source: City of Sydney, Specifications for Provision of Graffiti Removal Service |
| Sydney's offensive graffiti emergency capacity | The City's Graffiti Management Policy says the City can organise removal of particularly offensive graffiti within four hours of it being reported, and will notify owners within five days when graffiti is removed from their property. source: City of Sydney, Graffiti Management Policy |
| Hate speech graffiti pressure in NSW | Snap Send Solve reported graffiti reports in NSW up 27% on the year, about a quarter of them offensive, and a City of Sydney councillor pushed for removal of hate-speech graffiti within one hour of reporting. Expect tighter windows in new tenders. source: Snap Send Solve, Swift action on hate-speech graffiti in Sydney |
| New York City: Graffiti-Free NYC, now run by DSNY | The Department of Sanitation removes graffiti from the front exterior of residential and commercial buildings in easily accessible areas, for free. An owner served a Notice of Intent has 35 days to respond, may ask for a 15-day extension, and DSNY inspects 50 days after the notice date. Graffiti on the second storey or higher may not be removable. Police reports cover graffiti from the past 7 days. source: NYC311, Graffiti removal request (KA-02070) |
| New York City owners must remove graffiti | DSNY states that property owners are required by law to remove or arrange removal of graffiti from their property. The Forever Graffiti Free enrolment lets the City remove future graffiti without a new Notice of Intent. source: NYC Department of Sanitation, Graffiti Removal |
| Los Angeles: 72-hour goal through MyLA311 | The City aims to respond to MyLA311 graffiti calls within 72 hours, through community-based organisations that each cover part of the city. Los Angeles logged 317,372 graffiti reports in 2024, including what crews found and painted over proactively. source: Crosstown LA, Los Angeles sees slight decline in annual graffiti calls (Feb 2025) |
| UK councils: 24 hours for racist or offensive graffiti | Coventry removes racist or offensive graffiti from highways and council property within 24 hours and other graffiti within 10 working days; private property needs a damage disclaimer and is charged. Bexley removes racist or offensive graffiti within 24 hours after notifying the police, and other council-property graffiti within seven working days. source: Coventry City Council, Graffiti |
| England: graffiti removal notices were repealed | Section 48 of the Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003 let councils order removal within not less than 28 days, but it was repealed by the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014. Councils now use Community Protection Notices under section 43, which need evidence of a persistent detrimental effect, including photographs and records of how long the graffiti has been in place. source: Keep Britain Tidy Network, Ask The Expert: Graffiti (2026) |
| Historic masonry: no abrasives, low pressure, test first | NPS Preservation Brief 38 says abrasive methods, including high-pressure water, should almost never be used on historic masonry and usually etch the tag outline in permanently. Micro-abrasion at 35-40 psi with fine abrasives is a conservator-only exception. Sample areas should be approved in writing and kept until the job ends. source: NPS Preservation Brief 38, Removing Graffiti from Historic Masonry (Weaver) |
| Historic England guidance for contractors | Historic England's 66-page advice note Graffiti on Historic Buildings: Removal and Prevention (2021) sets out the best technical practice expected of specialist graffiti-removal contractors working on historic buildings. In England, listed buildings and scheduled monuments are a consent question before work starts. source: Stone Specialist, Historic England publishes guidance on graffiti and its removal |
| Barrier coatings on historic masonry | NPS describes sacrificial coatings (removed with the graffiti and re-applied), permanent coatings (stay on, re-applied after several cleanings) and two-part systems. It generally does not recommend clear coatings on historic masonry because they can add gloss, cut water-vapour permeability and discolour; any coating chosen should be breathable and invisible. source: NPS Preservation Brief 38, Removing Graffiti from Historic Masonry (Weaver) |
| Wash water must not reach the storm drain | San Diego requires a plan to control, contain, capture and dispose of wash water; polluted discharge to the storm sewer breaks San Diego Municipal Code §43.0304, with penalties of up to $10,000 per day per incident. Remaining water goes to the sanitary sewer only with the right approvals. source: City of San Diego (Think Blue), Pressure Washing fact sheet |
Rules vary by state, council and contract. Checked 30 October 2026; confirm against the source for your area before relying on it.
