Cirva — User Guide · Building Services Survey Platform

★Start here

Recommended workflow

Follow this order on every job. Each tab feeds the next — skipping steps means missing data downstream. This workflow covers the Lighting module. Other modules follow the same pattern once launched.

🏗

Before the site visit

Create a new project from the project list. Open it to reach the Service Hub, then select Lighting. Enter the site name, client, building type and your operating hours estimate. Set the tariff (£/kWh) — ask the client's FM team or use 0.28 as a safe UK default. Use room templates to pre-build your room list if you know the floor plan in advance.

📋

On site

Add rooms using templates or the AI parser. For each room: use ✨ AI Scan to identify fittings from a photo automatically, or enter fixture types manually. Take photos (now synced to cloud), measure lux, note manufacturer and model. Duplicate identical rooms rather than re-entering data.

💡

Back at desk — analysis

Go to Library, select your LED replacements for each room and fixture type. Then visit Energy — the calculations will auto-populate from your selections. Add controls savings if applicable. Export a Project Data CSV if you need to feed a CRM or ERP system.

💼

Build the proposal

Go to Quote → Line Items → Sync Library. Set your margins. Review the Summary. If competing against another supplier, fill in the Competitive tab. Export the Report and Quotation PDFs. When HVAC and other modules are live, return to the Service Hub and survey the next service in the same project.

0Getting in

Signing in & projects

Cirva saves your session automatically. You'll land back on your project list every time you reopen the app. From there, select a project to open the Service Hub — where you choose which building service module to work on.

1

Sign in or create an account

Enter your name, company and email on the login screen. Select your plan tier — Free (3 projects, 3 rooms/project, 5 fixtures/room), Personal (£39/mo, unlimited projects, full quota and export), Business (£99/mo, up to 5 users, white-label), or Enterprise (custom, unlimited users, API access). All paid plans are on a 12-month contract, payable monthly or annually. Use the demo account to explore with sample data. If you forget your password, tap Forgot password? next to the password field — a reset link is sent to your email.

2

Create a new project

Tap + New Project from the project list. Projects show as cards with status badges (Draft / Active / Quoted / Complete). You can change status directly on the card without opening the project.

💡 Use the ⧉ Duplicate button to clone a finished project as a starting point for a similar site — handy for chain retail or multi-site clients. The library selections, margins and quote structure are all preserved.

3

Add notes to a project

Tap the 📝 Notes button on any project card to add internal notes — follow-up actions, FM contact, quote status. Notes appear as an italic preview line on the card so you can scan across all projects at a glance without opening them.

☰Hub

Service Hub

The gateway between your project list and each building service module. Every project opens here first — choose which service to survey.

1

Open a project to reach the Service Hub

Tap any project card from the project list. Instead of going straight into the survey, you land on the Service Hub — a screen showing all available building service modules for that project. The project name and client are shown at the top. Tap the ← back arrow to return to the project list.

2

Select a module — Lighting is live now

Tap the Lighting card (green Active badge) to open the lighting survey workflow. The card shows a live summary of the project — rooms surveyed, fixtures counted, and annual saving if a quote has been built. All other modules show their planned launch date and feature preview.

💡 Each module shares the same project — site name, client, address, rooms and operating hours are entered once and used across all services. When HVAC launches, your existing room list is already there.

3

Coming soon modules — register early interest

HVAC, Refrigeration, Building Fabric, Renewables, Water and Compressed Air are all shown in the hub with planned availability dates. Each coming-soon card shows the key features the module will include. Tap Notify me when ready → on any card to send a pre-filled email to the Cirva team — we'll contact you as soon as that module launches.

4

Return to the hub from inside a module

While inside the lighting survey, tap the Cirva logo or your avatar in the top right. This saves the current project and takes you back to the Service Hub for that project — not all the way out to the project list.

Coming in 2026–27: HVAC (Q3 2026) · Refrigeration (Q3 2026) · Building Fabric (Q4 2026) · Renewables (Q4 2026) · Water (Q1 2027) · Compressed Air (Q1 2027)

★New

What's new in Cirva

Recent changes and additions to the platform.

