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Introducing Datum

Every practice out there claims to be 'innovative'. Datum proves that we mean it.

The questions every client has. Usually at the worst possible hour.

Has my architect actually chased the planners? Or do they just tell me they have?

Did anyone write down the change I asked for? Or is it living in someone's memory?

Which version of the plans is the real one? I've got four in my inbox.

Who's the planning officer, and has anyone spoken to a real human there?

Did that survey ever come back? And where would I even find it?

Have I agreed to something I've now completely forgotten agreeing to?

Where do all these documents go? I can't be the filing system.

What was decided in that meeting? I was there and I've forgotten half of it.

It's Sunday night. Any way to check without bothering someone?

You shouldn't have to save these up for a Tuesday-morning phone call. So every answer already lives in one place, waiting for you, whenever the question hits you. Chased the case officer four times this month? It's logged, with dates and what they said back. Wondering where things stand at 11pm on a Sunday? Open Datum: it's all there, no phone call, no waiting for the office to open, no polite 'sorry to bother you' email. The answers don't clock off when we do.

Humans first

The sharpest tool on your project. Not the person holding it.

Datum doesn't design your house. It doesn't ring the council, sketch your kitchen, or turn up to argue the case for taller ceilings. We do all of that. Actual people, the same ones you'll meet, who still pick up the phone and still come to your dining table to talk it through. Datum is the bit in between. It keeps track of the decisions, the dates, the drawings and the hundred-odd conversations a building project throws up, so nothing slips and nobody's left guessing. The humans do the work. The app makes sure you never lose sight of it.
Meet the Humans in Our Team
your project, live

Everything in one place, all the time.

Log in and there's your project: which stage you're at, the last thing we did, what's coming next, and a running feed of everything that's happened. No "sorry to chase, but…" emails. No waiting for a monthly catch-up. The current picture, whenever you want to look.

And every client gets a plain-English email each day when something changes, so you don't even have to remember to check.

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The planning trail

Yes, we chased them. Here's the receipts.

Planning is where everyone feels most in the dark, because for weeks on end the honest answer is 'we're waiting.' But there's a world of difference between waiting and being ignored, and now you can tell which is which.

We log the case officer's name, every time we call, and every time someone finally picks up, plus what they said when they did. It won't make the council move faster (if only). But you'll never again have to take our word for it that we've been on their case.

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your project, live

So, what's actually in there?

Quite a lot, as it turns out. Everything your project touches, gathered in one place instead of scattered across emails, phone calls, and that one drawing you're certain someone sent you.

Drawings, decisions, planning updates, costs, the lot. No login-and-hunt, no ten-tab treasure hunt. You open Datum and the whole project is right there, as current as the moment we last touched it. Here's what you'll find inside.

The Client Brief

Everything the project orbits

Built from our first proper chat and kept from day one: your style, your must-haves, right down to how many windows or 'surprise me'. Every decision that follows gets measured against it, so the finished building is the one you asked for, not the one that quietly drifted.

The Drawings

Your latest plans, always current

The newest version, front and centre, connected live to the studio where we draw it. No hunting the inbox for a file that might be out of date. What you're looking at is what we're working from, down to the last revision.

The Planning Trail

Every chase, logged with dates

Who we contacted at the council, the day we did it, and what came back. Planning is where everyone feels most in the dark, so this is where Datum earns its keep: you see the difference between 'we're waiting' and 'we've been ignored', in black and white.

Messages

One thread, not forty emails

Ask a question, get an answer, keep the whole conversation in one place. Nothing lost to a spam folder, no 'which email was that in again?'. Every message about your project sits exactly where you'd look for it.

Documents

Contracts, reports, certificates

Every document your project touches, filed where you'd expect it: our drawings, plus the surveyor's, the engineer's, the ecologist's, and the planning approvals when they land. One place, open at 3am if that's when you need it.

The Timeline

Which stage, and what's next

See exactly where you are on the RIBA map and what's coming over the hill. No more wondering whether things are moving or quietly stuck. Every milestone timestamped, so the whole project reads like a story you can follow.

Costs

Where the money sits

Fees, stages, what's paid and what's still due, all in plain figures. Clear enough that a surprise on the money side would itself be the surprise. The bit most clients dread, made boring, in the best possible way.

Decisions

Every choice, on the record

The tap you picked, the wall you moved, the day you signed it off. If you asked for it, it's written down and agreed, so 'I'm sure I asked for that weeks ago' stops being a thing that can go wrong. Changed your mind? That's logged too.

Updates

A running feed of everything

Open Datum and read what happened this week, or let the plain-English email land in your inbox the moment something changes. The Sunday-night 'I wonder how it's going' can be answered on the spot, no waiting for Monday.
on the roadmap

Where Datum goes next.