Numbers
What to use on which surface
A starting point drawn from the National Park Service brief, its Preservation Matters article and the City of Sydney specification. Every method still needs a test patch on the actual wall.
| Surface | Method that usually works | Limit or what goes wrong |
|---|---|---|
| Limestone, marble, travertine, calcareous sandstone | Poultice with paint remover or organic solvent, low-pressure rinse | Acid-sensitive: acids can damage or destroy it. Strong alkalis can leave dark stains on Indiana limestone |
| Granite, slate, unglazed brick | Poultice with paint remover or solvent, then alkaline wash neutralised with a weak acid rinse | Not acid-sensitive, but abrasives still etch the tag outline in |
| Sandstone, heritage structures, monuments (Sydney) | Several mild treatments, low abrasion | Sydney bans high-pressure water with sand on sandstone, heritage structures and monuments |
| Any historic masonry | Low-pressure spray, wand at least 12 inches away | NPS low-pressure range is 100-400 psi; store-bought washers run 1,600-3,200 psi |
| Delicate masonry, conservator only | Micro-abrasive with fine media | 35-40 psi, done slowly and tested first |
| Painted walls, timber power poles | Paint-out in the exact colour and sheen | Sydney needs permission before a paint-out that leaves a visible colour difference |
| Traffic signal boxes (powder-coated) | Solvent or paint-out that does not lift the powder coat | Sydney: no pressure washing near the high-voltage equipment inside; never cover the light sensors |
| Smart poles and electronics | Dry removal only | Sydney: no wet methods at all |
| Glass, metal, plastic, wood etching | Separate quote: polishing, film or replacement | Excluded from Sydney's contract definition of graffiti |
| Water-soluble felt-tip marker on masonry | Water and non-ionic detergent, then bleach poultice | Bleach is corrosive and releases chlorine gas: respirator, gloves, eye protection |
source: NPS Preservation Brief 38, Removing Graffiti from Historic Masonry (Weaver)source: National Park Service, Preservation Matters: graffiti removal from historic featuressource: City of Sydney, Specifications for Provision of Graffiti Removal Service
Where it breaks
Where spreadsheets and generic software fall over
The register is a spreadsheet filled in at night from memory, so square metres, removal times and tag names drift, and a council audit finds rows that do not match the photos.
Make the register row the job form. The tech cannot close the job without square metres, surface, method and both photos, and the monthly export is built from those rows.
Photos live in a camera roll or a shared drive. Sydney-style contracts want every photo indexed and linked to its row, and police tag databases want the before photo with GPS.
Take photos inside the job, stamped with time and GPS, labelled before or after, and attached to the record automatically.
Response windows differ by category (two hours, four hours, 24 hours, weekly), and a generic job list shows them all the same, so an emergency waits behind a routine poster run.
Start an SLA timer per job from the request time, with the window set by category and time of day, and alert dispatch before it breaches.
Private property work stalls on consent, and nobody tracks which owners got a consent letter and which still need the five-day notice after removal.
Add consent and notice stages to the job, with the letter dates on the record, so private jobs cannot be dispatched before consent or closed before the notice goes out.
The crew picks a product by habit and damages limestone or lifts a powder coat. The contractor pays for the repair.
Put the surface on the job and show the allowed methods and limits for that surface on the tech's phone, with heritage jobs blocked until the approval is attached.
Coated walls are not tracked, so sacrificial coatings are not re-applied after a removal and the next tag soaks into bare stone.
Keep the coating type and last application date on the site record, and add a re-coat task automatically when a sacrificial site is cleaned.
Checklist
The graffiti removal operations checklist
Print it, or hand it to whoever runs the office side.
- Every request logged with the client's reference number and the time it was received
- Category set on intake: offensive or hate, standard, poster, etching, emergency
- SLA window per category written down from each contract, including after-hours rules
- Police notification step for hate or racist graffiti where the client or council requires it
- Consent letter template and log for private property, plus the post-removal notice
- Heritage status checked before work, with the approved method attached
- Before photo with date, time and GPS taken before any product touches the wall
- Area measured in the unit the contract pays on (square metres or square feet)
- Surface-by-method chart on every truck, and Safety Data Sheets for every product carried
- Test patch taken and recorded on any new surface or unknown medium
- Drain covers, berms and a wet vac on every pressure-washing truck
- Paint-out colours recorded per site (maker, product, colour code, sheen)
- Coating type and last application date tracked per site
- Monthly register export with photos linked to each row, checked against KPI thresholds before it is sent
Software options
What software graffiti removal companies actually use
Judge each one on whether it fits the way your jobs run, not on the feature list. Bring a real job to every demo.