1

Service Hub — multi-module platform

Projects now open via the Service Hub screen, giving access to all building service modules from one place. Lighting is live. Six further modules are in development for 2026–27.

2

Photo sync to cloud

Photos taken in the fixtures tab are now uploaded to Supabase Storage automatically. Photos persist across devices and sessions — when you reopen a project on a different device the photos load from the cloud. Previously photos were stripped on save.

3

Password reset

A Forgot password? link is now available on the sign-in screen next to the password field. Enter your email and a reset link is sent via Supabase auth. The link redirects back to the app where you can set a new password.

4

Free plan tier limits

The Free plan now enforces tighter limits to reflect its taster role — 3 projects, 3 rooms per project, 5 fixture types per room. The product library is browse-only on Free (no selection). The Quote tab and Excel export are locked to Personal and above. A focused limit notification appears when any limit is reached, with a one-tap upgrade path.

5

CSV export for CRM and ERP

A new Project Data CSV export is available in the Export tab (Personal and above). Exports every room and fixture row with all fields — project, client, site, room, fixture type, quantity, watts, hours, annual kWh, manufacturer, model, LED selection and saving. Import directly into HubSpot, Salesforce, Xero or any spreadsheet tool.

6

Annual billing and 12-month contracts

All paid plans are now on a 12-month contract, payable monthly or annually. Annual billing saves 2 months — Personal £390/yr (saving £78), Business £990/yr (saving £198). The billing toggle in the upgrade modal lets you switch between monthly and annual pricing before selecting your plan.

7

Upgrade modal improvements

The upgrade modal now works correctly on all screen sizes — scrollable sheet on mobile, centred popup on desktop. Tier cards are compact and readable. Each plan has a ⚙ Dev button for switching tiers without payment during testing. Type devtier anywhere in the app to open the floating dev tier switcher.

1Tab 1

Site Setup

The foundation. Everything else — energy, payback, compliance — is calculated from the values you enter here.

Site Setup — Site Information

Site Information
Site name, client, address, building type, surveyor name, survey date

Operating Parameters
Op. hours/week · Tariff £/kWh · Comparison period (years) · Grid emissions factor

Add Rooms

Name · Area m² · Ceiling height · Room type — adds to the room list used throughout the app

1

Fill in site information

Enter the site name, client name, address, and building type. The building type affects default lux targets in the Fixtures tab. Make sure your name is in the Surveyor field — it appears on all client-facing documents.

2

Set operating hours and tariff

Enter how many hours per week the lighting runs. This is the single biggest variable in the energy calculation — be accurate. Set the electricity tariff in £/kWh. If you don't know the client's rate, 0.28 is a reasonable UK commercial default for 2024/25.

💡 Ask the FM team for the actual HH rate from the electricity bill. Even a 10% difference in tariff has a significant effect on the payback calculation.

3

Set comparison period and emissions factor

The comparison period (default 5 years) controls all TCO and net benefit figures throughout the app — change it once and it updates everywhere. The grid emissions factor defaults to UK (0.233 kgCO₂/kWh) — select the correct country from the dropdown if working internationally.

4

Add rooms — use templates for speed

Tap any of the Quick template chips — Open Plan Office, Meeting Room, Corridor, Reception, Warehouse, Retail, Toilets, Car Park, Stairwell, Server Room — to instantly add a room pre-filled with a typical name, area, ceiling height, and existing fixture type. All values are editable immediately after.

💡 For a standard office floor, tapping templates is 4× faster than entering rooms manually. Add them all first, then adjust the areas to match the actual measurements.

5

Use the AI parser for complex room lists

Type a natural language description into the AI bar — e.g. "3 offices 120m², 2 meeting rooms 35m², reception 60m², 2 toilets 18m²" — and tap Parse. The AI creates all rooms in one go with correct names and areas.

6

Duplicate a room for identical spaces

Once you have at least one room, the ⧉ Duplicate Last Room button appears. It creates an exact copy — same fixture types, wattages and hours — with a blank lux reading and no photos. Essential when a floor has 20 identical offices: build one, duplicate 19 times, adjust names and areas.

