Running an inspection

What this does

Walks one inspection from blank to shared. Ten minutes with a template; longer if you photograph everything, which you should for anything Poor or Critical.

Before you start

inspections.create: technicians and managers. Have the vehicle's current odometer.

Steps

1. Service Board → Inspections → new, or Run an inspection from the technician dashboard. Pick the Customer and vehicle; attach the work order if the car is in on one. Enter the mileage ("Current odometer reading").
2. Load Template to fill the checklist from a template, or add items by hand: Item Name ("Front Brake Pads, Oil Level…"), Category ("Brakes, Tires, Under Hood…"). Bulk-add is available for several items at once.
3. For each item set the Condition (Good, Fair, Poor, Critical) and add Notes ("Additional details…"). Anything Fair or worse deserves a note the customer will understand.
4. Photos — drag images onto an item or use the upload. Photos attach to the item, so the customer sees the picture next to the finding.
5. When every item is rated, set the status to Completed. The writer's queue picks it up.
6. To share with the customer, set it to Sent and copy the share link; it opens without a login and shows items grouped by category with a summary count of each condition.

Common problems

"Template loaded" but items are missing. The template has no items in that category. Add them to the template under Settings → Inspections or add them here by hand.

Photo upload failed. Check file type and size; try one at a time.

I completed it but the writer says it's not in their queue. It has to be Completed, not In Progress, and attached to a work order to show under that job.