Graffiti Tracker
Cities, counties and police agencies (mostly Southern California)
A web system for graffiti evidence, not job management. Crews photograph tags before removal with a mobile app, and analysts catalogue them by GPS for prosecution and restitution. San Diego County's multi-agency programme using it reported restitution rising from $170,626 in 2010 to $783,412 in 2011. A contractor usually feeds it photos; it does not schedule or invoice your work.
Council and 311 request systems (SeeClickFix, MyLA311, Snap Send Solve)
The client's side of the contract
These are where requests start. Snap Send Solve routes photo reports to over 850 organisations in Australia and New Zealand; MyLA311 feeds Los Angeles' contractors. You rarely choose them, but your system has to take their reference numbers and send back completion proof.
source: Council and 311 request systems (SeeClickFix, MyLA311, Snap Send Solve)
Jewel Software
Local authorities running graffiti removal in-house (Netherlands-based)
Grounds maintenance software with a graffiti module: registering reports, digital work orders, route planning and real-time status. Built for the municipality's own teams more than for a contractor serving many clients.
Jobber
Small to mid-size graffiti and pressure-washing crews, mainly in North America
General home service software: quotes, scheduling, invoicing, job photos, checklists on higher plans and a client hub. Priced in tiers by number of users. It has no graffiti register, square-metre fields or SLA timers out of the box, so council reporting is usually done in a spreadsheet beside it.
ServiceM8
Small trade crews, popular in Australia and New Zealand
Job management with photos, videos, PDF forms and signatures, priced by jobs per month with unlimited users on paid plans. Simple for a crew doing retail and property-manager work; per-tag register exports and SLA windows need workarounds.
Fieldproxy
Graffiti contractors with council, transit or multi-site property contracts
An AI-native field service platform set up around your own register fields, job stages and SLA timers, with an offline technician app, a client portal and AI agents. More setup than an off-the-shelf app, done by Fieldproxy.
Questions to ask any vendor
- Can each job carry the exact register fields my council contract names (zone, asset type, square metres, tag type, removal method, cost and time), and export them in the council's spreadsheet layout with photos linked to each row?
- Do photos carry date, time and GPS stamps that the technician cannot edit, and are they labelled before or after automatically?
- Can I set a different response window per category and per time of day (two hours in work hours, four after hours, 24 hours standard) and see which jobs are about to breach?
- Does the technician app work offline in underpasses, rail corridors and car parks, and sync the photos later without losing their original timestamps?
- How do 311 or council request numbers come in, and can the completion proof go back to the client without someone retyping it?
- Can a council officer or property manager log in to see their own sites, before and after photos and monthly KPI results, without seeing other clients?
Bring one real graffiti removal job. We show it running in Fieldproxy.
Get DemoHow Fieldproxy is set up for this
Graffiti removal on Fieldproxy: built around how you already work
A Fieldproxy setup for a graffiti contractor treats each tag as a register row: it arrives from a 311 feed, a council portal or a patrol, carries its contract's response window from the first minute, and cannot close without square metres, surface, method and before and after photos stamped with time and GPS. Each contract keeps its own SLA tiers, consent rules, billing unit and monthly report layout, so one crew can serve a council, a transit operator and a retail chain from the same app. Fieldproxy builds it to your contracts and does the setup.
Module 1
Request intake from every channel
Work arrives as 311 tickets, council customer requests, property-manager emails and tags your own patrol finds, and each one has to keep the client's reference number for the register.