⚠ Don't skip small rooms. A corridor with 20 fittings running 24/7 can have a larger energy footprint than a meeting room used 4 hours a day.

2Tab 2

Fixtures & Survey (Lighting module)

The core of the survey. This is where you record what's installed, measure what it produces, and capture the evidence.

1

Select a room from the left panel

Tap any room in the list on the left. The survey panel on the right loads that room's data. Work through rooms one at a time — the list shows a green tick when a room has fixtures recorded.

2

Add fixture types

For each type of fitting in the room, tap + Add Fixture Type. Fill in: fixture type (e.g. T8 Fluorescent Batten), quantity, wattage, manufacturer, model/catalogue ref, and operating hours per week for that specific fixture. If hours differ from the site average — a server room running 24/7, or a meeting room on a timer — enter the room-specific hours here. This feeds the energy calculation directly.

💡 Use the AI fixture entry field to paste a description like "24 × Philips T5 HF 35W 1200mm fluorescent battens" and let the AI parse it into the form automatically.

3

Record the lux reading

Enter the measured lux level from your meter in the Measured Lux field. The Target Lux field auto-populates from the room type but can be overridden — useful for specialist spaces like labs or studios. The status indicator immediately shows Pass ✓, Below ✗, or Over-lit ⚠.

4

Rate the condition

Tap Good, Fair, or Critical to record the physical condition of the installation. This appears in the manufacturer log and influences the compliance scoring.

5

Take photos and tag them to fixtures

Tap the camera icon to take photos or upload from your camera roll. Each photo can be tagged to a specific fixture type using the dropdown that appears below the thumbnail — this creates a manufacturer evidence log showing which photos correspond to which fittings. Aim for at least one photo per room; more for critical or complex installations.

💡 Photograph the control gear label and distribution board where visible — useful for technical specifications and ESOS compliance.

6

✨ AI Scan — identify fixtures from a photo

Tap the purple ✨ AI Scan button above the photo grid. Take or upload a photo of the room's existing fittings. Claude vision analyses the image and identifies fixture types, approximate quantities, wattages, CCT, CRI, manufacturer (if visible on the fitting), and condition.

The results are shown as a review table before anything is added — check the quantities and wattages (AI estimates can be conservative), then tap Add to fixtures to populate the fixture table automatically. Works best with a clear, well-lit photo taken from below the fittings.

💡 On a large site with many identical rooms, use AI Scan on the first room to bootstrap the fixture data, then use Duplicate Room for all subsequent identical spaces.

⚠

Operating hours per fixture matter. The energy calculation uses the hours you enter here, not just the site average. A 24/7 emergency fitting at 8W is using more energy than a 40W office fitting on a 9-5 occupancy schedule. Enter accurate hours per fixture type for the most defensible payback number.

3Tab 3 · Optional

Floor Plan

Draw a rough floor plan to support the survey. Optional but useful for complex multi-zone sites.

1

Draw room shapes

Select Draw mode and tap/click to place polygon points. Double-click or tap the start point to close the shape. Use Snap to grid for clean geometry — grid sizes of 500mm, 1000mm, or 2000mm are available from the toolbar.

2

Edit dimensions and assign rooms

Switch to Select mode and click a shape to edit it. Enter exact dimensions (W × H in metres) and X/Y position, or assign the shape to one of your named rooms from the dropdown. This links the drawn area to the fixture and lux data for that room.

💡 Set the scale selector to match the site — 1:100 for a standard office floor, 1:500 for a large warehouse or campus.

6Tab 6

Energy & Carbon (Lighting module)

The financial engine. All energy savings, payback periods and carbon figures are calculated here and flow to every other part of the app.

1

Review the current vs proposed headline metrics

The top metric bar shows current kWh/yr, proposed kWh/yr, annual saving in £, and simple payback. These update live as you change any input. If you haven't yet selected LED replacements in the Library tab, the proposed kWh is estimated from the % reduction fallback below.

2

Choose energy mode: Library Selections vs % Estimate

Use Library Selections (the default) once you've chosen LED replacements in the Library tab — this uses actual product wattages for a precise, defensible figure. Use % Estimate for a quick ballpark before library selections are made. You can type any reduction percentage — 10%, 25%, 60% — not just the preset options.

