Winning work, 29 October 2026
Posting job photos: customer permission, NDAs and copyright
You can post photos of a customer's home if they've agreed, ideally in writing, and the photo doesn't show anything they haven't agreed to: faces, house numbers, number plates, children, valuables or a recognisable street. If someone can be recognised from a photo, it's usually their personal data. Commercial clients may ban photos in the contract or an NDA, and that overrides everything else.
Do you need the customer's permission?
Yes, in practice. A photo that shows a person, or lets someone work out whose house it is, is personal data, and your firm needs a lawful reason to use it and must tell people how it will be used. The simplest lawful reason for marketing photos is the customer's agreement. Even where no personal data is visible, posting a customer's kitchen without asking is a quick way to lose a referral.
The ICO defines personal data as information that relates to an identified or identifiable person, including someone who can be identified indirectly by combining it with other information. A photo of a distinctive front door plus your caption "loft conversion in Mill Lane, Tring" can be enough.
Can I post this photo?
Run through these questions before every post. It takes ten seconds once it's a habit.
Name the town, not the street. Keep the customer's written agreement with the job file.
Remove the identifying detail, or ask the customer specifically about that photo. Name the town only.
Send the permission message below. Don't post until they say yes.
The contract wins. Ask the client in writing if any photos can be approved, and keep their reply.
How do you ask for permission?
Put it in your quote or terms, and confirm it when the customer accepts. Asking up front is easier than asking a happy customer afterwards, and it means the answer is in writing.
FOR YOUR QUOTE OR TERMS Photos: we'd like to take photos of the work before, during and after for our records and, with your permission, for our website and social media. We never show faces, house numbers, number plates or personal belongings, and we only name the town. Tick here if you're happy for us to use photos for marketing: [ ]. You can change your mind at any time by telling us, and we'll remove them. MESSAGE AFTER THE JOB Hi name, we were pleased with how the job came out. Would you be happy for us to share a couple of photos of the finished work on our Facebook/Instagram/website? No faces, house number or anything personal, and we'd only say it was in town. Completely fine if not.
What about NDAs and commercial clients?
Read the contract before you take a camera out. Commercial clients, main contractors and some private clients restrict photos for security, brand or privacy reasons, and an NDA can stop you naming the client at all. On commercial jobs such as stadiums or gyms, that can mean you can't post the work on social media at all.
I've got so much work to do, but I can't be doing it.
If you can't post the work, you can still post about it in general terms: the kit, a close-up of a fixing detail with nothing identifying, or a description of the type of job, as long as the NDA allows. Ask the client in writing whether any approved photos can be used, and get the approval for each photo. Some clients will agree after a project opens.
Who owns the copyright in job photos?
Usually whoever took them, or their employer. Under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 the author of a work is the first owner of the copyright, and where an employee makes it in the course of their job, the employer is the first owner unless agreed otherwise. GOV.UK confirms photographs are protected automatically, with no need to register.
| Who took the photo | Who usually owns the copyright | Can you post it? |
|---|---|---|
| You, or your employee on the job | Your firm | Yes, subject to the customer's permission |
| A subcontractor | The subcontractor | Ask them, and agree it in your subcontract |
| The customer | The customer | Only with their permission to use it |
| An architect, designer or professional photographer | Them | Only under a licence, and credit them if asked |
| A photo from a manufacturer's website | The manufacturer | Only if their terms allow it |
Copyright and data protection are separate. Owning the copyright in a photo of someone's living room doesn't give you the right to publish their personal data.
What should you leave out of the frame?
Anything that identifies the customer, their address or their belongings. Take a second look at reflections in windows and mirrors, and at the background of before-and-after shots. A bathroom photo can show a prescription on the shelf; a driveway photo can show the car's number plate and the house opposite.
How long can you keep job photos?
Keep record photos as long as you need them for the job: warranty claims, disputes, or showing what was hidden in a wall. Marketing photos can stay up while the customer is happy for them to, and should come down if they ask. Your privacy notice should say what you keep and why. If you collect customer details for your business, you'll usually need to pay the ICO data protection fee, which is £52 or £78 a year for most small firms. For a case that worries you, ask the ICO's advice line or a solicitor.
For photos shared with clients during a job, rather than posted publicly, see client portals for builders. For what to post once you have permission, see social media for trades.
Where Nexley fits
Nexley is the AI back office for UK trade firms: five AI assistants run your tenders, quotes, buying, scheduling and invoicing. It connects to the tools you already work in, you run it all from WhatsApp, and you approve everything. £799 a month.
For job photos, Nexley can send the permission message in your words when a job is finished, record the customer's answer against the job, and keep site photos filed with the job so they're there for warranty questions. You decide what gets posted.
Common questions
Can I post a photo of the outside of a customer's house?
Only with their agreement, and preferably without the house number, a street sign or anything that pins down the address. A front elevation of a distinctive house can identify it even without a number, so treat it as personal.
Do I need permission to photograph work in a new-build that's unoccupied?
There's less personal data in an empty house, but the developer or main contractor may restrict photos in your subcontract. Check the contract and ask the site manager.
Can I use a photo the customer sent me with their enquiry?
Not for marketing without asking. They sent it so you could price the job. Use it for the quote, keep it with the job file, and ask if you want to post it.
What if a customer complains about a photo I posted?
Take it down promptly, reply to confirm, and check your permission records. If you had their agreement, thank them for letting you know anyway; keeping the customer is worth more than one post.
Sources
- ICO: Taking photographs, data protection advice
- ICO: What is personal information, a guide
- legislation.gov.uk: Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, section 11
- GOV.UK: How copyright protects your work
- GOV.UK: Data protection and your business
- GOV.UK: Pay the data protection fee
Every rule, rate and date above was checked against these sources on the date shown at the top.
Topic: Winning work
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