- Incident record: client reference no. (311 / CRM / PO), source (311 feed, council portal, email, phone, patrol), received date-time, address, GPS pin, contract, zone
- 311 and council request systems post into the open API; property-manager PDF work orders become incidents with their PO number
- Public request form for residents and shop owners: photo, location pin, offensive yes/no, owner or tenant
- Patrol-found tags logged by the crew on the phone in one step: photo, GPS and category, source set to 'inspection'
- Duplicate check: a new report close to an open incident at the same address (radius you set, e.g. 25 m) is linked instead of creating a second job
- Statuses: New, Awaiting consent, Awaiting heritage approval, Awaiting police, Scheduled, In progress, Removed, Notice sent, Registered, Invoiced
Module 2
Contracts, SLA tiers and timers
One council writes two hours in work hours and four after hours for emergencies, 24 hours for notified graffiti and weekly for routine zones; a retail chain writes something else. The clock must follow the contract, not the crew.
- Contract record: client, zones, SLA tiers, work-hours calendar (e.g. 6am-6pm, public holidays included), billing unit, KPI thresholds, report template
- SLA tier per incident: Emergency / Offensive (2 h work hours, 4 h after hours), Notified (24 h), Priority zone (24 h), Routine zone (7-day cycle), Special event (6 h before / 6 h after), set from category and time received
- Timer starts at received time, or at consent date where the contract says 'within 24 hours of owner's consent'
- SLA fields stored on every job: due at, met / breached, minutes over, breach reason (no access, weather, consent, colour match)
- KPI rollup per contract and month: % on time per tier, % owner approvals, % photos uploaded, % register updated within 5 working days, against the contract's threshold (e.g. 95% / 85% / 98%)
Module 3
Consent, heritage and police steps
Private walls need written consent, heritage items need the council officer's method, and hate graffiti often goes to police before anyone cleans it.
- Consent record: owner / occupier, consent letter sent date (24 h target), signed consent date, standing consent flag ('Forever Graffiti Free' style enrolment), disclaimer signed
- Post-removal owner notice generated from your template with the before and after photos, sent date tracked against the 5-day rule
- Heritage flag on the site, approving officer, approved method and test-patch photo; job cannot be dispatched until approval is attached
- Offensive / hate fields: type (racist, religious, sexual, threat), police notified date-time, police reference, temporary cover-up done (yes/no, photo)
- Approval workflow so a supervisor signs off the method on heritage or acid-sensitive stone
Module 4
Patrol zones, routing and dispatch
Priority zones are inspected every 24 hours and routine zones weekly, while emergencies cut across both; crews need a run sheet, not a list.
- Zone record: name, colour (e.g. red/blue/grey/pink), inspection frequency, inspection days, allowed hours (e.g. poster run 5:30-9:30am)
- Recurring inspection jobs generated per zone on its frequency, each producing found-tag incidents
- Crew record: van kit (hot-water pressure unit, wet vac, drain covers, paint stock), heritage-trained flag, EWP / ladder ticket
- Dispatch by SLA due time, distance and kit: a heritage job only goes to a heritage-trained crew; a 3 m+ job only to a crew with access gear
- Day map with open incidents coloured by time left on the SLA
Module 5
Surface and chemistry selection on the phone
The wrong product on limestone or a powder-coated signal box is a repair bill the contractor pays.
- Surface pick-list: limestone, marble, sandstone, granite, brick (glazed / unglazed), render, painted wall, timber pole, powder-coated metal, glass, smart pole, tree
- Acid-sensitive flag set automatically for limestone, marble, travertine, calcareous sandstone, polished stone, glazed brick and terra cotta
- Allowed methods per surface from your own chart, e.g. 'dry removal only' on smart poles, 'no pressure washing' on signal boxes, 'no sand-blast' on sandstone
- Method fields: product, SDS on file, dwell time, pressure (psi or bar), water temperature, number of passes, test patch photo and result
- Required fields block 'Removed' until method, product and pressure are filled
Module 6
Photo proof and area measurement
The register and the invoice both rest on two photos and a number of square metres.
- Before and after photos taken in the offline mobile app, stamped with date, time and GPS that the tech cannot edit, auto-labelled before / after
- Required close-up of the tag plus a wide shot showing the wall; after photo prompts the same angle
- Area fields: length x height per patch, total m2 (or sq ft per contract), method split (chemical m2 vs paint-out m2)
- Tag fields: tag name / description, crew text from photo, linked prior incidents with the same tag
- Customer signature on site for retail and property-manager jobs where the contract asks for it
Module 7
Sites, paint colours and coatings
The same walls get hit again and again; the colour code and coating date belong to the wall, not the job.