💡 The coverage banner shows how many of your fixture types have a library selection. For a credible quote, aim for 100% coverage.

3

Enter install cost

Enter your estimated installation cost in the Install Cost (£) field. This is used for the payback calculation and also pulled into the Competitive Analysis tab as your installation sell price. Update this once you've built your quote for greater accuracy.

4

Add maintenance saving (optional)

If the existing installation requires regular relamping, enter the cost per fitting and relamping interval in years. Cirva calculates the annual avoided maintenance cost and shows a revised payback period combining energy + maintenance savings. This is particularly powerful for high-bay industrial installations with expensive lamp changes at height.

5

Review the room breakdown

Scroll down to see a room-by-room breakdown of current kWh, proposed kWh, and annual saving. Rooms are sorted by saving size. This is useful for identifying which rooms deliver the strongest ROI and should be prioritised in a phased approach.

✓

The net benefit figures (e.g. "5yr net benefit") show cumulative savings over your comparison period minus the install cost. A positive figure means the project has fully paid back within that period. The comparison period is set on the Site tab and flows to every net benefit figure across the whole app.

4Tab 4

Controls (Lighting module)

Model the additional savings from occupancy sensors, daylight harvesting, and smart scheduling on top of the LED upgrade.

1

Set a controls strategy per room

Select a room from the dropdown, then choose the control type — Presence detection, Daylight harvesting, Scheduling, or a combined DALI-2 system. Each strategy has a default saving percentage which can be adjusted.

2

Review the global savings stack

The Savings Stack panel shows the cumulative additional saving from all controls across the site, with a revised combined payback period. This figure flows into the Quote's ROI panel and the competitive analysis.

💡 The controls saving is on top of the LED energy saving — make sure your client understands these are additive. A good LED + DALI-2 scheme on a large open-plan office can achieve 70–80% total reduction.

5Tab 5

Product & Equipment Library (Lighting module)

Choose your LED replacement products. Selections drive the energy calculation and feed directly into the quote and competitive analysis.

1

Select a room and fixture type

Use the room list on the left and fixture dropdown to set your context — you're selecting a replacement for a specific fixture in a specific room. The existing fitting's details are shown above the product browser so you can compare directly.

2

Browse and filter the catalogue

Use the category filter chips — Panels, Battens, Downlights, Track, High Bay, Emergency, Custom — to narrow the catalogue. Each product card shows watts, lumens, CRI, CCT, price, rated life and warranty. Tap Select to choose a product for that room/fixture combination.

💡 The ✓ Better tag appears automatically when a product is more efficient than what you're replacing. Look for the biggest wattage reduction with the smallest lumen penalty for the strongest energy saving argument.

3

Add custom products

If your specified product isn't in the catalogue, tap + Custom Product and fill in the spec sheet details. Custom products behave identically to catalogue products — they appear in library selections, energy calculations, the quote BOM, and the competitive analysis. Edit (✏) or delete (🗑) them at any time.

4

Use Supplier Comparison for product selection decisions

The Supplier Comparison tool (Show ↓) lets you compare any two products head-to-head — enter supply prices, wattages, lumens and life rating to see cost per kilolumen, annual energy cost, and TCO over the comparison period. Use this to make and justify product selection decisions internally before committing.

5

Review the Selected Replacements panel

The Selected Replacements card at the bottom shows a summary of all your selections with room, existing fitting, LED replacement, and per-unit saving. This is the data that feeds into the energy tab and quote sync. If you delete a product or remove a fixture, stale selections are cleaned up automatically.

7Tab 7

Quotation

Build, price and issue your proposal. Five sub-tabs take you from line items to a client-ready document.

Quotation — sub-tabs

Line Items
All supply and labour lines, draggable to reorder

Margins & Labour

Supply margin %, install margin %, overhead, contingency, discount

Summary

Live build-up: supply → install → overhead → net. ROI and payback.

