The photo download link in my email has expired — how do I get the photos?

Two routes always work while the report is active: the link in report emails from Buildsnapper 2.1 and later, and the Assessor Portal. Both fetch the photos afresh through Buildsnapper's own servers each time you click, so neither goes stale.

How long the email link lasts

Emails from Buildsnapper 2.1 and later hold one link, to the report's page, and it has no expiry date. Enter the address the email was sent to, then choose Download the photos: every click starts a fresh download. The link works for as long as the report is current, and stops only if the builder sends the plot's report to a different assessor, or deletes the report, the plot or the project (opening a report from its email link).

Emails from earlier versions, and the occasional newer one sent when the report's page couldn't be linked, carry a separate photo download link, which works for 7 days from the send. It is a signed link that issues a fresh, short-lived download each time it is clicked, so an old forwarded or archived message cannot expose a plot's photographic evidence indefinitely:

• Within 7 days of the send, the emailed link works every time you click it, unless the builder has since sent the plot's report to another assessor or deleted it.
• After 7 days it retires and shows a plain "no longer valid" page. That is normal, not a fault, and nothing has been lost — the photo archive itself stays stored server-side, and the portal route below always works.

One caveat for the oldest messages: report emails sent by the earliest app versions carried a link that expired 15 minutes after the send, whatever the email text said. If an older email's link is dead, use the portal, or ask the builder to re-send the report: from version 2.1, the new email's link does not expire.

The permanent route, step by step

1. Sign in at assessor.buildsnapper.com/login.
2. Open the reports page (the PDF icon in the top bar, headed Client Reports) and expand the builder's name.
3. Click the photo download for the plot. Your browser downloads a ZIP named after the project and plot.

You can repeat this whenever you need the photos again. If you do not yet have a portal account, claiming one is free and links every report previously sent to your email address.

If the portal download also fails

If the portal says the photos cannot be found, the likeliest causes are that the report has been superseded or deleted by the builder (revoked reports are hidden immediately), or that the send never completed on the builder's side. Ask the builder to re-send, or contact us through the support page with the project and plot name.