- Site / asset record: address, owner, asset type (council asset, accessible property, non-accessible property, park, utility box, bus shelter), surface, heritage flag
- Paint-out record per surface: manufacturer, product, colour name and code, sheen, colour-match reading or fan-deck chip, date last matched, photo of the swatch against the wall
- Coating record: none / sacrificial / permanent / two-part, product, applied date, area, cleans since application
- Rule: every removal on a sacrificial site creates a re-coat task; a permanent coating flags for re-application after the number of cleans you set
- Hit history per site so repeat walls can be quoted for coating or film
Module 8
Wash water and chemical records
Storm drain rules (and fines) apply to every pressure-washed wall, and councils ask for spill and environmental reporting monthly.
- Checklist before washing: drain covered (photo), berm or boom placed, wet vac on site
- Wash water fields: litres recovered (estimate), disposal route (sanitary sewer with approval, tank to depot, landscaped area where allowed), disposal date
- Spill / incident record: what, where, time, reported to (contract manager, authority), close-out date
- Chemical register per van linked to SDS files
Module 9
Contract billing
Councils pay per square metre or per zone, property managers per removal, and chains a monthly retainer with extras; one job can feed any of them.
- Billing unit per contract: per removal, per m2 by method, per zone per month, monthly retainer with included removals and overage rate
- Quote templates for coating programmes, film on glass and etching work, with photos and m2 from the site record
- Monthly invoice built from Registered jobs: contract no., work order nos., address, dates, m2 per method, unit rates, totals
- Invoices sync to QuickBooks or Xero; payment status visible against each contract
Module 10
Client portal and monthly contract report
The council officer or property manager wants to log a tag, see the proof and get the register without asking.
- Customer portal per client: log a request with photo and pin, see their open incidents with SLA due time, view before and after photos per site
- Monthly register export in the client's own layout (e.g. the council's Excel template) with every photo indexed and linked to its row
- KPI page per contract: on-time % per tier, approvals, photos, register updates, breaches with reasons
- PDF monthly report from your template, plus hot-spot map and top repeat tags for the police liaison
The AI agents, set up for graffiti removal companies
| Agent | When | What it does | What you get |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vision agent | A before photo is uploaded to an incident | Reads the photo: classifies it as tag, piece, poster, sticker or etching, flags racist, religious or sexual content, reads the surface (brick, render, glass, powder-coated metal) and estimates the affected area from the wall in frame | Fills graffiti type, offensive flag, surface and an estimated m2 on the incident for the tech to confirm, and moves offensive items to the Emergency SLA tier with the police step |
| Document intelligence agent | A property manager or council emails a work order PDF or a 311 export | Pulls the reference number, address, contract, category and requested-by date from the document and matches the site record | A new incident on the right contract with the client reference, SLA tier and due time already set |
| Watcher agent | An incident passes the warning point you set on its SLA window (e.g. 75%) without being Removed, or a Removed job has no after photo or m2 | Checks the contract's tier, time left and the nearest free crew; checks register fields against the 5-working-day update rule | An alert to dispatch naming the job and minutes left, and a 'missing proof' task back to the tech before the month's KPI drops |
| Dispatch agent | A new Emergency or Notified incident is created | Ranks crews by distance, SLA due time, heritage training, access gear and van kit (wet vac, matching paint stock) | A suggested crew and slot on the dispatch board for the office to accept |
| Calling agent | A shop owner or property manager calls after hours to report graffiti | Asks for the address, what it says and whether it is offensive, finds the site and contract, and asks them to text a photo | A logged incident with source 'phone', SLA tier set, and a reply text with the reference number |
| Scheduler agent | First working day of each month | Builds each contract's register from Registered jobs and checks KPI results against the contract thresholds | The monthly contract report PDF and the register export emailed to the contract manager, with breaches and their reasons listed |
Straight answers
Graffiti removal: FAQ
What software do graffiti removal companies use?