Terms

Validity, payment terms, warranty, T&Cs, preparer contact

⚡ Competitive

TCO comparison vs incumbent — see section 8

1

Sync from Library

On the Line Items tab, tap ↓ Sync Library. This creates one supply line per selected product (with qty and cost price from the library), plus a single labour line based on the electrician rate card in Margins & Labour. Existing lines are not duplicated.

2

Edit and add lines manually

Edit any line's description, quantity or cost directly in the line item. Use + Supply, + Labour, and + Other to add lines manually — commissioning, scaffolding, disposal, project management. Drag the ⠿ handle to reorder lines. The running total at the bottom updates live.

💡 The sell price field is editable for a manual override — a yellow ⚡ badge flags any line with a manual price. Tap "Reset to margin →" to return to the calculated value.

3

Set margins in Margins & Labour

Set your supply margin % (applied to product cost price), install margin % (applied to labour cost), overhead % (applied to the subtotal), and contingency % (applied to subtotal + overhead). Setting any of these to 0 removes that row from the Summary. All figures are shown ex-VAT throughout — add VAT at the applicable rate when issuing the invoice.

4

Review the Summary

The Summary tab shows the full cost build-up: supply sell, installation sell, any other items, subtotal, overhead, contingency, discount (if any), and net total. Below this is the ROI panel — investment, annual saving, simple payback, and net benefit over the comparison period.

5

Fill in Terms

Set the quote validity date (defaults to 30 days), payment terms, warranty period, and T&Cs text. Make sure the Prepared By and contact email fields are filled — these appear on the printed quotation.

6

📸 Save version snapshots

Tap the 📸 Snapshot button in the Quotation page header to save a versioned copy of your current line items and net total. Up to 10 snapshots are stored per project, shown as a bar above the quote header with label (v1, v2…), timestamp, and value.

Tap ↺ Restore on any snapshot to load a previous version — your current state is automatically saved first so you never lose work. Use snapshots before making significant pricing changes, before issuing a revised quote, or when exploring different margin scenarios.

💡 Issue Quote v1, save a snapshot. Client asks for a 5% reduction — adjust margins, save another snapshot. You now have both versions and can restore either instantly.

8Tab 7 → ⚡ Competitive

Competitive Analysis

When you're competing against another supplier, this tab builds the full commercial case showing why your solution wins on total cost of ownership.

ℹ

Prerequisites: Complete your quote line items first (supply and install lines must exist). Your proposal figures are read directly from the Quote → Line Items tab — supply sell price, install sell price, and library selections for energy and wattage data.

1

Enter the incumbent's proposal details

Fill in the Incumbent Proposal card: supplier name, their supply price (products only), their installation cost, total luminaire quantity, wattage per luminaire, rated life, and warranty. Add any notes on spec weaknesses (e.g. "Non-DALI, no controls capability, generic manufacture"). The more detail the better — it informs the client statement.

2

Review Your Proposal summary

The Your Proposal panel auto-populates with your supply sell price, install sell price, subtotal, average wattage, annual energy cost, and a product-by-product breakdown table. Verify these figures are correct before presenting. If they look wrong, check your Line Items tab has been synced and margins are set.

3

Read the verdict and comparison table

The Head-to-Head Comparison table shows every metric side by side — supply price, installation, total project cost, wattage, annual energy, TCO, CO₂, rated life, warranty. Green ✓ Better tags show where you win. Amber = Same where values are equal. Red ✗ Higher where the incumbent leads.

💡 Even if your upfront price is higher, the TCO row often shows you winning — this is the number to draw the client's attention to. The verdict card at the top states the case in plain English.

4

Copy the client statement

The Client Statement at the bottom is a ready-to-send paragraph summarising the TCO comparison, energy saving, and carbon reduction. Tap Copy and paste it directly into your covering email or proposal document. Adjust the tone as needed — the factual numbers are correct.

9Tab 8

Insights

Four expandable sections — Compliance, Finance, Rebates, and ESG — all auto-populated from your survey data.

✅

Compliance Scoring

Auto-scores your survey against WELL v2, BREEAM UK, LEED v4, and EN 12464-1. Room-by-room lux compliance table shows pass/fail against CIBSE targets. Add compliance notes for the assessor.

