Home Service Visit Prep Kit

Overview

Use this prompt-only skill when a user has a home service appointment coming up and needs to prepare clear information before the provider arrives. It works for visits such as plumbing, electrical, HVAC, internet installation, appliance service, pest control, cleaning, landlord repairs, or general maintenance coordination.

The goal is to reduce confusion during a time-boxed visit by organizing appointment details, symptoms, access instructions, questions, decision boundaries, and post-visit notes.

When to Use

Use this skill when the user asks to:

• prepare for a repair or maintenance appointment
• organize notes before a plumber, electrician, HVAC tech, cleaner, installer, pest-control service, or landlord repair visit
• make a checklist for a home service visit
• document symptoms, photos, questions, or invoices
• set authorization limits before someone else manages the visit
• track next steps after a service appointment

Trigger keywords: home service visit prep, repair appointment checklist, technician visit notes, plumber coming, electrician visit prep, HVAC service checklist, landlord repair visit, home maintenance appointment

Required Inputs

Ask only for practical visit information:

• Service type and provider name, if known
• Appointment date, arrival window, location, and contact method
• Main issue or requested work
• When the issue started and what changed
• Visible symptoms, sounds, smells, leaks, error messages, or affected rooms
• Household access needs such as parking, pets, children, building rules, or keys
• Who can approve work and the maximum spend before calling back
• Warranty, lease, landlord, insurance, or prior-service details, if relevant

Do not ask for permanent gate codes, alarm codes, full IDs, payment numbers, or unnecessary private details.

Workflow

1. Record appointment basics. Capture service type, provider, date, arrival window, location, contact, and responsible household member.
2. Summarize the issue. Write a plain-language symptom summary with start date, changes, prior attempts, affected areas, and urgency.
3. Build a photo and video checklist. List useful items to capture, such as visible damage, model labels, leaks, error messages, noises, access panels, surrounding area, and before-work condition.
4. Prepare access instructions. Organize parking, entry, rooms to access, pets, children, building rules, neighbor or landlord coordination, and safe temporary access notes.
5. Draft questions to ask. Include diagnosis, options, estimate, parts, warranty, timeline, cleanup, prevention, and what not to use until fixed.
6. Set authorization boundaries. Define who can approve work, when to pause for a call, maximum spend, preferred communication, and decisions that require the user.
7. Create visit notes. Prepare fields for technician findings, recommendations, work performed, parts, photos after work, invoice details, and promised follow-up.
8. Plan post-visit actions. Track payment, receipt, warranty documents, landlord or insurance updates, repeat symptoms, and next appointment needs.
9. Produce the packet. Deliver a pre-visit checklist, day-of script, and post-visit tracker.

Output Format

Produce a service-visit packet with these sections:

1. Appointment Snapshot
   • Service type
   • Provider and contact
   • Date and arrival window
   • Location and responsible person
   • Urgency level
2. Issue Summary
   • What is happening
   • When it started
   • What changed
   • Prior attempts
   • Affected rooms, devices, or systems
3. Photo and Evidence Checklist
   • Before photos or videos
   • Labels, model numbers, error messages, or damage
   • Context photos around the work area
   • Documents to have ready
4. Access and Safety Prep
   • Parking and entry
   • Rooms or equipment to access
   • Pets, children, valuables, and building rules
   • Temporary or supervised access notes
5. Questions for the Provider
   • Diagnosis
   • Repair options
   • Estimate and authorization
   • Parts and timeline
   • Warranty and cleanup
   • What to avoid until fixed
6. Decision Boundaries
   • Who can authorize work
   • Maximum spend before calling back
   • Work that requires written estimate or owner approval
7. Visit Notes Template
   • Findings
   • Work performed
   • Parts used or ordered
   • Photos after work
   • Invoice, receipt, or job number
8. Post-Visit Tracker
   • Follow-up tasks
   • Warranty documents
   • Payment status
   • Symptoms to monitor
   • Next appointment or escalation

Safety & Compliance

Explicit Boundaries

• No repair instructions. Do not instruct the user to perform electrical, gas, structural, plumbing, pest-control, appliance, HVAC, roof, or mechanical repairs.
• No hazard diagnosis. Do not reassure the user that a dangerous condition is safe.
• Urgent hazards require help. Gas smell, sparks, smoke, fire, shock risk, flooding, sewage, carbon monoxide alarm, structural movement, exposed wiring, active leaks near electricity, or unsafe heat must be treated as urgent and directed to qualified professionals or emergency services as appropriate.
• No sensitive access exposure. Do not include permanent gate codes, alarm codes, lockbox combinations, full IDs, payment card data, or private account information in the packet.
• No legal or insurance advice. Lease, warranty, insurance, and liability questions should be verified with the relevant documents, provider, landlord, insurer, or qualified advisor.

Additional Safety Notes

• Encourage supervision when practical.
• Use temporary access methods when available.
• Keep pets and children away from work zones.
• Document before and after conditions without interfering with the technician.
• If the user is a renter, separate household notes from landlord or property-manager communications.

Acceptance Criteria

1. Produces a complete service-visit packet for a specific upcoming or recent appointment.
2. Captures appointment details, responsible person, contact method, and location.
3. Summarizes symptoms, timeline, prior attempts, affected areas, and urgency.
4. Includes a photo, video, and document checklist.
5. Provides access preparation covering parking, entry, rooms, pets, children, and building rules.
6. Drafts practical provider questions about diagnosis, estimates, parts, warranty, timeline, cleanup, and safe use.
7. Defines authorization boundaries and maximum spend before calling back.
8. Includes a visit-notes template and post-visit follow-up tracker.
9. Flags urgent safety hazards for professional or emergency help.
10. Avoids repair instructions, sensitive access details, and legal or insurance advice.

Example

User says: "The HVAC technician is coming tomorrow and I want to be ready."

Skill response: Create a packet with appointment details, a symptom timeline, photos to take, filter and model-label reminders, access notes, questions about diagnosis and estimate, authorization limits, technician-notes fields, and follow-up tracking.