We're never quite done, and that's rather the point. Datum keeps growing because we do: a practice that keeps questioning how it works is a practice that keeps getting better for the people it works for.

So Datum keeps improving, to show you more of your project, to take more of the worry off your plate, to get answers to you faster, and to sharpen how we run things behind the scenes, which is how we stay quick, sharp, and worth hiring. Here's what's on the bench next. No vapourware, no 'coming 2027'.

Illustration of upcoming Datum features

Our quality checks, built into your project

We're moving our whole quality management system inside Datum, so the same standard runs across every drawing and every detail before any of it reaches you or a builder. Fewer errors on site, fewer of those nasty surprises that turn up halfway through a build with a price tag attached. The checks were always there. Soon you'll be able to see they happened.

Mentoring and training, tracked in the open

We're logging who mentors who, and the CPD every architect on your project keeps up. It means the team drawing your home or development is current on the regulations and the detailing that matters, not coasting on a qualification earned back in 2009. A sharper team is a better project, and this is how we keep the team sharp.

Every finished project, honestly reviewed

Each completed job gets a proper post-project review: what worked, what didn't, and what we'd do differently, all written down instead of quietly forgotten. It means your project starts with hundreds of projects of hindsight behind it, not a blank page and a hopeful smile. Our mistakes, banked so they never become yours.

The cost

And no, it doesn't cost you a penny.

We're not about to bury a "from £9.99 a month" in the small print. Datum is free to every JSA client, on every project, at every budget. We didn't build it to make money. We built it to save our own sanity. The less time we spend running the studios, the more we spend on your project. It makes your experience better and our lives easier, and that's the whole deal. Everybody wins, which is suspiciously rare in construction.
Frequently Asked Questions

Datum, minus the mystery.

The questions clients ask us most about seeing their project online. No jargon, no dodging.

Datum is JSA's own project management app with a client portal. It tracks your project from first enquiry to final handover, and gives you a login so you can see exactly where things stand, any time you like. Think of it as sitting in our office, without the commute.

It's free. To every JSA client, on every project, at every budget. No tiers, no 'from £9.99 a month' hidden in the small print. We didn't build it to make money. We built it so we spend less time chasing our own admin and more time on your project.

No. Datum doesn't design anything or make decisions. Real people do all of that, the same architects you'll meet and talk to. Datum keeps track of the drawings, dates and conversations so nothing slips. It's the filing, not the thinking.

No. Some clients live in it and check twice a day, others never log in and would rather a phone call. Datum is there when you want it, not another thing you're made to learn. You get the same service either way.

Yes. Log in whenever it suits you, 9am or 11pm on a Sunday, and you'll see which RIBA stage you're at, what's just been done, and what's next. No waiting for office hours, no 'any update?' email required.

Datum sends you a plain-English email whenever something moves, telling you what changed and when. You don't have to remember to check in. If nothing's landed in your inbox, nothing's changed.

Yes, and it's the feature clients tell us they value most. You'll see the case officer's name, every time we chased them, and what came back. It won't make the council move faster, but you'll always know the difference between 'we're waiting' and 'we've been ignored'.

All in Datum, always the current version. Not only our drawings, but everything from your surveyor, engineer and ecologist, plus your planning approvals. One place, open around the clock, so you're never hunting an old email for a file that might be out of date.

It won't. Every change to the design or brief is logged as a change order, visible to everyone and approved by you before it goes ahead. 'I'm sure I asked for that weeks ago' stops being a worry, because if you asked, it's written down.

Your project sits behind your own login and is visible only to you and your JSA team. Nobody else gets a look. It's your project, and it stays that way.

Yes. Building projects usually involve more than one decision-maker, so partners, family or business co-owners can each have access. Everyone sees the same up-to-date picture, which saves a lot of 'did you see the email?' conversations.

Not at all. If you can use online banking or check your email, you can use Datum. It's built for homeowners and developers, not software engineers. And if you'd rather ring us, that option never goes away.

Yes. Fees, invoices and expenses all sit in one place, in plain figures. You can see what's been paid and what's coming, so there are no surprises on the money side. The dull-but-important stuff, kept clear.

Never, it's the opposite. By taking care of the admin and the updates, Datum frees us up for the conversations that need a human: the design, the tricky decisions, the kitchen-table chats. The app handles the paperwork so we can handle you.

Yes. Datum works in any browser, so you can check your project from your phone on the train or your laptop at the kitchen table. Wherever you are, your project's right there.

It stays with you. The full timeline, drawings, approvals and decisions remain in one place, which is handy years later when you sell, extend again, or want to remember why you moved that wall. Your project's whole story, kept.

Want a project you can see?

Get in touch today. Start something you can follow every step of the way.

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