💰

Finance & Leasing

Three tabs: Capital purchase, Operating Lease, and Lighting-as-a-Service (LaaS). Each calculates monthly payments and total cost. Pull the quote total in automatically or override manually.

🏦

Rebates & Incentives

SALIX, ESOS, Enhanced Capital Allowance (ECA), and UKSPF — auto-calculated from project value and savings. Add custom incentives. Shows total potential funding and net cost after rebates.

🌱

ESG & Carbon

Scope 2 reduction bar chart, circularity stats (lamp count, WEEE), and an auto-generated ESG statement for the client's sustainability team or board report. Regenerate with one tap.

10Tab 9

Survey Report

A full technical summary auto-assembled from all your survey data. Print to PDF and send to the client.

1

Review the report content

The report includes: headline metrics (kWh, saving, CO₂, payback), current vs proposed comparison table with 5yr and 10yr net benefit, controls impact, room-by-room breakdown with lux status, manufacturer log, and recommendations. All sections auto-populate — there's nothing to fill in.

2

Print the Survey Report PDF

Tap 🖨 Print Survey Report PDF. This prepares a clean, branded A4 layout — the dark app UI is replaced with a white print stylesheet, navigation is hidden, and a cover band with site name, client, date and annual saving is added at the top. In the print dialog, choose Save as PDF.

3

Print the Quotation PDF separately

Tap 🖨 Print Quotation PDF to export the quote page — line items, summary build-up, ROI panel and terms — as a separate PDF. Issue this as your formal quotation document.

💡 In Chrome or Edge, select "More settings → Paper size: A4, Margins: Minimum" for the cleanest output. In Safari on iOS, use "Print → Save to Files" to get a PDF on your device.

11Tab 10

Export

The export tab runs a pre-flight checklist automatically, then offers four export formats.

1

Check the Pre-Export Checklist

The checklist runs automatically when you open the Export tab. It scores your project from 0–100% across 12 checks: site name, client name, rooms added, fixtures recorded, lux readings, photos, energy calculated, library selections, quote lines, quote total, manufacturer data, and surveyor name.

Red ✗ = required. Amber ! = recommended. Green ✓ = complete. A score of 80%+ unlocks a direct PDF export button. Tap ↺ Refresh after making changes.

2

Export formats

Five export options are available — Survey Report PDF is free, all others require Personal or above:

Format	Contents	Plan
Survey Report PDF	Branded A4 report — site summary, rooms, energy analysis, recommendations	Free+
Quotation PDF	Client-facing quote with line items, margins, ROI, terms	Personal+
Excel Workbook	13-tab workbook: site info, rooms, fixtures, library, energy, controls, payback, compliance, carbon, quotation, BOM, ESG statement	Personal+
Project Data CSV	Every room and fixture row — project, client, site, room, fixture type, qty, watts, kWh, LED selection, saving. Import into HubSpot, Salesforce, Xero or any spreadsheet	Personal+
Bill of Materials CSV	Product schedule with part numbers, quantities and unit prices for procurement	Personal+

★Settings

Settings & White-Label Branding

Apply your company's branding to all client-facing reports and quotations. Available on the Business and Enterprise plans.

1

Upload your company logo

Go to Settings → White-Label Branding. Tap Upload logo and select a PNG, JPG or SVG file. The logo previews instantly in the branding card. Once saved it replaces the Cirva text logo in the app header and appears on all printed PDFs — survey reports and quotations.

💡 Use a PNG or SVG with a transparent background for the cleanest result on dark screens and white PDFs. A minimum width of 300px recommended for crisp print output.

2

Set brand name, tagline and colour

Enter your company name and optional tagline — these appear beneath the logo on reports. Set your primary brand colour using the colour picker — this updates the accent colour throughout the app and on printed documents. If no logo is uploaded, the Logo Initials field (up to 3 characters) provides a coloured badge as a fallback.

3

Save and preview

Tap Save Branding. The app header updates immediately. Open a Survey Report or Quotation PDF to see your branding on the cover band. Branding persists across sessions and on all projects.

⚠ If the app is deployed on Netlify for multiple users, each user's branding is stored in their own browser's localStorage. For shared team branding, wait for the cloud backend which stores settings centrally.

