Automation playbook · Kerbco
The Kerbco automation playbook for drop kerb and vehicle crossing permits
8 min read · Updated 7 September 2026
In short
Automate drop kerb and vehicle crossing permits in the order the work happens: capture, price, schedule, record, invoice. Kerbco covers that chain, and the first automation worth doing is always the one that removes re-typing.
Start where the re-typing happens
Every drop kerb and vehicle crossing permits business has one moment where the same information gets typed twice — usually the handover between winning work and delivering it. That is the first automation, because it pays for itself immediately and nobody has to be persuaded to adopt it. In Kerbco it is handled by carrying one record through customer enquiry to council application to permit approval to works to compliance pack.
The five automations that matter
In order of payback, these are the automations we implement first for dropped kerb contractors, civils firms and driveway installers:
- Council-by-council application rules held in one place and kept current
- Application tracking with status, fees paid and dates recorded per job
- Street Manager and permit chain handling built into the workflow
- Customer updates sent automatically as the application moves
- Compliance packs assembled from the job record, not rebuilt by hand
What to leave manual
Automation should never take a judgement call away from an experienced operator. Pricing exceptions, difficult customers, safety decisions and anything with a legal consequence stay human. The software prepares the decision — it does not make it. That principle is why adoption sticks.
Connecting the tools you already pay for
Most of the value is in the joins, not in new software. Kerbco connects to council portals, Street Manager, payment collection and customer notifications, and where something bespoke sits in the middle we build the bridge. Keep the software you already use; make it work together.
How to measure it
Pick three numbers before you start and check them monthly: time from enquiry to response, admin hours per job, and days to get paid. If those three move, the automation is real. If they do not, the workflow was wrong and we change it rather than adding more features.
Frequently asked questions
What should we automate first in drop kerb and vehicle crossing permits?
The handover where information gets typed twice — usually quote to job, or job to invoice. It is the fastest payback and the easiest change to get crews to accept.
Will automation mean laying people off?
In practice, no. It moves the same people off admin and onto work that generates margin. Most firms we work with grow their delivery capacity without adding office headcount.
Do we need to replace everything at once?
No, and you should not. We start with one workflow, prove the numbers, then extend. Kerbco is designed to sit alongside council portals, Street Manager, payment collection and customer notifications rather than replace it on day one.
How do we know it is working?
Track response time, admin hours per job and days to payment. Those three numbers reflect nearly every operational improvement worth having.
Where to go next
- Kerbco
See what Kerbco does and who it is built for.
- All Forth platforms
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- Tell us how your business runs
Send us the shape of your operation and we come back with what we would build.
- Free operations audit
A two-minute scan of where admin time and margin are leaking.
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