Most graffiti removal companies run on a general field service app such as Jobber or ServiceM8 with a spreadsheet beside it for the council's graffiti register. Councils use 311 or request apps (MyLA311, SeeClickFix, Snap Send Solve) to send the work, and some police agencies add tag-tracking systems such as Graffiti Tracker. Contractors with council or transit contracts need a job record per tag with square metres, surface, method and time-stamped before and after photos. Fieldproxy is one platform that builds that register and the SLA timers into the job.
How fast do councils expect graffiti to be removed?
It depends on the category. The City of Sydney's contract specification asks for 24 hours for notified graffiti and two hours in work hours (four after hours) for emergency removals. Coventry and Bexley in the UK aim for 24 hours on racist or offensive graffiti. Los Angeles aims to respond to MyLA311 requests within 72 hours.
What should a graffiti removal record include?
Sydney's register is a good model: location and zone, reference number, request source, date identified and removed, graffiti type, tag name or description, asset type, surface, square metres removed, removal method, cost and time, and before and after photos with date and time stamps.
Is pressure washing safe on brick and stone?
Not at hardware-store pressures. The National Park Service recommends a low-pressure spray of 100 to 400 psi with the wand at least 12 inches away, and notes that common power washers run 1,600 to 3,200 psi. On historic masonry, abrasive methods usually etch the tag outline in permanently.
What is the difference between sacrificial and permanent anti-graffiti coatings?
A sacrificial coating comes off with the graffiti and has to be re-applied after every removal. A permanent coating stays on and lets graffiti be cleaned off with water or solvent, though it also needs re-applying after several cleanings. The NPS warns that clear coatings can add gloss and reduce breathability on historic masonry, so they are usually not recommended there.
Which stones should never get acid cleaners?
The NPS lists limestone, marble, travertine, calcareous sandstones and shales, most polished stones, and glazed brick and terra cotta as acid-sensitive. Granite, slate and unglazed brick and terra cotta are not acid-sensitive.
Can I let the wash water run into the storm drain?
Usually not. San Diego, for example, requires wash water to be controlled, contained and captured, and polluted discharge to the storm drain can bring penalties of up to $10,000 per day per incident. Sydney's contract requires collection by vacuum and bans discharge to stormwater or sewer unless treated to Sydney Water requirements.
Do I need the owner's permission to remove graffiti?
On private property, usually yes. Sydney's contractor can clean accessible property from the public side without consent under the NSW Graffiti Control Act 2008 but must seek written consent otherwise. New York City sends owners a Notice of Intent and waits 35 days. Coventry asks private owners to sign a damage disclaimer.
Should graffiti be reported to the police before it is removed?
Often, yes. Bexley notifies the police before removing racist or offensive graffiti, and New York City takes police reports for graffiti from the past seven days. Tag-tracking systems such as Graffiti Tracker rely on crews photographing the tag before removal so it can be linked to other incidents.
Can graffiti etched into glass be removed?
Etching is a different job. Sydney's contract excludes etching of glass, metal, plastic and wood from its definition of graffiti, so it is usually quoted separately as polishing, protective film or glass replacement.
How does Fieldproxy fit a graffiti removal company?
Fieldproxy sets up the register fields, consent and heritage stages, SLA timers and photo rules your contracts ask for, gives technicians an offline app with time and GPS stamped photos, and gives councils and property managers a portal to log requests and see proof. AI agents read photos, answer calls and texts, draft quotes and build monthly contract reports. Pricing is per company by job volume with unlimited users.
Related guides
All sources on this page (20)
- source: City of Sydney, Specifications for Provision of Graffiti Removal Service
- source: National Park Service, Preservation Matters: graffiti removal from historic features
- source: NYC311, Graffiti removal request (KA-02070)
- source: City of Sydney, Graffiti Management Policy
- source: Snap Send Solve, Swift action on hate-speech graffiti in Sydney
- source: NYC Department of Sanitation, Graffiti Removal
- source: Crosstown LA, Los Angeles sees slight decline in annual graffiti calls (Feb 2025)
- source: Coventry City Council, Graffiti
- source: Keep Britain Tidy Network, Ask The Expert: Graffiti (2026)
- source: NPS Preservation Brief 38, Removing Graffiti from Historic Masonry (Weaver)
- source: Stone Specialist, Historic England publishes guidance on graffiti and its removal
- source: City of San Diego (Think Blue), Pressure Washing fact sheet
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