👥

Team Members

Invite colleagues by email with Admin, Surveyor, or Viewer roles. Requires the Business or Enterprise plan. Up to 5 seats on Business, unlimited on Enterprise.

🔗

Client Portal

Generate a read-only share link showing energy analysis and quotation to the client. Choose which sections to show. Requires Personal, Business or Enterprise plan.

Plan comparison

Feature	Free	Personal	Business	Enterprise
Price	£0	£39/mo	£99/mo	Custom
Projects	3	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited
User seats	1	1	Up to 5	Unlimited
Survey report PDF	✓	✓	✓	✓
Quotation PDF + Excel	–	✓	✓	✓
Client portal	–	✓	✓	✓
White-label branding	–	–	✓	✓
Team management	–	–	✓	✓
API access	–	–	–	✓
Support	Community	Email	Priority	Dedicated

All paid plans include a 14-day free trial. Prices exclude VAT. Annual billing available (2 months free).

★Reference

Tips & shortcuts

⌨

Autosave & manual save

Cirva saves automatically 2 seconds after any change. The timestamp in the header shows the last save time. Tap the green Save button for an immediate manual save. Your session persists across browser restarts — you'll land back on your project list on reload, with all data intact.

⌨

? Help — open the guide in one tap

The ? Help button in the top-right header opens this guide in a new tab at any time. Keep it open alongside the app when learning a new section.

⌨

Room templates + duplicate = fast large-site surveys

The fastest workflow for a large office or retail fit-out: use Quick Templates to add the first instance of each room type, run AI Scan on one photo to populate fixtures, then use Duplicate Last Room for every identical space. You can survey a 20-room floor in under 10 minutes once the first room is complete.

⌨

AI Scan tips for best results

Take photos directly below the fittings rather than at an angle. Good ambient light helps. If there are multiple fixture types in one room, take one photo per type and run AI Scan separately for each. Always review the AI's quantity and wattage estimates before confirming — AI is accurate on fixture identification but conservative on wattage.

⌨

The comparison period affects everything

Change the comparison period on the Site tab (default 5 years) and every net benefit figure, TCO calculation, and comparison table throughout the app updates instantly. Use a shorter period (3 years) for clients focused on quick payback; longer (7–10 years) for ESG-focused clients or public sector where long-term value matters more.

⌨

Quote snapshots for revision control

Save a snapshot before sending any quote to a client. Save another before making any revision. You then have a full history of what was issued and when, and can restore any version instantly. The value and timestamp are shown on each snapshot card so you can identify versions at a glance.

⌨

Competitive analysis workflow

The correct sequence is: Library selections → Sync to Quote → Set margins → Competitive tab. The competitive tab reads supply and install sell prices directly from your Quote → Line Items tab. If you change a margin or add a line, switch to Competitive and the Your Proposal panel refreshes automatically.

⌨

Duplicate project for multi-site clients

For a chain client with multiple similar sites, build one project fully, then use ⧉ Duplicate from the project card. Adjust site-specific details (name, rooms, fixture counts) without rebuilding from scratch. Library selections, margins, quote structure and snapshots are all preserved.

⌨

Filter library by manufacturer

The Library tab now has a brand dropdown alongside the search box. Select a manufacturer — Philips, Thorn, Zumtobel, Erco and others — to instantly filter the product list to that brand only. Combine it with a category chip (e.g. LED Panel) and the search box for precise product finding. The dropdown resets each time you open the browser for a new fixture.

⌨

Tab order — why Energy comes after Library

The bottom nav runs: Site → Fixtures → Controls → Library → Energy → Quote. Energy is positioned after Library because the proposed energy figures only become meaningful once you've made library selections — that's when the app uses real product wattages rather than percentage estimates. Complete your fixture selections first, then check Energy for your headline saving figures.

⌨

Install Cirva as a PWA for field use

On iOS Safari: tap the Share icon → Add to Home Screen. On Android Chrome: tap the three-dot menu → Add to Home Screen. Cirva runs as a standalone app with no browser chrome — ideal for use on a building site. Projects and photos sync to the cloud so your data is available on any device when you sign back in.