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How Wave Works

What Wave does

From the first message to a finished estimate, Wave handles jobs, scheduling, photos, documents, drying logs and exports in one place. Here is everything it does today.

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Wave takes a loss from the first message to a finished, exportable estimate: jobs, scheduling, photos, documents, drying logs and exports in one place. It is built for restoration contractors and adjusters, whoever scopes the loss and writes the estimate, and their teams. Here is everything Wave does today.

Running your jobs (all plans)

  • Home and the command box: tell Wave what happened in your own words, typed, dictated or with photos, videos and PDFs. Wave creates the job, starts an estimate, books a visit or adds a note, and confirms with a short receipt. See Home and the command box.
  • A chat that follows you: the conversation stays with the place you are working, a job or Home. Pick up returns you to a question Wave is waiting on, and New chat starts fresh.
  • Jobs board: every active job as a card, in columns by status: New, Pending, Estimating, In Progress and Completed, with cancelled jobs in a Cancelled column. Anyone on your team can rename, add and reorder statuses. See The Jobs board.
  • The job workspace: customer, property, loss and claim details, contacts, the assigned team, notes, estimates and files in one place, with Wave's chat beside each tab.
  • Timeline: the team schedule, one column per teammate. Drag a job onto it or ask Wave to book a teammate. See Timeline.
  • Job files by room: photos, videos and PDFs live on the job, in one Files tab sorted into rooms, with an Unsorted section for anything not placed yet. Documents that belong to an estimate show there read-only. Photos can be up to 20 MB, PDFs up to 100 MB and videos up to 200 MB. See Job files.
  • Built for the field: the whole app, including the job chat, works on your phone.

Estimates

  • Jobs and credits: jobs do not use credits. Each new estimate uses one credit. When you ask for an estimate, Wave starts it. When Wave infers you might want one, for example from a file you dropped, it asks first and charges nothing unless you confirm. Duplicating an estimate uses no credit on a paid plan. See How estimate credits work.
  • Kinds of work: interior water damage (Category 1, 2 and 3), mold remediation, asbestos abatement, fire and smoke mitigation, repairs and reconstruction (including rebuilding after a fire), roofing, and contents (pack-out, storage and pack-back). See What Wave estimates.
  • Roofing: wind and hail roof losses. Choose the job type, from a tarp to a repair to a full replacement, and Wave builds the estimate for that path.
  • Residential focus: single-family homes and multi-unit properties. On multi-unit losses, rooms are grouped by unit with per-unit subtotals, in the app and on the PDF.
  • Several estimates on one job: a job can hold up to 5 estimates, for example water mitigation and repairs, sharing the customer and claim details while keeping their own scope and totals. Adding another estimate uses a credit. See Several estimates on one job.
  • Regional pricing: Wave prices each line for the loss's region (US ZIP and Canadian postal codes). See Wave's regional pricing.
  • Custom pricing: an Admin sets company prices for the items you price differently, once custom pricing is turned on and the company has an address. Anyone on the team can add company items in Your Items. See Custom pricing and Your Items.
  • Overhead and profit, and minimums: Wave works these out from the estimate and updates them when lines change. See Overhead, profit and minimums.
  • Edit by chat or by hand: tell Wave what to change, or click a cell and type. Your hand edits stick, and undo covers both.

Chat, photos and documents

  • Photos in chat: attach photos and ask about them. Wave describes what it can see, compares it with the estimate, and offers changes for you to approve. See Ask Wave about photos.
  • Measurements from a sketch: send a photo of a hand sketch or floor plan and Wave reads the dimensions that are clearly legible, then asks you to double-check. Wave asks about any label it can't read.
  • Documents in chat: attach an adjuster scope, carrier estimate, policy or moisture log as a PDF. Wave answers questions and compares it with your estimate. It adds the rooms and lines it could read clearly and asks you to double-check them. See Ask Wave about documents.
  • Rebuild from a carrier estimate: ask Wave to rebuild from a priced carrier estimate PDF. Wave asks whether to keep the carrier's prices or price the same scope at your rates. A rebuild becomes a new estimate after you confirm.
  • Voice dictation: tap the mic and talk, which is handy on a phone in the field. See Use voice input.
  • Your language: talk to Wave in English, Spanish or French. Line item names stay in English so exports stay industry standard. See Use Wave in your language.
  • Recall past jobs: ask about an earlier job by customer or job name, and Wave re-scopes for the current job rather than copying old numbers. See Ask Wave about past jobs.
  • Coverage questions: ask whether a policy covers the loss and Wave recommends a reading and names the section it rests on. See Coverage and industry standards questions.
  • Industry standards chat (Basic and above, and the free trial): Wave is familiar with the industry's water damage and mold remediation standards from field experience, credible sources and the EPA. Chat about the standards while you build the estimate, based on those sources.

Exports, sharing and integrations

  • PDF export: one Export dialog builds the PDF as an estimate or an invoice, and can combine other estimates on the job and the drying log into one packet, with your branding. See Export reports.
  • Other estimating software: you can also export an estimate as a file for other estimating software (Basic and above). A Wave account specialist sets this up for your company. Upload an estimate file from other estimating software and Wave reads it.
  • QuickBooks invoicing: send an estimate to QuickBooks Online as a draft invoice (Basic and above, and the free trial). See Send an estimate to QuickBooks.
  • Share links: a view-only page for customers, and a signed-in view where adjusters can comment on lines. See Share an estimate.
  • Slack notifications: post new jobs, new estimates and, if you choose, new notes to the Slack channels you pick (any paid plan). See Slack notifications.
  • Your AI assistant (any paid plan): create an API key in Settings, then Developer, and the AI assistant you already use can look up jobs, sort photos, keep the file current, build estimates and record drying readings in Wave, under your name. See Use Wave from your AI assistant.
  • Multiple locations (Pro): extra export accounts and letterheads for companies with more than one location or brand. See Letterheads for multiple locations.

Drying and carrier programs

  • Drying logs (Basic and above, and the free trial): one log per job, created automatically once a water estimate includes 3 or more drying days. Wave generates sample dry logs based on what real drying science would be, to help anyone on your team who is new to drying understand the drying goals for the job. Your team records the real readings by typing them into the grid or telling Wave. Already have a drying log? Attach it in a chat from Home or in a job's chat, and Wave reads it, answers questions about it and records any readings you tell it. You can upload photos or PDFs of an existing drying log. Starter includes 5 free drying logs, started when you ask Wave for one. See About drying logs.
  • Carrier guideline review (Pro): upload the carrier or TPA program guidelines you work under, and Wave flags your estimates against the programs you attach. Your guidelines stay private to your company. See Set up carrier guidelines.

Scope today

Wave focuses on interior work, roofing and contents. A few areas sit outside it:

  • Other exterior work: siding, windows, fencing and other exterior or storm scope. For work Wave doesn't price, a subcontractor's written quote can ride on the estimate as a custom line at their number.
  • Locations: regional pricing covers the United States and Canada. If you work elsewhere and want Wave, tell us.
  • ACV, RCV and depreciation: coming soon.

The free trial

Every new company gets 3 estimates with no credit card, and up to 3 jobs. Your first 3 estimates include every Pro feature, except Slack notifications and export for other estimating software. Duplicating an estimate and connecting your AI assistant come with a paid plan. See The free trial.

Request a feature

Tell us at hello@buildwithwave.com and name the tool or workflow. Customer requests help shape what Wave does next.

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